What makes a great cash game player

[pokernicus]

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I also think your 12 BB in a cash game is way too low.

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FWIW, I meant 12 big bets in a *limit* game with a 4 bet cap - with that setup no hand can cost more than 12 BB (unless there's unlimitied raising heads-up, I suppose)

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FWIWx2 - there has been a lot of discussion / analysis on the merits of playing no-limit hold'em cash games with a short stack (e.g., < 20BBs).

The short-stack strategy advocates (at a very rough high level) buying in for 20BBs or less; having very tight pre-flop standards; raising 4-5xBB when you have a hand, and usually getting the rest of your stack in on the flop.

Being all in considerably simplifies post-flop play since you don't have to make any more decisions (and commit additional chips to those decisions). Ed Miller has a very nice description of the short-stack strategy in "Getting Started in Hold'em," though the idea has been around (in some version or another) for some time.

I would go as far as to say that having a short stack can be beneficial, especially if you're up against good post-flop players. In fact, I think it's easier to become a winning short-stack player than a winning deep stack player.

I agree, though, that short-stack play is not optimal. However playing a big stack incorrectly can be far less optimal. ;-)

[bmxicle]

The ability to deduce your opponents hand, and then the ability to follow through with those reads correctly.