How To Crush Low Limit Cash Games

Get a Free Training Package at PokerHeadRush.com

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “how do you crush low-limit cash games?”

This is a fair question to ask. Most of us start at low-limit cash, and we would like to dominate this level before we move up in stakes.

I literally could talk about how to beat low-limit games for tens of hours. There are so many fun exploitative intricacies at this level of play. However, for our purposes today, we will focus on some quick tips that can help your game immediately.

Winning Is A Matter Of Patience

You can remove the bluff from your game at this level.

Most of your opponents will be casual players. They are unlikely to be good at folding. If you wait for premiums, you can still beat these games.

If you’re playing with players who are experienced with deep stacks, you can know that they won’t stack off with one pair nearly as much. However, in most small markets, where people are playing with around 100 big blinds, there is a tendency to overcommit once one person hits the flop in some fashion. You will get many turn calls you do not deserve given your tight image. You will even get a number of river calls you don’t deserve.

Raise Larger Preflop

You can even go to two times the size of the pot.

The people in your games will not be paying great attention to the pot size. They want to gamble. They want to see the flop. This is all for fun. That’s why raise sizes in cash games tend to be larger than tournament raise sizes. Everyone knows they can just reload if they don’t hit their hand.

You can take advantage of this with your premium hands. Raise large. Raise larger than you are comfortable with. You will be amazed by what casual players call down with.

Squeeze More

If people are cold calling with Q-8 suited and J-10 offsuit then you can reraise more often if the initial raiser is loose. Your A-Q offsuit could be a premium here.

Most people are afraid to squeeze large preflop because if they miss the flop, they feel silly. They feel like they put in too many chips with not much of a hand. They feel that other players might be judging them.

So, what they do instead is cold call all the time. The problem with cold calling with your big cards is that these big cards make pairs. If you are playing multiway pots then pairs oftentimes become great second best hands. Second best hands are expensive. If the pot gets large multiway, it is likely the best hand is two pair or better.

If you can get heads up with one recreational player, however, you can dominate much of their opening range. Your pairs will have more value in this pot.

Value Bet More

If you are playing less than 100 big blinds a lot of your opponents will go to the felt with pairs.

The most frequent pair they will not be able to fold is an overpair. They will also have difficulty folding top pairs.

For this reason, you should test the limits of what you can get away with value betting. If you believe your top pair is best even without a great kicker, you should be thinking three streets. You don’t need to bomb on each street, but you can bet something.

In my opinion, you are not value betting enough until you are accidentally value betting the second-best hand.

You should especially go after people who open too much, people who limp half their hands, and people who call out of the big blind with any two cards.

Find Out Who Never Bluffs And Never Pay Them Off

Many people sit around all day to make the nuts.

This is how they blow off steam. They go to the cardroom, they talk with the dealers, and they wait for big hands. They don’t need to rush anything. They’ve learned not to overcommit. These are the players who are a touch better than the recreational sort.

Versus these players, you need to be willing to fold big hands. If you play session after session with them and never see them get caught bluffing, then stop believing they can do so. No one is that good of a bluffer. Everyone gets caught at some point.

Once you know an opponent does not have a bluff in their game you can exploit them to a huge degree. You can refuse to pay them off at all times. This will frustrate them. They are waiting for hours for a big hand and then you are giving them nothing!

Low-limit cash game tables are full of fun exploits, but for now these tips should give you a head start. Good luck to you. ♠

Learn how to play A-K when it misses the flop!

Alexander Fitzgerald is a professional poker player and bestselling author who currently lives in Denver, Colorado. He is a WPT and EPT final tablist, and has WCOOP and SCOOP wins online. His most recent win was the $250,000 Guaranteed on ACR Poker. He currently enjoys blasting bums away in Ignition tournaments while he listens to death metal. Free training packages of his are provided to new newsletter subscribers who sign up at PokerHeadRush.com