"Stud 8 Cash, Part I: Leading the Herd"

Why didn't anyone ever tell me that cash is king? I have been terrorizing the Stud 8 tables lately. For starters, I've come to the realization that cash games completely fit my style, where tourneys go against it.

Cash is all about making the most right choices, getting paid for hands and not paying off others. In a tourney, the blinds/structure will often dictate calling when a fold would be correct, and I end up busting with a hand I knew was behind. Conversely, often players have no grasp of what their "sunk costs" are for the tourney, and go with the "fuck it, I don't believe you, I call" attitude. This can be extremely rewarding/devastating in a tournament, but in a cash game it's the best way to win $1 for every $4 lost.

Novice poker strategy in 2 parts:

a) Play according to a static gameplan. Some are rocks, some are aggro-donks, some are CALLING STATIONS OMG HE'S SHOWING AA7A WHERE DID I PUT THAT FOLD BUTTON OH WELL CALL.
b) Very occasionally, vary the strategy based on a gut feeling or pride/tilt.

At a low limit stud table, 5-7 of the players will be novices. Therefore, they are used to playing against other novices, and have developed strategies for that. Here, unpredictability and variation will have them lining up to hand over their money. Here's the cast:

(44%) Player Z is playing for fun, no theory, no ability, generally donating to whomever shows up. If you can't beat this guy...

(40%) Player A is a standard aggro donkey, who will play any A, bet any hand showing quality like A26. Favorite bad raise: split 99, TT, JJ, QQ. They are used to timid players folding to their aggression, and tend to tilt if that doesn't happen. So, MINDFUDGE them. Call down chasing a couple of hands to show them that "I don't care about money, I'm just here to prove I'm the best player evar." Sucking out one or more times is a bonus, but not necessary. They will feel threatened, and dial up the aggression in response. Now, sit back and play solid poker, and watch in amazement as they pay you off to the river every time.

(10%) Player B is a timid rock, who has little risk, but even littler profit potential. Trying to beat a $3 rake in a $1/$2 split game requires playing more hands than just the nuts, but he doesn't care. Afraid to be wrong, he doesn't get paid what he should for his big hands, and can be pushed out of pots through calculated aggression. Favorite bad raise: the nuts. He limped xx4, but now 3-bets xx48 on 4th street. There is a 98% chance he has 88 (68%) or AA (30%) in the hole. Play accordingly (translation: fold), and don't worry about them changing his style. Plenty of "Player A" money to pay him off and keep him happy until he gets the nuts again in an hour. Harass (raise) his bring-ins and limps, he HATES that, and it sets him up to fold when he misses on later streets. Finally, remember, he believes what you tell him. Raise xxQ and he will believe xQQ, limp with Q and he assumes flush draw, smaller pair, etc. Use this against him.

(5%) Player C is the last type, rare, but accustomed to owning these tables. Aggressive like A, but betting for value like B, he is capable of laying down hands, but only if 2 cards behind. Favorite bad raise: 378, 267. Also, not coincidentally, favorite bad overcall. Dominating these players requires a little more finesse, a little more gamesmanship, but if he's at your table, he's the only one so it's simple. Camouflage yourself as a Player A, and just play solid poker. I like to present the full package, complete with whining, misquoting outs/pot odds, and belittling his plays, even/especially when actually correct plays. We can shave 80% of their profit from the table without them really noticing. There is one player on Absolute Poker who actually stands up when I sit at his table now. Kudos for recognizing that the gravy train is gone, but seriously weak. Me, I'm glad to see him go, don't need the competition.

Now, imagine you're at a NLHE table, tourney or cash, trying to classify player JoeDirtBall. Making up some numbers, if he plays 10% of hands and shows down 30% of those, we only see 3/100 hands he plays. How are we supposed to get a read on him? Now, imagine you get to see his cards in fully 50% of the hands, whether he folds or goes to the river. Getting a read now?

Stud (and to a lesser extent, limit Omaha) forces players to reveal significant information EVERY HAND. In 5 minutes, I can draw a map of the table, and while I'm always looking to fine-tune player habits, it's rarely necessary. If players were more variable, this couldn't happen, but...

(cue rapid crescendo in the orchestral score)

Unpredictability has irreplaceable value in cash games.

In a tourney, we are all staring at a finite number of hands, and we're all predictable in one sense: eventually the blinds catch up and we're forced to put our chips in the middle.
In cash games, we're playing somewhere in the middle of an infinite succession of hands, and no hand is more important or worth more than the next/previous.

In a tourney, people change tables all the time. Making a loose call, showing a bluff, or otherwise advertising is all lost once the table busts.
In a cash game, these plays enable our biggest profits. If I've put you to sleep, WAKE UP, this is important!

Almost all players work within a limited context, especially when playing repetitive hands in a cash game. The context consists of two parts:

1. "I know my strategy and how I play my cards."
2. "I know what kind of players cause me and my strategy lots of trouble, and I generally know how to adjust for them."

I like to think of #2 as an empty box, waiting for a stamp, like in a passport. Once they see us play that certain way, that opposite, countering way, they stamp the box labeling us for good. And that is exactly the desired result. Despite all of the other information we may give out over the course of the next few hours, they are so happy to know something to be true, that rarely will they ever modify that impression. People LOVE TO KNOW THINGS, love to know "THE TRUTH". (Zen says to drop all knowledge...hmmm maybe that somehow applies)

In this manner, in 10 minutes I find myself at a table with:

• 2 Player A's who think I'm a "Z",
• 1 Player B who thinks I'm an "A"
• 1 Player C who thinks I'm an "A"
• 3 player Z's (who might know what day it is)

One time is all it takes. Show them ONE TIME that I don't play like them, and they are forced to lump me in the only other possibility, that I'm the opposite. From then on, every time I win a hand, it's because I'm lucky. Which is so obviously true.

Stay tuned for "Stud 8 Cash, Part II: Actual Game Strategy, Starting Hand Requirements, etc." (coming soon)