Earning More Money "Faster", at Higher Stakes Cash Games
Friday, April 8, 2011 6:18 PM
If you're a cash games player, you no doubt have gone through many days or nights when playing at a $1/$2 NL cash game can get very frustrating, especially after you spent 4 hours going from a $200 buy-in to having $400 in front of you, to then having a bad beat in the 5th hour reducing your bankroll back down to only $120 ...after meeting a bad beat hand of your flush running into an opponent's full house.It can be frustrating to play lower stakes cash games and trying to earn / grind a living playing poker. Reason being, is that for a player who typically buys in at the $200 level on a $1/$2 NL hold'em cash game, will find it very hard to make his/her $200 net profit at the end of the night, trying to realize a 100% profit from a $200 cash game bankroll ....to cashing out at $400 at the end of the day, with a $200 profit.
Playing at much higher stakes in poker (ie: $10/$20 blinds), can often sometimes make it easier and faster for players to earn serious money, without having to take all the risks that a player normally would have to take in a lower stakes $1/$2 NL cash game, in order to turn a good profit for the day.For example, if a player wants to realize a $200 net profit in playing poker for a day in a $1/$2 cash game with a $200 buy-in, he/she would have to realize a 100% profit on their initial bankroll to make their $200 daily profit. In a $10/$20 NL cash game, a player that starts with a $2,000 buy-in bankroll, would only have to realize a 10% profit in order to make the same $200 daily earnings.
Trying to make $20 (10% profit) with a $200 buy-in no problem, but trying to make $200 (100% profit) with a starting bankroll of $200, not that easy!
So the pressure from a $1/$2 lower stakes cash game is much higher, as the player would have to realize a 100% profit to make their $200 net gain ...and in the $10/$20 high stakes cash game, the player would only have to turn a 10% profit in order to make the same $200 at the end of the day.
The risks associated with making $200 are much much higher in low stakes cash games than that in higher stakes cash games. Basically a $200 profit can be realized in one (1) strong hand/pot in a $10/$20 blind level game, versus having to grind all day and having to go perhaps all-in in $1/$2 NL games. The need for taking risks is diminished and any need for putting yourself all-in is diminished in higher stakes cash games. Playing tighter big hands and picking your spots, is the ultimate outcome in high stakes cash games and no need to go all-in on draws or coin toss situations. Ultimately, it will be easier and faster for poker players to realize net profits in higher stakes NL hold'em cash games, so please remember that if your poker budget can permit playing with a $2,000 buy-in ....you are better off playing at a $10/$20 NL cash game rather than grinding the $1/$2 tables and you will find it easier to make significant returns in your poker bankroll playing at higher stakes cash games, without having to take on the risks associated with lower stakes cash games.