Cash game
Cash games are poker games that are played with “chips” and with real money at stake. While there is no predetermined ending time to the game, a player may choose to enter or exit the game whenever s/he so desires.
A cash game is different from a tournament game in that tournaments require players to use chips that are worthless outside of the tournament. Tournaments also have fixed end-conditions such as the last man standing wins while the competition is always limited to a fixed roster of players who have to register prior to the beginning of the tournament.
Cash games are quite flexible in terms of entrance and exit of players however there is a strict prohibition on players trying to remove a portion of their chips from their stacks on the table. For e.g. a player may buy in with $10 and in the subsequent game, win $20 to take her/his stack to $30. The player is not allowed to remove the original $10 from the table as long as s/he is seated on the table. The moment the player stands up or forfeits, s/he can take the entire amount however, they must wait before they can rejoin the table.
This practice is discouraged by many card rooms who put a strict time limit which needs to elapse before a player may rejoin.
In cash games, unlike in tournaments, the ante/blind amount remains constant for the entire length of the game. In tournaments, this amount is periodically increased. Tournaments are also restrictive in terms of the kind of game or format that will be played for the entire length of the tournament. In cash games however, especially in house games, it is completely based on the discretion of the players as to what variation or format of poker needs to be followed. This format or variation may change during the entire game although it may only be changed between hands.
Straddles and chops are also common in cash games, something that is not allowed in casinos or tournaments for that matter. Cash games are also known to have maximum buy in limits in some cases. This ensures that players don’t enter the game with huge chip stacks to begin with. The buy in limits are not applicable in limit poker games simply because the limit on the pot amount ensures that having a larger stack doesn’t give any advantage to a player.
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