How to avoid cash games?

[Poker Orifice]

Cash Game play & SNG play/Tournament Play are alot different from one another. Many SNG players who are making a transition over to playing cash tables will usually have to spend some time getting rid of alot of bad habits picked up from playing SNG's.

I'd suggest specializing in one or the other. If it's cash tables, start at the lowest limits and put some time in on them, staying away from most tourney play while doing so. Put in 10k in hands at the lowest limits and then only if you're proving to play profitably there do you want to move up in buyin level. Sure there's alot of donks in the super micros but to be honest, I really, really look forward to sitting down with them. One key pt. you want to be doing on a micro donk table is to be re-raising preflop in position in an effort to isolate the spewiest players &/or passive calling stations. Pick your spots wisely and adjust your playl according to player type you're up against.
Most hands are best played HU vs. one other opp't. in 6MaxNL for example, using your postflop skill to exploit villain's weaknesses.

Jumping back & forth from tourney to cash will usually result in poorer performance on the cash tables (just like my comment here has now jumped back & forth with what i was talking about)

[Bata4]

Perhaps your skills at cash is not good...
Most important thing is... bankroll management.

Its so different, I play most of the time STT's and MTT's...

I nearly play cash table's because.... at my levels... my raises are not "respected"...
So You cant play "proper" ABC-poker....

I hate it when people chassing there draws.. when you made it to expensive for them..

Then in cash game its way to exspensive when they chase and hit...

[peaches]

Perhaps your skills at cash is not good...
Most important thing is... bankroll management.

Its so different, I play most of the time STT's and MTT's...

I nearly play cash table's because.... at my levels... my raises are not "respected"...
So You cant play "proper" ABC-poker....

I hate it when people chassing there draws.. when you made it to expensive for them..

Then in cash game its way to exspensive when they chase and hit...

When you say 'proper' abc poker, the thing is, in cash-game play your opponent's are often getting the implied odds to call your raises (if you're both say 100+ bb's deep) with hands like SC's, all pairs (to set mine), one-gappers, even two-gappers & A-Xs. In the lowest levels for sure you do see ALOT of coldcalling/flatting pre as opposed to 3-betting & 4-betting. You really have to make any drawing hands pay huge but even then, they are often getting the implied odds to make the calls (if they figure they can stack you &/or get paid off when they do hit their draw). It can make for a much tougher game, especially if one is used to playing SNG's & MTT's. A SNG player needs to make alot of adjustments when switching over to cash game play (needing to get rid of alot of habits picked up from playing optimal sng play).

[GoldenK1W1]

Excellent advice from all.

As Mike McDermott once famously said ...

"Listen ... here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.

Guys around here'll tell ya... you play for a living.

It's like any other job. You don't gamble. You grind it out.

Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that's it.

Get your money in when you have the best of it, and protect it when you don't.

Don't give anything away.

That's how I've paid my way through half of law school.

A true grinder.

See, I learned how to win a little at a time. But finally, I've learned this...

If you're too careful, your whole life can become a fuckin' grind".

"Rounders - 1998"

Blessings - GolodenK1W1

[rgchan]

All the great advice in this thread may not help some people. But the Keyword I think you all missed in the original Post was ADDICTIVE. !! I see so many players win some cash in a tournament and then hear them say they can,t afford the buy-in at the following week,s tournament.That,s because their Poker Addicts and as soon as they win they head straight to the Cash tables for more of the Rush and lose everything they had won.I play poker for the enjoyment but seem people have an underlying gambling probem.I would suggest stick to the Buy-in tournaments or S & g,s as you get more bang for your buck asthey last longer.Cash games are the Crack Cocaine of Poker.
Rg

[Poker Orifice]

Cash games are the Crack Cocaine of Poker.
Rg

I think HeadsUP SNG's are.

I look at cash games as the staple for the grinder - - the player who will typically play thousands of hands. I know of many player who when they were first starting out playing online poker they would mainly play SNG's & MTTs but after experiencing many downswings they would become fed up with it and then make the transition over to cash game play (I'm talking about players who were winning players in SNG's... but as you'll often experience in SNG's, you can play 100's of them, have a +ROI and then go on a 20game losing streak.(in spite of getting it in good)... can be very frustrating. I think this is part of the reason why so many decide to make the switch over to cash games.
Also, SNG play is fairly robotic. It becomes an almost mathematical game, working towards getting to late level play where it becomes a shove/fold game based on ICM. It's a different skill set to be playing deepstacked cash games and I think many lose interest in SNG and gain it in playing deepstacked poker where there's more to it.

Alot of the players who are actually grinding it out for a living playing poker online wll be found on the cash game tables (many of whom have worked their way u thru the levels, putting in a ton of time, studying & playing (you'll often find players who've played 10's of thousands of hands at 5NL, same on 10NL before moving up to 25 & 50NL... then on to 100NL, etc.). When you're playing on the cash game tables, 'KNOW' that there will be a few (or more) of them on your table (depending upon what site you play on and what level you play at).
I believe that for one to become successful on the cash game tables you really should put some time into learning how to play on them AND know that you'll have to lose some bad habits picked up from SNG play.

[hojediade]

$34 preflop with Q8o. Wow.

While playing poker, you should wonder what the money he is playing with, represent for your opponents. It's true OL and live as you will often play vs people that don't have the same resource as you have. So, when before sitting at a table, you should take 10 minutes watching players acting and decide to play with them or not, regards on their moves and behaviours.
Anyway, SB was right, you should stick to BR management or it will cost you a lot in the long run.

[rayleb]

small stakes cash games are a crap shoot. I play at bodog, usally .05.1 cash. max buyin is $10. you can fold forever with these small blinds. take notes on your opponents, yeah you'll take bad beats but when you triple up you initial buyin, leave and go to another table. It limits your possible earnings but I'm still learning and it saves me from destruction.

[willie beaman]

You need to evaluate your playing style while in ring games. You have a rely heavily on your ability to read your opponents and mathmatical probilities. Make sure that you are playing at limits that you feel comfortable playing and that you can afford. Confidence is also needed in order to have some success.

[eberetta1]

Pro athletes have the same problem, which field do they go into. You sometiimes have to be a specialist to improve your bankroll. If you suck at cash games, you do not go into the room with more than 10 percent of your bankroll. And whatever increases your bankroll, you keep doing it. Now , maybe you are short on time to play in tourneys
that take 4 or 5 hours to complete. So , you might have to wait til you are older , aand not working to get in more time consuming games under your belt.

For me, I sometimes lose at cash games, so I prefer to play Omaha hi/lo, so if I do not have the best hand, I can win half the pot with a good low hand.