Winning at cash games isn’t about luck—it’s about discipline, strategy, and making the right decisions over and over again. These seven golden rules will help you build a solid foundation, avoid common pitfalls, and maximize your long-term profits at the table.
Decide Who Is A Nit, Maniac, Or Station
Every time you sit down at a cash game, you need to scan the table around you. Ask yourself who is a nit, maniac, or station. There are more classifications than this, but the vast majority of your opponents will fit into one of these categories.
It doesn’t take much to classify each player. Most of them will wear their style on their sleeve. Most nits in my experience are either happy-go-lucky or quiet. The happy-go-lucky guy is just not a confrontational person in any part of their life, so they keep that same energy at the poker table. The conservative person who is at the table to play good hands is also often conservative in speech and dress. It’s hard to miss them.
Stations are most people you’ll face. They’re there for the action. They love the feel of chips in their hand. They might be a tad scruffier and fidget more. Poker is their me time. It’s not their discipline.
Maniacs are obvious. They want you to know who they are. You won’t miss them.
Once you have a rough idea how everyone plays, then you can make adjustments in pots versus them. You can value bet weaker hands versus stations. Also, you can bluff more versus nits when their range is capped. You can check and trap more versus maniacs. All of these things will get you winning at cash games.
Know What You’re Ready To Risk
Always know how many buy-ins you’re willing to invest, whether that’s one or five.
What you don’t want to do is what most guys do. They show up and just assume they’re going to have a mountain of chips in 19 minutes. When they lose a buy-in early they’re bewildered. They go into their wallet, but they don’t want to. They’re tilted, and it is going to impact their play.
Compare that to a player who has three buy-ins in their wallet and is ready to use them. He plays a pot in the first orbit. His two pair gets beat by an overpair – a normal situation. He buys-in again knowing he has another bullet after that. No harm, no foul. He was ready for a bad beat like that. He came prepared.
Know How Long You’re Prepared To Play
Have a time you’re planning to leave, whether that’s 10:00 PM, midnight, or 2:00 AM. You should only play beyond that time if the game is incredible.
Know your limits. Most players in my experience play their best poker for four to six hours. Their skills fall off of a cliff after six hours.
What you don’t want to do is play only a few hours when things are going well but play until 7:00 AM when things are going wrong. Old-school pros used to call that eating like a hummingbird and sh*tting like an elephant.
Keep The Mood Light but Don’t Let Them Know What You Know
Quiet poker games are focused poker games. Not good.
Keep the mood light if you can. When I play tournaments and I’m playing versus other pros, I have no problem wearing my headphones and not being social. However, if I’m in a cash game, I’ll often joke around with the other players and ask them questions to keep the mood light.
If people are having fun, they tend to loosen up. This is good for your bottom line.
While you’re chatting, don’t tell them you study poker in your free time. Don’t tell them who your favorite coaches are or how many hours you’re logging. Instead, ask them about their lives and how they’re doing. Talk sports or TV shows. Talk whatever they want to talk about.
If you let them know you’re trying to make money as opposed to having fun, they’ll be on guard. They’ll be watching you more closely. And that is not good for winning at cash games.
Don’t Quickly Fold When You Get A Guy’s Tell
You see young guys make this mistake all the time. It seriously impacts winning at cash games.
If you get a guy’s tell and figure out he has a huge hand on the river, don’t immediately fold once you see the tell. Don’t show him what huge hand you’re folding. That’s going to cause your opponent to rethink their entire approach. You just took your great playbook and handed it over to your adversary! You might as well rip it up now because it’s worthless.
Stay Patient for Winning at Cash Games
Pretty much every single cash game pro I know who has stood the test of time has been patient. They know most people don’t fold enough because they love to sling the chips in. They take advantage of this by relaxing at the table and not rushing anything.
I have beaten a lot of cash games in my life. Very few of them have required advanced tactics. All of them required patience.
Always Pay Attention
I know what you’re thinking. “Yeah yeah, I know, pay attention.”
But do you know?
I know how Ken Griffey swung a bat. I’ve watched videos on how he did it perfectly. That doesn’t mean I can pull out a baseball bat right now and emulate it.
Paying attention at the poker table is like a swing. It takes a lifetime of practice to perfect it.
Let me give you an example of how paying attention can help you…
One detail I always look for when I am playing is how long people take on decisions. Doing this regularly led me to discovering a glaring tell on a particular player. He always takes less than three seconds to call when he wants you to check the turn. He takes around ten seconds to call when he wants you to fire the turn. It’s 100%. He can’t figure out why he never gets action when he has something and why he keeps getting blasted off his mediocre hands.
What details do you think you should look for at the table?
I haven’t had a real job in 20 years. I started my career out of high school. I’ve beaten a lot of games. 90% of the massive pots I’ve won came from paying attention and making an exploitative adjustment.
Playing a generic style will leave you frustrated while you hack away in the comments section. Aggression and pinpoint reads will pay your bills.
Conclusion on Winning at Cash Games
Winning at cash games comes down to patience, awareness, and consistently making better decisions than your opponents. By reading player types, managing your risk, staying engaged, and keeping your strategy unpredictable, you’ll put yourself in the best position to profit. Stick to these golden rules, and over time, you’ll develop the edge needed to crush the games.
Just a note before I go…
I have a new deal available on lesson packages. You can get six hours of private training with me for $997. This is your chance to take your game to the next level and become the crusher everyone fears! Contact me at [email protected] for details.
Want to read more from APT Head Pro Alex Fitzgerald? Try his article about the 10 Essential Poker Skills Every Poker Pro Has
