The Frequency of Cashing
Many beginner poker players often start off their bankrolling building and hand history building by playing lots of home games, pub games and also internet games. The games of course range from the small single table home game to the five or often twenty table pub or online tournament. Victory is the obvious goal but as any pro poker players knows, victories are often few and far between. So if victory is between long intervals of play, cashing has to be next best result. So then, how frequent should one be cashing to know whether they have been playing well?
There are many arguments out there that support the figure of cashing every one in six games to be the optimal amount. Remember that there are so many factors outside of a poker player’s control that often can determine their final result. Such things as coin flips won, running kings or queens into kings or aces, bad beats, being outdrawn by the chaser of the flush or straight draw, being card dead, quality of opponents and also the structure of the tournament. So with so many variables that can affect the outcome of your play, it is ok to bust out in tournaments or bust out close to the money. This is part of the game and happens to all the best pros and players.
Remember that with any law of averages, that one in six might not actually mean that you cash once a week with the six games that you play. It might mean cashing three times in a row after playing for three weeks with very dry cards. This kind of variance can extend to even four weeks or months. This happens to everybody and is part of the necessary thick skin that comes with being good poker player. Live with it and aim to always be on your best game.
