Cash Games

Cash games is the traditional poker format, the way poker is played unless it is tournament poker. The players sit around a table, playing against each other. Chips that equate to real money is used, that is why cash games also can be referred to as a "live" game: actual money is in play instead of tournament chips.

Table Stakes

Cash game poker is probably what you have been playing at home or what you have seen portrayed in the movies. People sit down and play poker for as long time as they like. Before you sit down, you "buy-in" for an amount. The "buy-in" is the amount of money that you bring to the table. Here is a difference between a "real" cash game and what is suggested by some movies. In a movie someone can be reraised an astronomical amount and be forced to borrow money from friends (or be allowed to leave and take a bank loan) to able to call.

Being "bought out" can not happen in a serious poker game. Modern poker is played with "table stakes", the only money at stake are the chips on the table. If someone does not have enough chips to make a call, that player can simply go "all-in". Additional betting by other players then enter into a side pot. That all-in player is entitled to see the rest of the cards and if he/she has the best hand at the showdown then he/she wins the main pot. The all-in player has no interest in the side pot though as he/she has not invested money up to that amount.

Ring Game

A cash game is also known as a ring game, the players are after all sitting in a ring, playing a game. A word of caution – while the word ring game often means: any non-tournament game – the word ring game may also be used meaning: a completely full game (no empty chairs) with seven or more players. The second meaning of the word helps to separate a full sized ring game from cash games that are played "short handed". A short handed game is played with a maximum of up to five or six players.

To sum up

The trademark of a cash game is that people come and go as they please. After the initial buy-in (which usually has a lower and upper limit; in a $1/2 blinds NL game, a typical spread would be $40 min/$200 max buy-in) people may buy in extra or cash out (as in leave) whenever they want to.