7 Deadly Sins of Cash Game Poker: Common Mistakes to Avoid
Cash game poker offers consistent opportunity for profit, but it’s also rife with pitfalls that can drain your bankroll. Unlike tournaments, where mistakes might be forgiven through later stages, cash games immediately punish errors with real money consequences. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the seven most destructive habits that plague cash game players and provide actionable strategies to overcome them.
Sin #1: Playing Without a Defined Strategy
The most fundamental error in cash poker is sitting down without a clear strategic approach. Many players adopt a reactive style, adjusting their play based on emotions or recent results rather than sound poker principles.
The Consequences:
- Inconsistent results and difficulty tracking your progress
- Vulnerability to skilled opponents who can quickly identify and exploit your erratic play
- Difficulty making improvements because there’s no baseline strategy to refine
The Solution:
Develop a core strategy for different stack depths and table dynamics:
- Deep stack strategy (100BB+): Focus on implied odds, playing more suited connectors and small pairs.
- Medium stack strategy (40-100BB): Balance aggression with pot control, looking for spots to apply pressure.
- Short stack strategy (<40BB): Tighten your ranges and look for spots to get your stack in with an edge.
Commit your baseline approach to writing, review it regularly, and make calculated adjustments based on the specific table and opponents you’re facing.
Sin #2: Overvaluing Mediocre Hands
A pervasive leak among recreational players is assigning too much value to marginal holdings like middle pair or weak top pairs. This often manifests as calling multiple streets with hands that are rarely best by the river.
The Consequences:
- Death by a thousand cuts as small and medium pots slowly drain your bankroll
- Becoming a target for observant opponents who notice your tendency to call too widely
- Missing opportunities to bluff when you’ve trained opponents to expect calls
The Solution:
- Develop clear hand strength thresholds for different positions and betting streets
- Establish a “one and done” rule for certain marginal hands, calling once but folding to further aggression
- Study showdown frequencies of winning players, who typically see significantly fewer showdowns than average players
Professional cash game specialist Doug Polk recommends asking yourself: “What hands that beat me would my opponent play this way, and what hands that I beat would my opponent play this way?” If the former outweighs the latter, it’s usually time to fold.
Sin #3: Blind Level Anchoring
Many players base their buy-in strategies, game selection, and bankroll management on arbitrary dollar amounts rather than blind levels. This “anchoring bias” leads to poor decisions about which games to play and how to approach them.
The Consequences:
- Playing in games that are too large relative to your bankroll, creating unnecessary pressure
- Missing value in smaller games where your edge might be more significant
- Making decisions based on absolute dollar amounts rather than relative value
The Solution:
- Always think in terms of big blinds, not dollars
- Follow the 20-40 buy-in rule: your cash game bankroll should be at least 20-40 buy-ins for your regular game
- Make decisions about calling or raising based on pot size and SPR (stack-to-pot ratio) rather than absolute amounts
A $20 call in a 1/\2 game is 10 big blinds—a significant commitment. The same $20 in a 5/10 game is just 2 big blinds—often a mandatory call with most hands you’d continue with.
Sin #4: Position Negligence
Position is arguably the most powerful advantage in cash game poker, yet many players fail to adjust their strategy appropriately based on their place in the betting order.
The Consequences:
- Playing too many hands from early position, putting yourself at an information disadvantage
- Missing opportunities to exploit positional advantages with wider ranges in late position
- Facing difficult decisions out of position throughout multiple streets
The Solution:
- Use a precisely calibrated opening range chart based on position
- Tighten up dramatically in early position, especially in full-ring games
- In late position, look for opportunities to isolate weaker players who’ve entered the pot
- When out of position, consider using a check-raising strategy to regain initiative
Studies of winning cash game players show they play approximately 22% of hands from early position, 28% from middle position, and upwards of 40% from the button. Position should be the primary factor in deciding whether to enter a pot.
Sin #5: Failure to Table Select
One of the most significant edges in cash games isn’t found in optimal play—it’s found in choosing the right table. Many players ignore this aspect entirely, sitting down wherever there’s an open seat.
The Consequences:
- Finding yourself in lineups where everyone has an edge over you
- Missing the most profitable opportunities where recreational players are active
- Burning through your win rate by paying rake in games with minimal edges
The Solution:
- Always observe tables before sitting down
- Look for specific player types that signal profitable games:
- Multiple limpers (indicating passive play)
- Large stacks with loose preflop calling ranges
- Players who show emotion after hands (suggesting potential tilt)
- Be willing to change tables when the dynamics shift unfavorably
- Use table selection software online to identify the most profitable games
Professional players often say that choosing the right table is worth more than all the small strategic edges combined.
Sin #6: Auto-Pilot Play
After hours at the table, many players fall into predictable patterns, playing on “auto-pilot” rather than making each decision with full attention. This mental fatigue leads to missed opportunities and leaking chips.
The Consequences:
- Missing thin value betting opportunities
- Overlooking bluffing spots
- Failing to adjust to changing table dynamics
- Making mechanical decisions based on habit rather than the specific situation
The Solution:
- Set time limits for your sessions based on your attention span
- Take regular breaks every 60-90 minutes to reset mentally
- Use a pre-hand ritual to ensure you’re fully present (such as a deep breath before each decision)
- Keep a decision journal for hands played on auto-pilot to identify patterns
Professional player Fedor Holz recommends a technique called the “stop-breathe-think” method: before any significant decision, stop completely, take a deep breath, and think through the hand from the beginning.
Sin #7: Results-Oriented Thinking
Perhaps the most damaging mindset in cash game poker is evaluating decisions based on outcomes rather than process. This results-oriented thinking prevents improvement and leads to reinforcing bad habits that happened to work in specific instances.
The Consequences:
- Reinforcing poor plays that happened to succeed
- Abandoning sound strategies after short-term negative results
- Emotional decision-making based on recent outcomes
- Failure to develop a winning long-term approach
The Solution:
- Focus on EV (Expected Value) rather than actual results
- Track decisions rather than just wins and losses
- Analyze hands based on the information available at the time, not hindsight
- Study with peers or coaches who can provide objective feedback on your play
Establish a review routine where you analyze difficult decisions from your sessions, ideally with poker software or a coach to provide objective analysis of the mathematics behind each situation.
Conclusion
Cash game poker rewards those who avoid these seven deadly sins through discipline, strategic thinking, and continuous improvement. By developing a clear strategy, properly valuing hands, thinking in terms of big blinds, respecting position, selecting good tables, maintaining focus, and focusing on process over results, you’ll build a foundation for long-term cash game success.
Remember that avoiding mistakes is often more important than making brilliant plays in cash games. As legendary player Doyle Brunson noted, “The key to no-limit is to put a man to a decision for all his chips.” By avoiding these seven sins, you’ll ensure that you’re the one putting opponents to difficult decisions, not the other way around.
