Why tournaments are stupid

I just cannot understand why anyone would prefer to play in a tournament over a cash game. Tournaments force action and require luck to win, you could play perfect poker for hours on end and still end up losing money, with cash games you sit and nothing changes. Action isnt being forced and players arent desperate to make crazy off the wall moves. Unlike in a tournament you could double your money in 10 minutes and your winnings are endless.

To win any major tournament you will have to have good luck no matter how good you are, thats not the case with cash games. If you sit and play solid poker you will always be a winner. I dont understand how anyone would prefer a tournament over a cash game. Its just so irrating to me when I play in a tournament and people are going all in with 95 and beating me with AK. Or vice versa if im forced to push all my chips into the pot with a marginal hand just to watch it get beat by another marginal hand. Tournaments just make me sick and I cannot stand playing in them any longer!

Well if you have enough luck throughout a big tournament you can win a lot more in say.. an 8 hour span then you would at a cash game. I prefer cash games too but I like to play a big tournament sometimes just for a chance to win a huge score.

You're not comparing like with like here. Have you won every session you played in cash games? Probably not. If you play enough tournaments you will be putting yourself in a position to win because if you can get it in ahead many times, you will win a lot of those hands and eventually win a large sum of money compared to your buy-in.

If you want less risk tournaments, try some with 15+ min blinds. Less luck involved!

Two different games, two different skills. Sure the pro's all played cash games, but all the big bucks came from tournaments. 99% of all the pros we know and read about, and sponsor poker sites etc., came from winning big tournaments and usually proved themselves more then once. Try telling them it's all luck.

With the exception of a few pro players already millionaires from business, most could never play high stake poker without their tournament wins.

Unless of course your wealthy already, or have the time and are happy grinding endless hours out playing cash games; I would suggest in your spare time to master the different strategy's required to win tournaments.

Well put Quads!

Not really quads. Alot of pros make most of their money from high stake cash games at bellagio etc. alot of top (and rich) poker players haven't got high live tournament winning (relatively speaking). Hell, i think phil ivey won $16 000 000 from some billionare over 3 days or something at high stake cash games at bellagio.

But in terms of original post...sure tournaments require luck, but you can't get back 100x your buy in for a few hrs play in cash games (not like it happens much in tournaments either...but ppl still dream of it hence why they play them).

No matter how much luck you think is needed to be successful at tournaments, there are many good players who manage to hold a ROI above 70% (some even above 100%), which, on the long run, is very very good.

That said, tourneys and cash games are two different animals altogether. Some players stick with tourneys because they simply cannot beat cash games or they just prefer their complexities over those of ring games. If they can remain more profitable with tourneys, which can give you a huge payday if you happen to bump into the good side of variance, I say good for them...

Different skills are required in both, but tourneys offer a great reward vs little risk. I play cash games and use my winnings to enter tourneys. I am only an average tourney player, but play cash games very solid. So as long as I use my winning from cash games to enter tourneys, the risk to my BR is minimal

I, on the other hand, am fairly decent at tourney play, and use my winnings there to support you in the occasional cash game fiasco!

After over 4 years of solid play I can't understand why anyone would prefer cash games over tourneys. There are so many juicy ones with rediculous overages (Bodog, ex.) that a good overall player can with low risk play them and cash well when the "luck" is not going against you. People bad beat me all the time in cash games, I fail to see the difference. When you have to reload at a cash table, you just paid the same as a tourney of comparable value.

Basically, to each their own....

Actually I stopped playing cash games, and only play in tournies at the moment. Perhaps that proves your point...

can win 7k off a $3 investment, enough said imo

There's something else people are ignoring too: cash games get zero media attention*.

If you're interested in getting sponsorship money, you have to play tournaments because they're the events the TV cameras turn up to.

If you're happy making a living from cash games and living out of the media spotlight (Chip Reese was an example) then great - but if you aspire to getting those guaranteed sponsorship bucks, you have to play in the high-profile tournaments.

Yes, I'm talking more live poker than online poker here. But look at what the sites get their sponsored online pros to do: don a shirt with a logo on it, then go play in a high-profile live tournament


* Before anyone says anything, yes, I know, you could get famous playing on High Stakes Poker. But pretty much everyone on that show is already famous, as a result of.... *drum roll* tournament poker.

