Winning at Low Limit Cash Games

Part 1 - Patience

When I first started going to casinos, my attitude was how much money was I willing to lose here. It was a bad attitude, but it was my reality. I could not win at low-limit tables. It got to the point where I just stopped going, because I couldn't figure out how to beat the game.

Here are things that I observed while losing:

1. The rake is too high. I began to notice that not only was I not winning at $1/$2 and $2/$4 but everyone at the table was losing too. My stack and their stack was diminishing rapidly. The only way to beat the rake is to win a lot of large pots and stop donating to the rake.
2. Luck is too expensive. Yes, there are times that if you play 7-2 suited or not you will flop the 7-7-2 full house. But you have to pay $1 every time you get 7-2 to find out. You'll lose more often hoping to get "lucky" than you'll win.
3. If you "chase" to the river, you'll most likely let your chips get away. If you call every hand to the river, you're spending a minimum of $6 in $1/$2 and $12 in $2/$4 to hope to win. Chasing is a great way to see your stack disappear quickly.

Let me share some of my Low Limit Poker secrets. The first as you can tell is patience.

Starting Hand Selection

By patience, I mean having good starting hand selection. You can buy any good on Hold'em and they all have various criteria for starting hands. I suggest you buy one of them for a good starting hand chart. In fact, I recommend Sklansky.

Here's my general criteria. I play Aces with good kickers. King suited with even better kickers. Most pocket pairs. Large cards and suited connectors. I'll also play cards with ranks with one gap in between but never lower than J-9.

Position, Position, Position

By patience, I play the above selection with position narrowing down the list. Here's the general principal: Play incredibly tight in early position and play the above criteria on the button.

Wait

By patience, I mean just that...be patient. Wait for a good starting hand. If that means you sit there and pay off your blinds for three rounds without playing a hand. That means sit there and wait.

Here are some things to do while you're waiting for good cards:

1. Watch the other players. Look at what kind of cards they play. Look at their faces on the flop. Look at how their chips are thrown in.
2. Talk to other players. Be nice and get to know the people around you. Let them know they played a good hand (even if they didn't).
3. Laugh. Tell some jokes. People play looser when they're laughing.

Why you can't get lucky

Why be patient. Let's say that I have K-7. There are some inherent problems. Sure you could flop a full-house, but how often does that happen. Not enough to meet the right pot odds for calling. You could flop top pair, but you have a weak kicker. You could pair the 7, but now you'll most likely have several overcards.

Patience will pay off. The only way to win in low limit cash games is to win big pots. Big pots are won with straights, flushes and full-houses. Top pair and two pairs are good hands but they won't win large pots and they are going to lose more often.

Part 2 - More Pre Flop Action

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