tourney player turned cash guru

[BUILDMO]

I've stuck all my money into tourney play in the last 7 years.
While waiting for tourney play, cash games have filled the gap.
There is a definate difference between the two types of poker games.

what is the biggest difference in the two types of games? (for you)

Are you strictly a cash game player or tourney player or both?

[Wyte22]

Wow that's hard to decide. I am mainly a HU tourney player, I mix in VERY few MTTs because once I get my mind set on aggression, it is REALLY hard to turn it off and switch over to the mindset you need to play a 9 player table effectivly.

I'll do HU cash games just to cover my MTTs and 6 player SnG buyins. But mainly you can find me killing it in the HU tourneys

I HATE full ring and short handed cash games, people are just toooooooooo loose.

[gamer4life27]

Me personally, I can't decide between the two. I love both cash games and Tournament games. But not many people know the difference between the two, but most pro's know.

In tournaments, the chips are of different value. Lets evaluate the basic tournament, NL Holdem with no Re-Buy's and no Add-On's of the WSOP Main Event. (everyone knows this tournament, and can relate to it.)

When playing in the WSOP, you start with 10k in chips (I think they recently changed it so you start with 20k, but I'm not too sure). Blinds will start with 25/50, giving you plenty of room to play without going all in, or taking bad beats too heavly on your chip stack, and gives you plenty of time to read your opponents. But you can't stay in this mode for long, as the blinds will go up eventually, and they will get expensive.

Lets say you are on the short stack (less than 10x BB left), then you are forced to wait for good hands to go all in and hopefully double up. You have to fold plenty of hands during this time. But if you are amongst the the chip leaders, then your sitting pretty. You can either wait for premium hands to crack the short stacks, or you can bully the whole table. Chips have a big role in the later stages of the tournament, as they get more valuable to get.

With no Re-Buy's or Add-On's, the chips are of certain value. Towards the bubble time, the more chips you have the better chance of getting into the money you have, thus, giving the chips more value than when you started. When different cash prizes are awarded, or towards the final table, the chip values go up once again. You have to treat your chips as if they were your children, protecting them, guarding them, making sure to use them right. If you mistreat them, they will run away.

So basically, in tournaments, it's all about the strategy, reading people, and chip stacks. But in cash games, you take the chip stack out of that equation and makes the strategy and reading more of a factor.

When playing in a cash game, you always have the option to re-buy up to the max at the table. You have control of how many chips minimum you have. It's almost impossible to bully the table with a chip stack, because most likely, no one will have a huge chip stack compared to everyone else. Your playing with your own money instead of tournament chips, which have more value than the actual number on the chip at certain stages of the tournament.

When playing cash games, you have the option to make deals with the other player to affect the outcome of the game. Such as putting a straddle on the blinds, running the board or certain cards more than once, showing cards, giving chips to a player for any reason besides the pot, etc. You can even have people owe you money after the game is done.

So all in all, the only difference between the cash games and the tournaments are the chip value. Cash games have the chip value stated on the chip. In tournaments, chip value raises and raises as the blinds increase and the money gets near and the final table is within site.

[ninoizbored]

I am a much better tourney player then cash game player, but yet I always go back to the cash games when there are no tourneys. I find tourneys to be much easier for some reason. And I should stick to them. Don't really know what it is. I guess I just like the fact that in tourneys when you are close to money you can get aggressive and most players would play tighter. And I agree with you Wyte Cash games are way to loose. So it's a little hard to be aggressive.

[epetel]

I'm mainly a HU tourney player too, getting used to the way you play HU I end up being killed on the cash tables so I avoid them (or at least I should, playing cash games for 1-2 hours a week and losing 2-3 buy-ins and after 5-6 days I decide to try it again and same deal). I find it easier to manage my bankroll in torunaments (hardly ever play rebuy ones). In large field MTT's you simply have to get lucky, you cant always avoid the coin flips (when its NL ofc). Even if I was doing well in tournaments and on the cash tables I still think I'd go for the tourneys, they are more fun. On the cash tables it feels more like work.

[LeanAndMean]

I am basically a bonus whore. I played 14 to 17 hours a day this past week on the ring games at absolute because of the huge bad beat jackpot. I was rewarded last night by being on the same type of table as the winner, tho not at HIS table, and got $1500!! I did not win at the ring games. I lost $300 over the week, playing four tables at a time to try and cover all types. I was on the right type of table at Ultimate bet 2 months ago for a smaller JP and got $500.

It is at SNGs that I win, and that is what I play when I am not trying to cash in on a bonus of some type.

[ninoizbored]

lol lean....Same here i was playing way too many JP tables...but unlike you I DIDNT GET SHIIT! cause i was waiting for it to hit a Mill. Oh well congrats thou

[HeyKidMove]

I play mostly shorthanded cash games, with the occasional sit n go mixed in. I think the biggest difference is that in cash games you usually have a deeper stack and can't always worry about losing your stack and being out because you can just rebuy. You have to focus on making the +EV decision, and not what is best so you cash or something like that. You also need to loosen up from playing tournaments. That seems to be a lot of peoples' problem when switching to cash games-they play way too tight. You have to raise when in position with a fairly wide range in order to be successful IMO.