Everyone has to start playing poker somewhere. Most players’ first stop is the micro-limit cash games.

Micro-limit games are a great way to find your feet in real money poker, without risking too much too soon. And, right or wrong, this regular influx of novice players makes these games a good source of money for the more experienced player when finances are tight.

Yet it’s not as easy as you may think to beat these games. The problem is you need to understand the nuances of play at these stakes if you want to crush the micro limits.

1. Don’t Buy-in for the Maximum

When I say ‘micro limits’, I mean levels where the blinds are 5c/10c and smaller. Anything above that, the pots start to get larger and the play – while similar – requires different strategies and tactics. For now, assume that the games you will be playing in have capped buy-ins, meaning you can’t buy in for more than a certain amount.

In order to properly play these ‘penny poker’ games, you still need enough money to handle losing a certain number of buy-ins. Some recommend that you always buy in for the maximum – but I suggest something different. Your goal in these games should be to commit yourself to one hand when you decide to play it. If you buy in for the full amount, you won’t be able to do that.

Let’s look at a particular scenario.

• You buy in for $2 – the maximum at a 1c / 2c game. With 250 big blinds in your stack, you raise pre-flop to 10c – five times the big blind.
• You receive two callers and then make a two-thirds of the pot bet on the flop (ten big blinds). One player calls.
• Now, you make a 2/3 pot bet on the turn and river. In total, you will have committed 95 big blinds – or 40% of your stack.

So why is this a problem? Because what do you do when an opponent puts you to the test? Let’s say you make that two-thirds of the pot bet on the river and someone puts you all-in. You like your hand, but you’re not sure it’s worth 200 big blinds to find out. Buying in for less than the maximum will prevent you from making bad decisions. More on this later.

2. Choose Your Games Carefully

Playing online allows you to monitor some important statistics before you even sit down: average pot size, players to the flop and hands per hour.

Ideally, you want a table with big average pot sizes, where the ratio of players seeing each flop high, and where there is a high number of hands per hour.

Let’s say you are looking to play a 2c/5c. The average pot in most of them is about $0.60, but you spot three tables where it’s $1 or more. These are the ones you should be looking at.

This is because you want to play big pots, not small ones. It also explains why the ‘players to the flop’ percentage is important. The more people who see the flop, the bigger the pots are likely to be – and the more you’re likely to win when you play a strong hand.

Hands per hour is simple: the higher the percentage, the more opportunities you’ll get to win that big pot in a session.

3. Play Passively Pre-Flop

Pre-flop play in micro-stakes games is similar to early deep-stack play in a tournament. For the most part, passive pre-flop play is correct, unless you are facing a situation that warrants otherwise. What do I mean by passive play? I mean raising little and calling often. Why? Because winning the blinds pre-flop is not worth it.

If you want to steal the blinds, you’ll probably have to raise somewhere in the vicinity of eight to ten big blinds, and even that amount might not do the job. In other words, stealing in micro-limit games is just not worth it.

4. Choose Your Cards Carefully

I would play any pairs in any position, and, with the exception of queens through to aces, I would limp with them. Yes, limp with Jacks and pocket tens; you’re not trying to get it all-in pre-flop with these hands because if you do you’ll usually be a big underdog or face a 50/50 race.

With Q-Q through to A-A, you should be willing to get it all in pre-flop. If someone has a bigger pair, so be it – you can just reload. If someone raises after you’ve limped in with a pair, I would call most raises that are 5-10% of your stack size or less.

Hitting a set has huge implied value in these games, because people cannot fold top pair or overpairs. These are going to be your double-up hands, so you should embrace the seven times you aren’t going to hit a set for the one time you will.

Besides pairs, your choices should be limited.

• In early and middle position – and also in raised pots – you should probably only play hands like A-K and A-Q (I’d avoid hands like A-J and A-10because they don’t play well in these games). I would fold most other hands and it would not be a mistake to fold A-Q either.
• In late position, you have more leeway because you know it’s less likely that there will be significant action behind you. In these situations, I think there is value in calling raises with speculative hands like suited connectors and big suited hands (like K ♥ J ♥) where the implied value is high – especially if there are other callers before you.
• There will be times when a raise is obviously in order. If you are first to act from one before the cut-off and have 10-10, then of course you should raise. If you have A-K on the big blind and the button has raised, then you should re-raise. These are obvious raising situations. What I’m talking about is having a hand like J-J where there’s been a raise from early position and a call. In a tournament or higher buy-in cash game, you might re-raise here. In these games, that is not the best approach.

When you do raise, however, you need to make your raise large enough that it is forcing you to commit yourself if you get the flop you want. Everything is defined by the flop and you should say to yourself, ‘if I get so-and-so on the flop, I am willing to risk my stack’, and make a pre-flop raise that will help you do just that. An open-raise should be six to eight times the big blind. If you’re going to re-raise, either move all-in pre-flop or re-raise enough so that the only decision you have to make on the flop is how quickly you click the all-in button.