Hi Neil, I have been on sky for a few years last 6 months playin more & like to think I do okay but I only MTT's & want to mix it up & improve my cash play but never really played cash poker. Any advice for starting out on cash games, like am starting on lower stakes & when I feel comfortable move up
Thanks
eddie18 (Edward Mulhall)
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My advice would be to make the most of the freebie learning resources available - There's plenty of micro stakes video content out there for nothing that will get your fundamentals sorted. I'd probably recommend playing some smaller stakes just to get a feel for it to begin with.
Main thing to be wary of with any learning for micro stakes is that you're not applying things that are too advanced, otherwise you'll find yourself overthinking things - "My opponent thinks I think this" whereas in reality he barely has a clue what's going on, never mind trying to work out what you're doing, and he is busy checking his hand rankings to see if his flush beats a full house or not.
If starting out at micros for cash, be aware that Sky is 7.5% rake at 4nl and 10nl, capped at £1.40/hand. This deters some grinders so you get softer games for these stakes on Sky, but it also eats into your win rate much more.
Other sites will have their own advantages/disadvantages, for instance all the big sites have global player bases, including countries where it's possible to make a living at 10nl due to the lower GDP per capita in those places, so if you move away from Sky you'll find yourself coming up against people playing for a living at what is very small stakes for us. (Hence the nitty Eastern European grinder stereotypes). Many other sites allow third party software, whereas Sky do not.
Although cash looks like the same game everywhere - 100 big blinds and two cards - The reality is completely different, so consider your choice of site carefully.
Personally I think despite the higher rake at micros, Sky is a pretty good choice of site for starting out at cash, because the games are decently beatable, not full of solid Eastern Europeans nitting up and taking your money which totally wipes out any benefit of lower rake elsewhere, and the games haven't got tables full of people with (legal) third party software that you would have to learn how to use just to be on par with them in terms of information.
Thanks for the reply first of all!! great advice there, I have played on other sites before but always end up back at sky, I like the players more of a community feel & as you said sky dont allow third party software.
Didnt know that about the smaller stakes thanks for the heads up.
If successful playin the way I am like just stickin with MTT's is it worth even mixing it up with cash??
Other things to consider - Depending when you play, there might not always be tournaments available to register, so the ability to open up some cash tables and know you can beat the games is a nice thing to have.
Most importantly, you've stated in the original post that you want to mix things up and improve your cash game. The enjoyment side of the game shouldn't be underestimated. If the challenge of learning something different is something you'll enjoy and it motivates you to play, then go for it IMO.
The only reason I can think not to play cash is if you turn out to be significantly worse at it (there are a few people where they excel at one format and others just aren't a good use of their time), but you won't know until you try. Tbh if you're putting the work in to improve your cash game then you'll be fine, especially at lower stakes where it's very much about having solid basics in place that others won't necessarily have.