It might seem strange to you. Maybe a little obvious. But there's something I need to get off my chest. I love cash games. Most poker players have played their fair share, of course. However, sometimes one can get stuck in a bit of a tournament/sit and go rut.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. But it's worth reminding ourselves from time to time what pure joy a cash game can bring to a poker player of any level.

Cash games explained

If you're totally new to poker, perhaps you haven't heard the term cash game before. Then let me explain. These games are always running and are ready for you to join or leave at any time. Some of the players at the table could be playing for hours, whereas others have just sat down.

This leads to an exciting mix of people at the table. Cash game tables cover a vast amount of stake levels and here the blinds directly represent cash. For example, you can play at a table with €0.01/€0.02 blinds (representing small and big, respectively) and choose how much you want to sit down at the table with.

You could decide to just sit down and play with €0.80 worth of chips, representing 40 big blinds or go 10x as high if you're in the mood for a longer session. Just as your chips represent real monetary values, so does every single pot in the game.

It's possible to leave at any stage during the cash game, so if you've hit a big pot, you can decide to take your winnings and go. Similarly, if you're going through a losing streak, you can decide to cut your losses and head off.

Flexibility

One of the major things that makes me love cash games is the flexibility they can afford you across so many different areas. You can decide to schedule a certain amount of time to your poker session and stick to it to the second. When it comes to tournaments, it's often just no possible to know how long they'll go on for (and how long you'll last in them!).

It's also easy to stick to a budget because you simply decide the maximum amount you want to buy in for and you can leave after that's done. Equally, if you've got a little bit extra in your budget, you can decide to top up your session if you're really enjoying the action at the table.

Having said that, if you're not crazy about the action at a particular table, you can always leave and try something else.

Similarly, managing your bankroll is quite simple at cash game tables too. You can have a target of winnings you'd like to hit before leaving. Or you can set a maximum loss figure too, because as we all know, chasing your losses is never smart.

Then once you hit either, you can say adios and leave the rest of the players to it.

And if you're a person who loves multitabling, cash games are perfectly suited for that. Sometimes multi tabling tournaments can be a little hectic, especially if you end up final tabling at a few at the same time.

But when it comes to cash games, the action is generally spread a little more evenly across your session, as opposed to a high concentration of excitement at the end.

A rose by any other name…

At certain online poker rooms, you might be keeping an eye out for cash games but come up with zilch. Well that's because cash games aren't the only term they go by. In some places, you might also see them referred to as ring games. But don't worry, they really are the same thing.

If you love cash games, where's the best place to play them?

Now that I've finished gushing about our love of cash games, I'm betting that you're itching to play a few. Although you can find cash games in practically every online poker room, there are some sites that do them a lot better than others.

One of my favourites is bet365. That's because they've got a whole range of stakes, ranging from micro to nosebleed, a whole lot of action and a really nice interface. So if you're looking for somewhere, I'd suggest checking them out if you haven't already. And don't forget to sign up using this bet365 bonus code, while you're at it.

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