For the episode of Justified, see Cash Game (Justified)
Cash game
Cash games, also
sometimes referred to as ring games or live 🛡 action games, are poker games played with
"real" chips and money at stake, often with no predetermined end time, with 🛡 players
able to enter and leave as they see fit. In contrast, a poker tournament is played with
tournament chips 🛡 worth nothing outside the tournament, with a definite end condition
(usually, only one player left), and a specific roster of 🛡 competitors.
Rules [ edit
]
Players may freely buy into or cash out of a cash game between hands.[1] However, it
is 🛡 normally prohibited for a player to remove a portion of his or her chips from the
table. This is known 🛡 as "going south".[2] For example, if a player buys in forR$100,
then winsR$100 (for a total stack ofR$200), the player 🛡 may not remove the originalR$100
buy-in while remaining seated. He would have to forfeit his seat, possibly wait to
rejoin 🛡 the game, and buy in again forR$100; however, many cardrooms prohibit the
practice of buying in again unless a certain 🛡 time period has elapsed before the player
rejoins. Similarly, cash games are played for table stakes. If a player attempts 🛡 to put
additional money onto the table (from his/her wallet) in the middle of a hand, he may
not do 🛡 so until the conclusion of said hand.
In "no limit" poker cash games, some
cardrooms have a maximum buy-in for cash 🛡 games. In limit poker games, there is seldom a
maximum buy-in because betting limits already limit the amount a player 🛡 can wager on
each hand.
In a casino, a rake is usually taken from a pot if a flop is shown 🛡 and the
pot reaches certain values.[3] Some games take a time rake instead of a pot rake. In
these games 🛡 players pay a seat charge every half-hour.
Ring games [ edit ]
While the
terms "ring game" and "cash game" are often 🛡 considered synonymous in common usage,
opinion differs on the true definition of "ring game". For example, in the glossary of
🛡 Doyle Brunson's Super System 2, a ring game is defined as "A game with a player in
every seat, that 🛡 is, a full game—as opposed to a shorthanded game".[4] As such, the
term "cash game" may be considered a more 🛡 precise depiction of the kind of game
commonly found in most casinos or home venues; that is, a non-tournament game 🛡 played
for actual money (or chips representing actual money), without regard for the number of
players seated at the table 🛡 at any given time.
Comparison with tournament games [ edit
]
Tournaments and cash games have different basic strategies. One difference between
🛡 tournaments and cash games is that the blind/ante structure of tournaments increases
periodically over the course of the tournament, whereas 🛡 the blind/ante structure of
cash games remains constant. Another difference between the tournaments and cash games
is that a tournament 🛡 sticks with a predetermined style of poker, and cash game players,
depending on house rules, may have the option of 🛡 playing other types of card games.
Some online cash games offer a variety of choices limited only by the game
🛡 software.
Other differences between cash games and tournament poker are that, in cash
games sometimes straddles and chops are allowed. A 🛡 live straddle is a dark bet of two
big blinds by the player first to act, who is then entitled 🛡 to bet again if the bet is
not raised. A chop is an agreement between the players in the blinds 🛡 to retract their
blind bets if no one else has bet. A chop prevents the casino from taking a rake 🛡 from
the pot. Also, cash games sometimes allow players to reduce the element of luck (often
called "variance", especially by 🛡 professional players) by splitting large all-in pots.
Since online platforms can instantly calculate each player's pot equity at the time
🛡 they go all-in, some online cash games allow such pots to be split based on this
equity. Players who opt 🛡 for such an arrangement will receive a share of the pot based
on his or her odds of winning (from 🛡 the time all players still in the pot exposed their
cards) once all of the cards have been dealt. An 🛡 alternative method of reducing
variance, used both online and in live games, is to run the board multiple times to
🛡 ensure that the person with the best odds of winning gets the largest share of the pot
more often.
Examples [ 🛡 edit ]
An example of a cash game is broadcast on the United
States subscription-based streaming service PokerGO as High Stakes 🛡 Poker. The Bellagio
casino's "Big Game" is a high-stakes permanent cash game, featuring a wide variety of
rotating poker games 🛡 with and without limits.[5]
