Introduction

While HoldemResources Calculator (HRC) began as a tournament-focused tool, HRC Pro is now fully capable of modeling cash games of any stack depth. HRC supports the most popular rake structures, as well as straddle configurations, making it versatile for a wide range of cash game formats. Configuring cash games in HRC is largely identical to setting up tournament calculations, so most of the existing documentation applies unchanged to cash games. The only unique aspects are the rake configuration and straddle settings, which this guide will cover in detail.

Rake Configuration

For cash games, always select ChipEV as the equity model in HRC. To apply cash game rake rules, use the Model Options settings below the equity model selection to bring up the configuration dialog. For cash games, HRC treats each chip as $1 and the rake cap is also set in dollars ($).

Example Configuration for NL200 (1$/2$ blinds, 100bb stacks, 5% rake with $3 cap):

warning Important: The rake cap is entered as a dollar amount, not in big blinds. For simplicity, always use the actual blind values in dollars (1$/2$ blinds for NL200, 0.25$/0.5$ for NL50, etc). Avoid using generic blind values like 0.5/1 for games other than NL100, as this requires adjusting the rake cap and this is a frequent cause of misconfigurations.

Supported rake modes

• No Flop, No Drop: This is a widely used mode where no rake is collected unless a Flop is dealt.
• GG Network: Rake is collected if there was a Flop dealt, or if there was a 3-bet Preflop.
• Full: Rake is always collected, regardless of action.

These rake modes can be selected within the Model Options configuration.

Straddles

Straddles can be configured as part of the blind setup on the first page of the setup dialog.

The following straddle options are available:

• Single: 2bb straddle posted by the UTG player.
• Double: 2bb straddle posted by the UTG player and a 4bb straddle posted by the UTG+1 player.
• Button: 2bb straddle posted by the Button.

HRC implements straddles as additional posted blinds, not as a blind raise.

This has the following consequences:

• The first raise after a straddle is considered an opening raise, not a 3-bet.
• The minimum raise after straddles is 2x the largest straddle.
• The minimum bet size after the Flop is equal to the largest straddle.

Preflop Raise Sizing

When configuring preflop raise sizes with straddles:

• A sizing entered as "2.5bb" still refers to 2.5 big blinds (relative to the base blind structure).
• A sizing entered as "2.5x" refers to 2.5 times the largest posted blind (including straddles) for an open raise.

You can find in-depth information about the sizing syntax in the Tree Configuration article.

Cashgame FAQs

What about games with a fixed rake per hand or per time period?

These games can be calculated using plain unraked ChipEV. Since the rake is a fixed cost and doesn't depend on the actions within the hand, you can consider it a sunk cost that won't affect strategies.

Can we model additional Jackpot drops at certain pot sizes?

While our software doesn't directly support this feature, you can approximate it. A good workaround is to increase the rake cap to reflect the additional drops.

How can I account for jackpot equity, such as for Bad Beats or High Hands?

This feature is unlikely to be supported in the near future. Due to the wide variety of specific rules governing these jackpots, it's not feasible to create a single model that would accurately apply to all scenarios.