Implied Thinking

By Nick Eisel

Most poker players realize that there is a difference between No Limit cash games and tournaments, but my guess is that many don't know where the differences lie or why it matters. I see plenty of "mistakes" in NL cash games simply because someone played the hand in a tournament fashion instead of playing it correctly for the cash game.

Before I get into the common mistakes that people make in the cash games, let me first outline the reasons why the two games are completely separate entities despite the fact that they both use the No Limit structure. The main thing here is that cash games are built around implied odds. In a tournament, you need to eventually win all of the chips, so you look for spots to get your share of the chips in profitably and build upon them. AK in particular is a hand that any tournament player loves, but any cash game player is skeptical of. The problem with AK in a cash game is that even when you hit it, it's obvious to any good player what you have and it is hard to extract money from anyone with an obvious holding. There is also the added downside that everyone puts you on AK when you raise preflop.

I've done plenty of writing on tournaments already, so today I want to focus on the mistakes that are made in cash games because a hand was played in a tournament mindset.

The most common error I see involves small to medium pairs in No Limit cash. These are not raising hands, people! If you want to make money at these games, you need to be seeing flops with these pairs and trying to hit a set and stack someone. All too often I see someone making a huge raise in late position with a small pair after a ton of limpers to try to end the hand right there. Late in a tournament this is a great play, but in a cash game it is a recipe for disaster. Not only are you giving up a potentially huge implied odds situation, but you are also putting a lot of money at risk with a hand that is a coinflip at best if someone decides to call your raise. Just the other night I saw a guy make a huge raise out of the big blind with 99 after a bunch of limpers. Then some overcards flopped and he had to make a big stab on the flop since he had built a big pot out of position with a marginal hand. This is the type of play you want to make with AK or if you really just want to bluff preflop, choose a hand that doesn't have any implied value after the flop like J4o. It's important that if you choose to do this, you must use the play sparingly and also have a tight table image in order to make it work. The point here is that you want to see a flop with small to medium pairs and you also want as many players in there as possible to pay you off when you hit a set. Many players achieve the exact opposite of this by making a big raise and either chasing everyone out or putting themselves in a bad spot.

Another thing that I know I've also mentioned before is to not overcommit yourself with top pair unless you are absolutely certain that it's good. This often means checking behind on the turn and giving free cards with one pair hands where you would often make a big turn bet in a tournament setting. Just because you have an overpair doesn't mean you should go ahead and lose your whole stack on it to someone who flopped a set. Exercising pot control is in your best interest here.

Remember that in cash games you need to be thinking of how you are going to extract money from your opponents, whereas in tournaments you are just trying to build your stack and go from there. The blinds never rise in cash games, so your mind should always be thinking of implied odds and stack odds rather than just pot odds. The best way to extract money in these games in my opinion is with sneaky hands like small sets or straights. Straights are far less obvious than flushes and it's hard to put someone on something like 64 after they limped in middle position.

Finally, raising in late position is awesome in the later stages of tournaments or even just in Limit Hold'em, but doesn't really transition over to NL cash games. The reason is that if you raise a hand like Jc9c in the cutoff, it could cost you more to draw to your hand if you flop a straight draw than if you had simply limped. This rule is especially true if you are playing with a bunch of weak players, as you should actively look to play as many hands after the flop as possible against them and get the money in when you're much more sure about your hand. Building a pot preflop with a playable hand just isn't the best move in NL cash as you should be looking to make the big money by limping or allow yourself a cheap exit.

Hopefully these will serve as some things to keep in mind the next time you're in a NL cash game and while it is hard to separate it from tournament play at times, it is absolutely crucial to do so if you want to succeed.