Cash games aren’t profitable

[bmw1983kaz]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

 

[Emily Trott]

I don't play sit and goes, but enjoy both MTTs and cash games. If your style for cash games isn't working and you're playing no limit, why not try limit games if they're available?

 

[dreamer13]

It is more of a form of entertainment with minimal chance of making a significant income.Cash is better in terms of money per hour if you are equally skilled in both places.Many people cash to make a living and fund tournaments for the big money that can change their lives.

 

[john_entony]

I enjoy playing cash games in live poker. I don't feel bad about paying a commission to the poker place for the emotions I get at the table. But I rarely play cash games in online poker, only when I need to win back bonus money or complete a challenge from a poker room.

 

[yuya]

How about turning off auto-reload and setting a limit on the amount you can use for play?

 

[Station_Master]

Cash can certainly be profitable but you need to play well. Sure variance affects things short term, but longer term its about how good your strategy is v your opponents (and the rake)

 

[fundiver199]

but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them.

If you think, 20-30 SnGs is a big sample, then you are nowhere near the point, where you would be able to get close to your true long term results in any game format. For cash games there is still somewhat large variance over as many as 100.000 hands.

And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me.

Cash games tend to play with deeper stacks than SnGs, except for the very first blind level. This mean, that you sometimes need to fold fairly strong hands like top pair or an overpair. The "shitty beats" might be you playing poorly by losing to much, when your one pair hand is no good and need to be checked for pot control or even folded.

 

[SPANKYSN]

I play both MTTs and cash. I enjoy cash more live...it gives you a social aspect of the game...sometimes you get a friendly and chatty table; sometimes nobody says anything beyond, "call, check, raise and all-in". I tend to play live on vacation, so I'm already in a good space mentally...win or lose, I have fun...not so much at home online...it becomes more of a business, make the money type of thing.
As far as the money aspect goes, I am up and down in cash games, but I usually get my starting stack from MTTs and freerolls.

 

[userX]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

I understand what you're talking about. What you described is exactly the reason why I stopped playing cash games and focused only on freerolls and MTT tournaments. And I can say that after that my results changed dramatically, I started to withdraw money regularly. So, draw your own conclusions

 

[Poker Orifice]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

breakeven after 20-30 games is a great result! If you were to check stats. on an average $10-$20 SnG on 888Poker you might find something like maybe 2 players are profitable at that format, another 2 might be close to breakeven and the other 5 are losing players. (I actually just did this a moment ago prior to seeing this thread). Like all of the games 'these days' (and for the past 10years), one needs to really FOCUS on a particular format, play it exclusively and STUDY to get better. If you're not doing this, you're not going to win in the longrun... there's just too much competition in the games these days (even in some of the lowest of stakes).

I can sense that cash game might not be for you from your post. Suggesting that the auto top-up feature is some sort of negative aspect tells me that you're not going into those games with full intentions of getting max. value on your hands. One should always be sitting with a minimum of 100bb's in their stack. Personally I play 'fast fold' format (Z00M, FastForward, SNAP, BOOST, etc.), ALWAYS have auto-top-up activated (you can choose to not use this feature but why would anyone (who wants to win) choose to do this?), *but in most cases I will leave the player pool once my stack exceeds ~140bb's and then re-join at 100bb's (*there's a few reasons I do this but am not disclosing my thought process behind it).

When I first began playing online poker I played a bit of everything but then I found that I enjoyed playing MTT's the most (followed by SnG's) and because of this I found it easier to STUDY the games. I also liked that you paid the 1 buyin and that was it. I think more of the newer(new'ish') crowd also prefers to play MTT's and because of this, they can be more profitable (for those willing to a) put in the Volume b) put in time to STUDY )

 

[gloria_marga]

You're wrong. But you should understand that cash games are played differently than any other tournament. I recommend watching a video of how cash games are played and adapting your style of play to that.

 

[eetenor]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

Errors are magnified when playing cash games because you can lose 100bb or more each hand. As well cash games are full street games so having a good preflop range is only the start to how to win. Each street adds in more and more decisions which means more and more chances to make errors.

 

[budaloto]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

You are absolutely right, MTT is so good, especially if you play bounty, you can get your buy-in before ITM and extra cash.

 

[Magallaneroy]

Yes they are, but you need to play mid and high level, because in micro stakes there are some crazy poker players.

 

[okeedokalee]

If your playing for cash on most sites these day your probably being opposed by AI, don't waste your money.

 

[Colbefc]

Trying 20-30 sit n go's is pointless, you need to play hundreds if not thousands before you
know if they are profitable for you.
The same with cash games, you need thousands of hands before you know if they are profitable for you.

By all means try all forms of poker but play a sensible amount of hands before deciding if they are profitable
for you or not.

 

[Station_Master]

Yes they are, but you need to play mid and high level, because in micro stakes there are some crazy poker players.

So you are saying micro stakes are harder than mid and high level games. Please jump into 500 zoom and report back...

 

[Evan Jarvis]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

I was the same, starting out with SNGs and really liking them

Tried going to MTTs and had difficulty, why? because it requires a different approach to profit in the format!

Same was true for Cash Games, but by studying winning approaches and staying sharp I was able to do quite well in them

But again, different format, no antes, deep stacks, and it requires a different approach.

Fortunately lots of great content out there for learning (including free) like the cardschat course

They aren't as exciting as tourneys, but for making consistent money, and for like making a living, I think cash games are top top.

 

[Evan Jarvis]

Completely agree they can be great for social (if you get the right table)

I play both MTTs and cash. I enjoy cash more live...it gives you a social aspect of the game...sometimes you get a friendly and chatty table; sometimes nobody says anything beyond, "call, check, raise and all-in". I tend to play live on vacation, so I'm already in a good space mentally...win or lose, I have fun...not so much at home online...it becomes more of a business, make the money type of thing.
As far as the money aspect goes, I am up and down in cash games, but I usually get my starting stack from MTTs and Freerolls.

That's one reason I like playing smaller stakes when I play live too, most people are less stressed out when playing for smaller stakes and thereby more likely to be enjoying themselves.

 

[hay734]

Online is hard , high rake

 

[mclay]

For me anyways… but seriously, I tried Sit and goes before was break even after doing 20-30 of them. And that was playing loose aggressive, but I seems to loose money on cash tables after bunch shitty beats -doing that reinforce the idea that cash isn’t for me. I don’t like that you can just reload more money without thinking, I suppose with MMTs you only loose the buy-in? Is this just me or does anybody else feel the same about cash games?

The majority of those who play poorly think that they lose only because of bad beats.

 

[Evan Jarvis]

The majority of those who play poorly think that they lose only because of bad beats.

When you win it's because you played great / are a genius

When you lose it's because you got unlucky / the poker gods were against you!

xD