Below is a list of the 5 most important aspects of having a solid poker cash game, I have used these tips to make a poker a very profitable hobby for me.
Play tight. In cash games the blinds levels never increase, the only way to change blinds is to move to a different table. This is important because, unlike tournament poker, you don't ever have to change your pre-flop hand selection. You can wait for your premium hands, and let the other players lose their cash with mediocre-weak hands. To make a profit from cash games, you must learn to be patience, poker is not a game for the restless.
Choose the best table. This is probably the tip that will increase your profits the most. If you are capping yourself at a certain blind level (you normally want 200x big blinds at the table), then use the search function, which almost all poker rooms have, and find the largest 'average pot'. Tables with large average pots mean players are betting their money wildly, and it becomes an ideal place to make a profit.
Bet before you call. The general rule of thumb is: you need to have a better hand to call than you do to raise. If you call a bet, you learn nothing about their hand, you don't increase the pot (by as much as a raise would do) and you don't give yourself the chance to win the pot there and then. If you don't have a made hand (e.g. flush or straight draw), make the bet anyway! You could win the pot, you could hit the flush or straight on the next card or you could get re-raised. Even if you do get re-raised, you have learnt a lot about your opponent's hand, and you can re-evaluate your next decision.
Take your time. If you have your hard earned cash on the table, you should take the time to think through every decision with detail. Think through how your opponent has acted in previous hands, what he could have that beats you, what he could have that you beat and whether you have the Expected Value to call.
Bully the weak players. No, I don't mean call them names - bully them at poker. If a player is playing timidly, and is folding anything but aces, you must be a predator and extract as much money out of him as possible. If he re-raises you, you know he has the nuts, which makes your decision easy!
Cash games are arguably the most lucrative and consistently profitable type of poker available on the internet. To profit from poker successfully, you must practise and practise these tips.
