Cash games strategies VS MTT strategy

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mishu

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Hello Cardschat!

This is my first post here so I am basically a baby in here, but thank you for having me!

So, to get to the point, in my whole poker "career" and i have only been playing MTT's and I have no knowledge of even basic cash game strategies.
What do you think are the main differences between the two, which one do you think is easier and why?
 
Ryan Laplante

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Hello Cardschat!

This is my first post here so I am basically a baby in here, but thank you for having me!

So, to get to the point, in my whole poker "career" and i have only been playing MTT's and I have no knowledge of even basic cash game strategies.
What do you think are the main differences between the two, which one do you think is easier and why?
The math behind cash games is much more straight forward than in tournaments. (Chips hold their value!)

Cash games can be tougher because of how much deeper stacked they play, this gives us much more room for errors post flop. (But gives our opponents more room to make mistakes also!)
 
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The math behind cash games is much more straight forward than in tournaments. (Chips hold their value!)

Cash games can be tougher because of how much deeper stacked they play, this gives us much more room for errors post flop. (But gives our opponents more room to make mistakes also!)

I do know the concept of chips holding their value across a cash game session but is the general tendency of cash games being more loose than MTT's true? I was reading about a lot of people that would play certain hands in a cash game that they would not on a regular MTT.
 
Ryan Laplante

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I do know the concept of chips holding their value across a cash game session but is the general tendency of cash games being more loose than MTT's true? I was reading about a lot of people that would play certain hands in a cash game that they would not on a regular MTT.
Parts of cash games play looser, parts play tighter.

People are more willing to 3bet pre in cash games and more willing to call 3bets. However without there being antes theres not as much incentive to play loose.
 
Debi

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This is a great question - I have pretty much only played in tournaments but have been thinking about dabbling a bit more seriously at some live cash games.

I am just not sure how to adjust my game to be successful.

Sounds like I would need to tighten up a bit. Is there a stage in a tournament that you would play similarly in a cash game?
 
Ryan Laplante

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This is a great question - I have pretty much only played in tournaments but have been thinking about dabbling a bit more seriously at some live cash games.

I am just not sure how to adjust my game to be successful.

Sounds like I would need to tighten up a bit. Is there a stage in a tournament that you would play similarly in a cash game?
The 1st few levels play virtually the same.
 
playinggameswithu

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Stay away from cash games in short. Cash games lack the socialism value,and guarantee value found in MTT. You can lose big or win small in cash games. If you buy-in for $1,000 dollars at 2/5 NLH you lose $1,000 which is a lot if you win you win $1,000 which is small.Cash games are based on skill quality and quantity. Luck does not do anything for you as long as you are bankroll managing. Cash games are also very predatory the only advantage they have over MTT is table selection which you should always look for fish and donkeys and avoid anybody close to solid. You will not win a lot of money in cash games without consistent and tremendous skill. The big money is protected by skilled pro's while in MTT the big money is protected by luck.

There is no reason to play cash game unless there are plenty of fish and donkey at table.Also the chips are worth money literally which is unusual which means you want to be tight and look for quality hands like sets/big pocket pairs not quantity hands like big aces AQ,AJ,A10.
 
drolin

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The game in cash and more dynamic, mostly you bet Flop, turn and River

Already in the tournament many players puts all the chips in game in the flop
 
elton015

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In my oppinion cash games put you in fear sitiuation because of the amont of money involved on the table.Cash games (as the name says) is real money and there are more pressure than MTT´s ,you have to be courage and lot´s of money in cash games and take it easy! It can be dangerous!
 
Bozovicdj

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I guess the main characteristic that differs are the players. I see that the average cash game players tend to gamble more, or if you like, to play looser.
Imo, the reason is that tournaments tend to punish loose plays, or if you prefer, to punish mistakes.
From playing both cash games and MTTs live, I can tell you what I tend to do differently.
In cash games, 3bet more, and open pre flop more when in position. Rarely playing from the blinds or UTG unless I hold some monster.
In tournaments, playing similar to cash games in the first few levels (if the tournament is deepstack, up to 6th, 7th level), in mid to late stages fairly tight, defending my blinds with re-raises, and also more squeeze plays pre flop. :)
 
Ahoy

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Great question, and this will probably be a quite longer answer:

1. As you stated already, they differ very very much. Basically, in cash games, you are always deep stacked and you dont have to worry about being knocked out. You dont have to worry about maintaining a healthy stack, as the blinds are not raising, and when there is no ante involved, you can basically be more tight (but I dont recommend this).

2. Long term, there is much less variance in cash games compared to tournaments, becasue in turnaments you almost always have to flip a lot to go deep. However, if you are lucky, you can go very deep, even when you are no that skilled. In cash games, skill is everything, and cash games are a lot less dicy. You dont have to flip at all, you basically can play your straight strategy without changing it because of blinds, because they do not increase.

3. As someone above stated, cash games are WAY more difficult than tournaments. Since there is less variance, grinders stick to them and if they can adapt to an opponent and exploit him, they can earn huge amounts of money in quite a short time period. This cant happen in tournaments because you also need a lot more luck there.

