This will probably be one of the most important online poker secrets that I could give to you.  This is for New Cash Game players – either transitioning from Online Poker Tournaments OR from Live Cash Games.

If you are going to be playing any No Limit or Pot Limit cash games (no matter what the game of poker is you are playing), you should have a minimum of 20x the max buy-in of the game in your bankroll.  For example, if you are starting to play 0.50/1 NL HE, the max buy-in at the table is usually $100.  Your bankroll should be at least $1,000.

You need to have a bankroll to sustain the swings, and if you choose to play a stake without the bankroll, you are putting yourself in a losing situation, no matter how good of a poker player you think you are!

If you are going to play a cash game, buy into a table with the maximum, not the minimum or any random number.  If you sit down at a texas holdem poker table (say 1/2 NL) with $40 instead of the maximum $200 – you are automatically going to be tagged as a fish by your opponents.  This may be what you want (so you get action) but the reality is, there are more efficient ways of tagging yourself as a fish!  If you want to get the maximum out of the table limit you are playing, then you have to have the maximum amount of money at the poker table!

In my honest opinion, you are much better off using slow playing tactics in a tournament than in a cash game.  The reason being this:

In a cash game, slow playing easily gets you into trouble, and you are risking a lot more money in these circumstances.  The long term gains of a cash game are relevant based on what happens over the next year, not necessarily what happens in a few sessions.  Bet all your strong hands strong, and you will get paid off in the long run.

In a tournament, your money is already invested.  Chips are generally managed more strictly and therefore; you have to take the best opportunities to build your stack gradually without risk.

Keep in mind my previous post however (Flopping a Monster).

I have been playing in poker tournaments online for about 6 or 7 years and cash games for about the same. I have to say that when you are playing in a tournament you have to play tight and try really hard not to lose chips. Chips are so valuable in online poker tournaments that you shouldn’t play hands that you can play in a cash game. Hands like 10J suited under the gun or even AJ suited should be folded in an online poker tournament, but I would easily consider raising with them in a cash game (depending on the play of opponents at the table of course).

The biggest difference is that if you lose your chips unnecessarily in a tournament you can’t reload them like you can in a cash game!