![Cash Game](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Cash_Game.jpg)
Cash games, also sometimes referred to as ring games or live action games, are
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
games played with "real"
chips
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...
and money at stake, often with no predetermined end time, with players able to enter and leave as they see fit. In contrast, a
poker tournament
A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a "heads up poker, heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on th ...
is played with tournament chips worth nothing outside the tournament, with a definite end condition (usually, only one player left), and a specific roster of competitors.
Rules
Players may freely buy into or
cash
In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.
In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...
out of a cash game between hands.
[Kinds of games: Ring games vs. tournaments](_blank)
However, it is normally prohibited for a player to remove a portion of his or her chips from the table. This is known as "
going south".
[Faith, Hope and Ratholing](_blank)
/ref> For example, if a player buys in for $100, then wins $100 (for a total stack of $200), the player may not remove the original $100 buy-in while remaining seated. He would have to forfeit his seat, possibly wait to rejoin the game, and buy in again for $100; however, many cardrooms prohibit the practice of buying in again unless a certain time period has elapsed before the player rejoins. Similarly, cash games are played for table stakes. If a player attempts to put additional money onto the table (from his/her wallet) in the middle of a hand, he may not do so until the conclusion of said hand.
In "no limit" poker cash games, some cardrooms have a maximum buy-in for cash games. In limit poker games, there is seldom a maximum buy-in because betting limits already limit the amount a player can wager on each hand.
In a casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
, a rake is usually taken from a pot if a flop is shown and the pot reaches certain values.[How to Calculate the Rake in Poker](_blank)
/ref> Some games take a time rake instead of a pot rake. In these games players pay a seat charge every half-hour.
Ring games
While the terms "ring game" and "cash game" are often considered synonymous in common usage, opinion differs on the true definition of "ring game". For example, in the glossary of Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...
's '' Super System 2'', a ring game is defined as "''A game with a player in every seat, that is, a full gameāas opposed to a shorthanded game''". As such, the term "cash game" may be considered a more precise depiction of the kind of game commonly found in most casinos or home venues; that is, a non-tournament game played for actual money (or chips representing actual money), without regard for the number of players seated at the table at any given time.
Comparison with tournament games
Tournaments and cash games have different basic strategies. One difference between tournaments and cash games is that the blind/ante structure of tournaments increases periodically over the course of the tournament, whereas the blind/ante structure of cash games remains constant. Another difference between the tournaments and cash games is that a tournament sticks with a predetermined style of poker, and cash game players, depending on house rules
House rules are unofficial modifications to official game rules adopted by individual groups of players. House rules may include the removal or alteration of existing rules, or the addition of new rules. Such modifications are common in board g ...
, may have the option of playing other types of card games. Some online cash games offer a variety of choices limited only by the game software.
Other differences between cash games and tournament poker are that, in cash games sometimes straddles and chops
CHOPS is the stage name of Scott Jung, also known as Scott Chops Jung, an Asian American hip hop producer, rapper and former member of the Asian American Hip-Hop group, the Mountain Brothers. Jung grew up in Philadelphia and has Chinese ancestry ...
are allowed. A live straddle is a dark bet of two big blinds by the player first to act, who is then entitled to bet again if the bet is not raised. A chop is an agreement between the players in the blinds to retract their blind bets if no one else has bet. A chop prevents the casino from taking a rake from the pot. Also, cash games sometimes allow players to reduce the element of luck (often called "variance
In probability theory and statistics, variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its population mean or sample mean. Variance is a measure of dispersion, meaning it is a measure of how far a set of numbers ...
", especially by professional players) by splitting large all-in pots. Since online platforms can instantly calculate each player's pot equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
* Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the dif ...
at the time they go all-in, some online cash games allow such pots to be split based on this equity. Players who opt for such an arrangement will receive a share of the pot based on his or her odds of winning (from the time all players still in the pot exposed their cards) once all of the cards have been dealt. An alternative method of reducing variance, used both online and in live games, is to run the board multiple times to ensure that the person with the best odds of winning gets the largest share of the pot more often.
Examples
An example of a cash game is broadcast on the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
subscription-based streaming service PokerGO
PokerGO is an over-the-top content platform based in Las Vegas, Nevada. PokerGO was launched in 2017 as a subscription-based streaming service offering poker centric online streaming.
The content offered on PokerGO includes poker tournaments, ...
as ''High Stakes Poker
''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran fr ...
''. The Bellagio casino
Bellagio is a resort, luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. Bellagio was conceived by casino owner Steve Wynn, and was built on the f ...
's " Big Game" is a high-stakes permanent cash game, featuring a wide variety of rotating poker games with and without limits.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cash Game
Poker gameplay and terminology