4. Cash games dont need such high bankroll as tournaments. If you have at least 30-40 buy ins, you can comfortably play your stakes cash games without worrying. In tournaments you shoudl better have 80-100 buyins, which may be unreal in some cases. This is also caused by the above mentioned variance.

5. Like many live pro grinders say, the real money lies in live poker, especially in cash games. There are just so many fishy players playing the low stakes that its a literal sin not to grind them, if you are capable of doing it. For example, im right now studying hard to convert from MTT player to cash game player. I really suck at MTTs and enjoy playing cash games, but I have absolutely no experience with playing them live. I am building some bankroll so I can buy in, but I have to study a before, so I dont lose it immediately lol.

6. In live cash games you can use exploitative play much more than in tournaments, as you can sometimes open wider against weak opponents, who you know are fishes.

7. In cash games, You can choose tables, which is for me the biggest advantage. You can find many articles online about the right table selection.

8. Cash games show more skill long term. Someone replied that you should avoid them - well, if you are not good at poker you probably should, but otherwise this is a very bad advice as in cash games you can greatly improve your skills and if you are really a good player, you can profit greatly.

9. Cash games offer you more freedom than tournaments - you can buy in anytime, you can sit out anytime, you can basically do everything you want at any time.

---------------------
For me, there is the great opportunity to use exploitative strategy to exploit our opponents weakness in cash games, because we have a lot of time to do so, without worrying about the blinds etc.

The first levels of tournament can be comapred to cash games, where you have more than 100 big blinds.

In my oppinion cash games put you in fear sitiuation because of the amont of money involved on the table.Cash games (as the name says) is real money and there are more pressure than MTT´s ,you have to be courage and lot´s of money in cash games and take it easy! It can be dangerous!

If somebody is worried about money, they should not play poker AT ALL EVER. You should only always play with money you dont mind loosing, otherwise its dangerous gambling and that is not good. I remember the famous quote "In order to be a successful gambler, you must have absolutely no sense about money" or something like this. The point is, dont play with money you cant lose.

This is a great question - I have pretty much only played in tournaments but have been thinking about dabbling a bit more seriously at some live cash games.

I am just not sure how to adjust my game to be successful.

Sounds like I would need to tighten up a bit. Is there a stage in a tournament that you would play similarly in a cash game?

Read about cash games strategies a lot before trying it, otherwise you can lose a lot money, which is certainly not good (its only good when you are playing against me LOL). My number one advice is to 3-bet a lot more in live cash games, and be very conservative about calling 4-bets.
4-bets usually mean reall really strong, premium hands (KK+,AK).
Play very carefully in these spots.


Good luck to you all and dont forget that studying the game is the key to success!
 
Jacki Burkhart

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Great question, and this will probably be a quite longer answer:

1. As you stated already, they differ very very much. Basically, in cash games, you are always deep stacked and you dont have to worry about being knocked out. You dont have to worry about maintaining a healthy stack, as the blinds are not raising, and when there is no ante involved, you can basically be more tight (but I dont recommend this).

2. Long term, there is much less variance in cash games compared to tournaments, becasue in turnaments you almost always have to flip a lot to go deep. However, if you are lucky, you can go very deep, even when you are no that skilled. In cash games, skill is everything, and cash games are a lot less dicy. You dont have to flip at all, you basically can play your straight strategy without changing it because of blinds, because they do not increase.

3. As someone above stated, cash games are WAY more difficult than tournaments. Since there is less variance, grinders stick to them and if they can adapt to an opponent and exploit him, they can earn huge amounts of money in quite a short time period. This cant happen in tournaments because you also need a lot more luck there.

4. Cash games dont need such high bankroll as tournaments. If you have at least 30-40 buy ins, you can comfortably play your stakes cash games without worrying. In tournaments you shoudl better have 80-100 buyins, which may be unreal in some cases. This is also caused by the above mentioned variance.

5. Like many live pro grinders say, the real money lies in live poker, especially in cash games. There are just so many fishy players playing the low stakes that its a literal sin not to grind them, if you are capable of doing it. For example, im right now studying hard to convert from MTT player to cash game player. I really suck at MTTs and enjoy playing cash games, but I have absolutely no experience with playing them live. I am building some bankroll so I can buy in, but I have to study a before, so I dont lose it immediately lol.

6. In live cash games you can use exploitative play much more than in tournaments, as you can sometimes open wider against weak opponents, who you know are fishes.

7. In cash games, You can choose tables, which is for me the biggest advantage. You can find many articles online about the right table selection.

8. Cash games show more skill long term. Someone replied that you should avoid them - well, if you are not good at poker you probably should, but otherwise this is a very bad advice as in cash games you can greatly improve your skills and if you are really a good player, you can profit greatly.

9. Cash games offer you more freedom than tournaments - you can buy in anytime, you can sit out anytime, you can basically do everything you want at any time.

---------------------
For me, there is the great opportunity to use exploitative strategy to exploit our opponents weakness in cash games, because we have a lot of time to do so, without worrying about the blinds etc.