I've watched with interest since you started posting here. What you say about tourney poker is basically true, but the small investment / large pay-off being argued is undeniable.

The bolded part of your post is completely wrong though. You can play perfect cash game poker and still get your ass handed to you. Downswings are not a myth.

I guess to each is own because I feel the exact opposite way. Tournys I feel are the way to go. I like a game where all is equal as far starting chips and noone being able to be pushed around by someone who brings more money to the table. There are also so many tournaments, so I'm sure you can find one that will suit you. Maybe playing a double stack tourny wouldnt "force the action" as much.

I don't know but I like tourneys more, for some reason it seems more of a challange and pluse usually your only risking a low ball amount of money to enter a tourney instead of risking all your money in a cash table

I don't mind playing in tournaments and I don't mind the cash tables either.

I think with tournaments, people already know what they are going to lose as soon as they buy-in. With cash tables they can end up losing their whole stack.

FYP.

Online: With a tourney, once you're out, you're out and you may be able to have control enough to just shut the site down. Cash games, the reload button is 1 easy click away. I do understand, and have been there, where you just enter another tourney and use your entire BR, but at least you had to leave the table and had the chance to clear your head with a tourney. With a CG, you are still at the table and they even pop a thing in your face on most sites giving you the option to reload.

Live: it's even easier to lose your entire BR in a live cash game since you just reach for your wallet. With a live tourney you have to wait and have time to cool off.

just so you know, this is true for cash games as well as tournaments

tournaments make the edge between a good player and a bad player smaller than cash, but the edge is still there. luck plays a much greater role over the short-term (and fairly long-term) of MTTs. still, over an adequate sample of each, a player with a winning game will be a winning player

i much prefer cash, but i play tournaments sometimes because they're fun and i know how to play them. the thrill of going deep can be very worthwhile

You can also take a $3 investment, play great poker for 5-6 hours and get busted out by a donkey in one hand and not only lose your $3 but pretty much lose 5-6 hours of your life. A cash table is constant and the better players are always picking up money as they play, with tournaments you have to play good poker for hours on end and even then you still might not get your money back. Also in most tournaments online with lower buy-ins (under $20) you only win decent money if you make it to the final table.

I just hate how the action is forced the most though, maybe its just because I hate calling an all in with AJ just to lose to a 87. In a cash game I might lose a few bucks but at least I have the oppertunity to outplay him on the flop, most shortstacks in tournaments just push all there chips in preflop and take all the skill out of the game.

I actually prefer tourney play, but most of my BR came (comes) from cash games. I have won some SAGs, made a bunch of my BR playing sats, but I have yet to hit BIG in a tourney. When I do, I am sure that it will all have been worth it though.

After playing for hours, it does suck to lose that time spent. I dont understand why the risk of losing your whole stack is better than losing only $3?

Equally well you could play some cash games for 5-6 hours and loose $3. The difference is that in a tournament you're taking a risk in order to shoot for the big rewards, while in a cash game you're taking smaller risk for a smaller consistent reward.

Lately, cash games have been getting increasing amounts of attention. The reason I think is things like highstakes DB, because now you can track the players and see how much they have won. I can think of players from my contry, Finland, such as Ziigmund, Kobytapout and LarsLuzak that have very little success in tournaments, but are becoming increasingly known by the poker community.

I like to play tourney's more then cash games cause i think its more fun to play tourney's, and for the bulk of online players i would think that fun is still a major factor in what game they choose.

I do fair better at cash games then i do in tourney's but i dont consider it a waste of my time to spend a couple of hours playing a tourney only just to bust out short of the money. At least i have enjoyed myself for that period of time.

Great Cash Game Player also play Tourneys to be a complete poker player you have to play both styles.
If you don't love to play Tourneys just say no but realize most players are improving their game while yours will become stagnant.

^^

I'm still delving into cash a bit but a huuge % of my bankroll has been built with tournaments, starting with $0 and ending up around $450. Tournament poker is a much different game and to me is much more exciting to play more often.