After playing Texas Hold'em tournament after Texas Hold'em tournament, players are often ready to give cash games a try. Cash games differ from tournaments in that there is a minimum and maximum buy-in and the blinds remain constant. In tournaments, the blinds increase each level forcing players to make decisions based on the size of their chip stack. When a player is short-stacked, they may have no choice but to push their chips in with a marginal hand in hopes of doubling up to stay alive. Low limit - no limit cash games are those with a maximum buy-in of $200. (The next step up from the $200 buy-in is generally $500 which would be considered medium limit.) Typically, the maximum buy-in will be 100 times the big blind. As an example, a $200 maximum buy-in cash game would generally have a $1/$2 blind structure.

One of the big differences between tournaments and cash games is that the double up to survive strategy doesn't apply in cash games. At any time, players can reach into their wallets to pull out more cash to extend their stay at the table. This allows players to continue playing their best game without fear of elimination or the stress of ever increasing blinds. Yet, you will often see players using tournament strategy when they have a small stack. Instead of buying more chips as their stack diminishes, they start moving all in with hands that don't warrant the value of the bet. A typical example would be a player at a $200 maximum buy-in table. He loses a couple of hands and finds himself down to $30. With $1/$2 blinds, his initial raise has become an all in move. Now consider that the player could purchase additional chips and once again have a $200 stack. If this occurred, would he still make a $30 initial bet? It's very unlikely since an initial raise of 15 times of big blind will generally go uncalled unless someone has a strong hand like KK and AA.

Another difference you will see in cash games, is a player's willingness to loosen their starting hands requirements. With no fear of elimination, players will often play more cards like suited connectors out of position in the hopes of flopping a big hand and winning a big pot. Understanding the dynamic of the table and the hands your opponents are playing will help you make raises at appropriate times to thin out your competition and reduce the risk of your quality hands losing to a miracle draw.

Understanding the difference between cash game and tournament strategy is the first step in the transition to this new style of play. In Part II, we will discuss some of the differences between online and casino cash games.