Getting Started: Patience and Position
Simply put, when you do decide to play hands, most of those hands really should be from late position. Since you get to act after others after the flop, you can open up your range of starting hands and play more when you are in late position. Meanwhile, tighten up a bit from middle position and even more from early position.
Continuing with our discussion of getting started in cash games, we have talked about sorting out what is available in the lobby and finding the right game for you. We've also gone over buying in and posting. Now that you've taken a seat at a cash game table, let's focus on a couple of ideas that might enable you to keep that seat for a while and perhaps even leave it with more than what you brought -- being patient and valuing position.
Here I am focusing on full-ring -- that is, nine-handed -- no-limit hold'em cash games. Remember, there are also six-max games available (i.e., six-handed) as well as heads-up. Those games necessarily are going to feature more action and less folding. In six-max games you'll be getting involved a lot and in heads-up games you'll be right there in every hand.
But in full-ring, nine-handed games you will -- indeed you should -- be prepared to let a lot of hands go and be patient. You also will want early on to learn about and understand the value of playing from position.
Starting Hand Selection: Patience
Poker is not like other casino games such as blackjack, although some players approach it as if it were.
In blackjack, you are always placing wagers and making decisions -- that is, you are putting chips at risk constantly and winning or losing something every single hand. However, in no-limit hold'em you might fold hands before the flop and risk nothing at all. In fact, if you're a good player, you're probably folding a lot.
In no-limit hold'em, you begin with two hole cards -- your "starting hand" -- which even before the flop comes can be judged according to relative strength.
Obviously hands like A-A and K-K are the best you can get to start out, meaning you can put in raises before the flop with them and start building a pot. Other pocket pairs or hands like A-K or A-Q are nice starters, too, while other hands like "suited connectors" (discussed below) can be playable as well. Meanwhile, the majority of starting hands are not really worth risking chips over -- I mean "trash" hands like J-2 or 8-3.
In fact, solid winning no-limit hold'em players often only play about 15-20% of their hands in full-ring games. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Of course, the great thing about no-limit hold'em is there is no single winning strategy. Some players play relatively "tight" thus only get involved about 15% of the time, while other (usually more experienced) players can play a "loose" style -- perhaps even 30% of hands or more -- and still win.
For players first starting out, I recommend sticking with a "tight" style for three main reasons. The first is that by doing so you can accumulate experience without risking too much. The second is by being patient and mainly playing premium or very good starting hands, you minimize difficult decisions since playing subpar hands is often trickier.
Finally, a third reason why I recommend a tight, conservative style for those getting started in "micro" or low stakes cash games is that there are a lot of loose, undisciplined players at these limits, which means showing even just a little patience is often going to be a winning strategy.
That's right -- just waiting for good hands playing like a "nit" really can work at these limits, which means you can actually win while learning -- something that isn't always so easy to accomplish in other casino games.
Starting Hand Selection: Position
So I say be patient and perhaps only play 15% of hands or thereabouts, but what does that mean, really? Let me talk a little about specific hands you might include among those you are willing to play when starting out in full-ring, no-limit hold'em cash games. And in fact, there's no way to talk about starting hand selection without also talking about the importance of position.
Simply put, when you do decide to play hands, most of those hands really should be from late position (the button, the cutoff seat, and the "hijack" seat). Since you get to act after others after the flop, you can open up your range of starting hands and play more when you are in late position. Tighten up a bit from middle position (the middle two seats), and even more from early position (the small and big blinds, under the gun, and UTG+1).
The blinds are actually kind of a special case, since there you've already committed chips before the cards are dealt and thus might well see more flops as a result. But still try to be conservative when playing from the blinds -- that is, if people are raising, don't go calling with bad hands from the blinds.
Here's a rough idea of hands you might consider playing, according to position:
As far as the blinds go, your starting hand selection there actually can resemble the LP (late position) range. That is, you can sometimes call raises with these hands, or reraise with your monster hands like the biggest pocket pairs or A-K. But you should lean toward being tight here and letting a lot of hands go because it is always harder to play after the flop from out of position.
The main point to keep in mind here is that you should fold most hands when under the gun and one seat over from under the gun (UTG+1), still be very selective in the middle position seats, and only open up in late position -- although even there I'm suggesting you mainly stick with strong starting hands or at least hands with a lot of potential.
If the table folds to you, most often come in with a raise with these hands, as that will increase your chance of only having to play against one or two opponents, hopefully having position on them, too. If there is a raise before it gets to you, you should throw away all but the very best hands when in early or middle position, but sometimes call from late position with the upper part of the range.
These are just general guidelines, of course, but as I say for the beginning player it can be a big help to follow these two basic ideas -- (1) show patience and thus be selective about starting hands and (2) value position by tightening up from the early seats while opening up your range a bit from the later ones.