The first levels of tournament can be comapred to cash games, where you have more than 100 big blinds.



If somebody is worried about money, they should not play poker AT ALL EVER. You should only always play with money you dont mind loosing, otherwise its dangerous gambling and that is not good. I remember the famous quote "In order to be a successful gambler, you must have absolutely no sense about money" or something like this. The point is, dont play with money you cant lose.



Read about cash games strategies a lot before trying it, otherwise you can lose a lot money, which is certainly not good (its only good when you are playing against me LOL). My number one advice is to 3-bet a lot more in live cash games, and be very conservative about calling 4-bets.
4-bets usually mean reall really strong, premium hands (KK+,AK).
Play very carefully in these spots.


Good luck to you all and dont forget that studying the game is the key to success!

Thanks for this informative post. I'm beginning to dabble myself mostly because when I travel to play tourneys I need something to do when I hit the rail. If I'm taking a whole weekend away from my family I want to maximize it. For years I've avoided cash because I love tournments and I've always heard that you shouldn't mix the 2 or you'll be mediocre at both. As time goes on I'm confident enough in my skills that I think I can handle both....only problem is I never developed any specific cash skills! ;)
 
elizeuof

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Great question, and this will probably be a quite longer answer:

1. As you stated already, they differ very very much. Basically, in cash games, you are always deep stacked and you dont have to worry about being knocked out. You dont have to worry about maintaining a healthy stack, as the blinds are not raising, and when there is no ante involved, you can basically be more tight (but I dont recommend this).

2. Long term, there is much less variance in cash games compared to tournaments, becasue in turnaments you almost always have to flip a lot to go deep. However, if you are lucky, you can go very deep, even when you are no that skilled. In cash games, skill is everything, and cash games are a lot less dicy. You dont have to flip at all, you basically can play your straight strategy without changing it because of blinds, because they do not increase.

3. As someone above stated, cash games are WAY more difficult than tournaments. Since there is less variance, grinders stick to them and if they can adapt to an opponent and exploit him, they can earn huge amounts of money in quite a short time period. This cant happen in tournaments because you also need a lot more luck there.

4. Cash games dont need such high bankroll as tournaments. If you have at least 30-40 buy ins, you can comfortably play your stakes cash games without worrying. In tournaments you shoudl better have 80-100 buyins, which may be unreal in some cases. This is also caused by the above mentioned variance.

5. Like many live pro grinders say, the real money lies in live poker, especially in cash games. There are just so many fishy players playing the low stakes that its a literal sin not to grind them, if you are capable of doing it. For example, im right now studying hard to convert from MTT player to cash game player. I really suck at MTTs and enjoy playing cash games, but I have absolutely no experience with playing them live. I am building some bankroll so I can buy in, but I have to study a before, so I dont lose it immediately lol.

6. In live cash games you can use exploitative play much more than in tournaments, as you can sometimes open wider against weak opponents, who you know are fishes.

7. In cash games, You can choose tables, which is for me the biggest advantage. You can find many articles online about the right table selection.

8. Cash games show more skill long term. Someone replied that you should avoid them - well, if you are not good at poker you probably should, but otherwise this is a very bad advice as in cash games you can greatly improve your skills and if you are really a good player, you can profit greatly.

9. Cash games offer you more freedom than tournaments - you can buy in anytime, you can sit out anytime, you can basically do everything you want at any time.

---------------------
For me, there is the great opportunity to use exploitative strategy to exploit our opponents weakness in cash games, because we have a lot of time to do so, without worrying about the blinds etc.

The first levels of tournament can be comapred to cash games, where you have more than 100 big blinds.



If somebody is worried about money, they should not play poker AT ALL EVER. You should only always play with money you dont mind loosing, otherwise its dangerous gambling and that is not good. I remember the famous quote "In order to be a successful gambler, you must have absolutely no sense about money" or something like this. The point is, dont play with money you cant lose.



Read about cash games strategies a lot before trying it, otherwise you can lose a lot money, which is certainly not good (its only good when you are playing against me LOL). My number one advice is to 3-bet a lot more in live cash games, and be very conservative about calling 4-bets.
4-bets usually mean reall really strong, premium hands (KK+,AK).
Play very carefully in these spots.


Good luck to you all and dont forget that studying the game is the key to success!

Excellent text, congratulations for the explanation

I'm playing zoom games, but I do not know how to compare with normal cash games, it should have a lot of difference.

Studying is essential, start playing tight, once you have a sense of what style the players are you can play more comfortable.

In the mtt you can win much with low buyin, but only in the first placements. In the cash game you can earn a good value, less than in mtt, but constant.

if you play well cash game you can have a solid chart with low downswing, if you play well mtt will have a chart with many variance, since you must have troubles with coinflip and badbeats that can eliminate you from some tournaments, even if you play your better.
 
tilan501

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Usually MMts are easier to get some profit, because you play against many bad players, cash are hard!!
 
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Deep stack, same table every hand and same players until someone lost big amount of money. I have more Edge at MTTs, but I really liked cash games when I played It, one hand can change the entire session, one good hand played and has some more dollars of bankroll.
 
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