Cash Game Observations: Part I

I recently had the experience of playing a nice, long cash-game session at the Commerce Casino. Whenever I bust early from a major poker tournament, like I did at the LA Poker Classic, I make a point to put in as many hours as reasonably possible at the cash game tables in order to make good use of my time away from home. During this four day, 60-hour session, I got to play lots of fun hands, but today, I want to discuss a few of the errors I saw some of my opponents committing that certainly cut deeply into their profits. In part II of this article, which will be in the next issue, I will discuss errors that I made.

The first, most surprising trait some of my opponents had is that they almost never sleep. While playing 60 hours in four days seemed like a lot to me, there were at least four players who played significantly more hours than me. All of these players put in at least one 40 or more hour session, some playing nearly around the clock all four days. While I am all for playing as much as possible when the games are good, which they certainly were, if you are falling asleep at the table, you should probably take a break. I always make a point to end my current session whenever I get tired, totally lose focus, or simply do not want to play anymore. While this strategy may cost me a tiny bit of money, I am confident the hours I skip playing would not be too profitable, because I know that when I lose focus, I do not play well. I have figured out that taking time off to sleep drastically increases my win rate as well as my happiness.

I also noticed that many of my opponents would openly comment about how they were not paying attention and generally playing poorly. When you realize you are making errors, you should take some time away from the table to clear your mind and gather your thoughts. I almost feel as if most of my opponents were looking for excuses as to why they were getting demolished. While they figured out that their losses occur primarily because they are playing poorly, they failed to realize they needed to do something about it. This situation is similar to when someone who drinks too much alcohol realizes he drinks too much, but doesn’t do anything about it. If you want things to change for the better, you must make decisions that lead to positive change, even if they are difficult or feel unnatural. If you continue indulging in the same destructive behavior, in this case, playing when you aren’t thinking clearly, you are destined to lose.

Another error I witnessed has to deal with how players think about money. I heard a few “regular” players talk about how they play $10-$20 every day for four hours and win $1,000 every time. While, to me, this sounds so ignorant that I initially thought they must be joking, it became clear they were dead serious. When you sit down to a cash game, you must realize that you make some hourly rate. Even if you make $250 per hour, which would be an excellent win rate at $10-$20, you will have huge swings, sometimes losing $5,000 and sometimes winning $5,000. There is no way anyone can reliably play exactly four hours every day and win $1,000. Poker simply doesn’t work like that.

I also saw numerous players who were overly concerned with how they were doing during the current session. It was as if these players thought the result of an individual day of play matters in the long run. Especially when playing slow live poker, you will have giant swings on a yearly basis, especially if you play sporadically. If you put in 30 hours per week and you know you win $100 per hour because you kept diligent records over the past five years, where you put in 30 hours each week, you know you should expect to make around $12,000 per month. Even though you expect to make $12,000 per month, it is not uncommon at all to have a losing month or a $20,000 winning month. Since monthly swings are huge, it should not be surprising that daily swings are gigantic. In general, if you win around 65 percent of the time, you should be happy, assuming your losses and wins are of roughly the same size. You do not want to be the guy who wins 95 percent of the time, but when he wins, he wins $200 and when he loses, he loses $5,000. That will not work out for you in the long run.

I strongly suggest you take a step back and assess your general behavior at and away from the poker table. If you can pinpoint and address your traits that cost you equity, you will be well on your way to success. ♠

Jonathan Little, 2-time World Poker Tour champion has won more than $6 million in tournaments since 2006. He is sponsored by 3bet.com, Instapoker and BlueSharkOptics and teaches poker at FloatTheTurn.com and www.JonathanLittleSecrets.com. Follow him on Twitter @ JonathanLittle.