One of the best all-around poker tips I can give you is to leave your pride at the door. This piece of advice goes for both complete newbies and experienced vets alike. Pride has always been associated with poker because poker is seen as a game of great minds and stone-faced bluffs. This is due to the competitive nature of poker as well as TV’s portrayal of James Bond-like characters defeating their opponents in high stakes poker games. Read More…

Out of all the different player types in poker, maniacs always give me the most trouble. These are the players that raise a lot of hands, bet frequently and make huge raises out of nowhere. These players are tough to play against because they are unpredictable and they put us in uncomfortable spots for lots of money. Read More…

Poker cash games are where the real action takes place. Tournaments might get a lot of TV coverage, but cash games are where millions and millions of dollars trade hands every day. The biggest winning poker players in the world make the vast majority of their money in cash games.

The continuous nature of cash games makes them a great place to win money. You don’t lose hours of your life if a single hand goes poorly like you do in tournaments. And if you hit a rough patch of luck, you can jump right back in there and keep on grinding. The other side of the coin is that it is just as easy to lose money in cash games. If you’re not careful, you can lose a lot of money very quickly.

So with that in mind, these are the five easiest ways to lose money in poker cash games:

1. Play a lot of starting hands

This piece of advice has been repeated countless times on the internet, but people to this day continue to lose money in cash games by playing too loose. I think that much of the problem is that the blinds look so small compared to the stack sizes that people feel they can sneak in for cheap and have a real shot at winning a big pot.

The problem with loose play in cash games is not the cost of the blinds (although that does have an effect), but it is that loose play puts you into difficult situations after the flop. If you play too many starting hands, you will end up making tough decisions after the flop. This eventually leads to you losing big pots with mediocre hands.

2. Bluff a lot

Bluffing is overrated in online cash games – especially in low stakes cash games. When you bluff against loose players, there is a good chance that you will be called. The definition of “loose player” is someone who calls too much. When you bluff against smart players, there’s a good chance you get called by strong hands. Good players do not get into big pots without strong hands. Read More…