Cash games, your way

How a cash game works

In a cash game, the chips in front of you are your score for the night. Blinds stay the same unless the host changes them, players come and go, and nobody is knocked out: run out of chips and you can buy back in, if the host allows it.

The name comes from the casino, where chips stand for money. At Poker Rooms they never do: chips can't be bought, sold or exchanged, and they're only ever a way of keeping score.

Sitting down

• Pick a seat and your chips. You choose how many chips to start with, between the table's smallest and biggest buy-in. A new table starts at 100 to 200 chips with blinds of 1/2.
• The host says who sits. At a new table the host lets each new player in. Anyone who has already played tonight sits straight back down.
• Table full? Join the waiting list. When a seat comes free, the first in line has 30 seconds to take it.

During the night

• Adding chips. Tap Add chips. By default the host says yes each time; they can let players add freely, set a limit, or only allow it once you've run out.
• Sitting out. Sit out now or from the next hand. You keep your seat and chips. With Premium, the host can set how long anyone may sit out before they're stood up with their chips.
• Coming back. After missing hands, wait for the big blind to reach you, or post one and play straight away, as in a casino.
• Leaving. Standing up during a hand lets that hand finish first, and your result stays in the ledger.
• Your clock. You get a set time to act, plus a time bank for the big decisions, topped up a little every hand.

Settling up

The ledger tracks every buy-in and every chip. At the end of the night it shows each player's result and the fewest chip transfers to even everyone up, such as "Alex passes Sam 1,250 chips". How settling up works.

Cash game or tournament?

Choose a cash game when people arrive at different times, want to play for an hour or for five, or would rather never be knocked out. Choose a tournament when everyone can start together and you want a winner at the end. Many groups do both: a tournament started from a cash table's Ledger tab puts its results into that table's ledger, so one settle-up covers the night.