Which transition is more natural: from Cash to Tourney or from Tourney to Cash?

Ok. So I have played over a hundred thousand hands of tournament poker, mostly freerolls. My cash game experience? About 8,000 hands

So I clearly do not have enough experience in cash games. And while I know the most famous players in the world became famous by winning tournaments, it seems like most of them are pretty good in cash games too.....

My question is this: is it easier for a primarily cash-game player to transition to playing tournaments or for a primarily tournament-game player to transition to playing cash games?

I'm thinking that it's probably easier to go from cash games to tournament play but that is my own guess.

And I realize that everyone is different but just in general would like to get a feel for what kind of uphill battle a consistent tournament winner would have to fight to become a consistent cash-game winner.

You might want to check out the backgrounds of those famous players. In quite a few cases, especially the ones who were around before the boom, they had significant cash game experience before they became widely known for their tournament successes.

I think that if you are decent enough to cash in tournaments, you will be decent in cash games too. I mean, the game is the same, but playstyle is different, I think switching from tournament to cash is easier than switching from cash to tournament.

Just from observing the players here I'd have to say the winning cash players would have a much easier time if they wanted to play tournies.

rytciaq said:

I think that if you are decent enough to cash in tournaments, you will be decent in cash games too. I mean, the game is the same, but playstyle is different, I think switching from tournament to cash is easier than switching from cash to tournament.

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Well that is comforting....hopefully that will be true in my case

MTT's have softer fields then cash in general. Beating cash is probably slightly harder than being a MTT winner. Also, it doesn't take much strategy to get involved in MTT's. Your stacks are more shallow and winning flips are a part of being successful

If your a successful cash player the transition to MTT's would be seamless, conversely I wouldn't be surprised if recreational MTT players got destroyed in cash games, at least at first

it's just hard to go from 30 big blinds to 200 big blinds. When you float to bluff in the late stages of a tourney its a huge play because your putting your stack at risk and leveraging your tournament life on the fact that your opponent can't call - in cash games floating multiple streets and other funky stuff is much more common

kcanuck said:

Just from observing the players here I'd have to say the winning cash players would have a much easier time if they wanted to play tournies.

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+1

I think cash games are more difficult to play given that you start deepstacked and the blinds never increase. So if you're good at cash games, tournaments are relatively easy. You just have to learn push\fold strategy for when you get short-stacked.

I've found the transition from tourneys to cash games to be difficult, especially online.

They are completely different games and should be treated as such, bankroll management must be adjusted. You have to put in the hours. Saying that I would not say one is harder than the other.

I think cash games are entirely based on calculations and long term results.

Tourneys on the other hand are based more on adapting to the changing game structure. You need to adapt your hand ranges to the increasing blinds and play the game according to your and your opponent's stack size.

I have to agree with most people here that cash game players tend to transition better to tournaments than the other way around. Tourneys are more luck based and you have to win races in order to be successful in cash games you'd be a mere breakeven.

Tourneys gave me a lot of cards for cheap. I used this as guidance on what's hot & what's not. Learning more about positional play & table image along the way, without risking the real dollar per hand, well, this was the key element to helping me be successful on the Cashies.

So it was from Tourneys to Cashies for me & now playing all different variants.

BigJamo said:

Tourneys gave me a lot of cards for cheap. I used this as guidance on what's hot & what's not. Learning more about positional play & table image along the way, without risking the real dollar per hand, well, this was the key element to helping me be successful on the Cashies.

So it was from Tourneys to Cashies for me & now playing all different variants.

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Thanks for sharing your experience. If i had a decent bankroll I'd probably play more cash games...I see tournies as much less risky though....Thanks again

Tourneys and cash are two totally different animals.

I have read that:

Tournaments are played Pre flop

and. Cash is post flop.

If you don't have a good post flop play, you will get destroyed on the cash tables.

Conversely, many hands in tournaments, don't even see flops and the bettor takes the pot.

punctual said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. If i had a decent bankroll I'd probably play more cash games...I see tournies as much less risky though....Thanks again

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Actually, a single tournament is far more risky than a single cash game assuming you are equally skilled in both variants. In tournaments you will pretty much be forced to take flips as the blinds increase in proportion to stack size. In cash, since there is no rising pressure from increasing blinds, you won't be forced to take flips (key word is forced).

For example in a tournament, you will have AK with 10BB... You get it in against a villain who has 88. Oh looky there a coin flip what a surprise.

In cash it's likely you and villain will both be around 100BB deep (assuming he's not short stacking it). Instead of getting it in pre you will open to 3BB and villain will likely call. The majority of this hand will be played out post flop in cash.

My best advice would be if you are really solid pre flop and really shitty at post flop, play tournaments. If you can outplay your opponent 100BB deep post flop then play cash.

Plus, if you were properly rolled for 10 dollar buy in tournaments (about 1k roll) then you have more than enough to experiment with 10NL cash. You lose 5BI? Ok, don't play cash done and be done with it ( assuming u are being outplayed) having 40BI for cash is pretty conservative so u could dabble in cash without major risk to ur roll

According to me it is much easier to move from cash to tournaments. Cash game is much more difficult since the tournament. But that's just my opinion

I believe that it differs from person to person. You have to identify how both "tables" work and which one do you think you are able to exploit more. In my case i prefer tourneys because i adapt quickly to the progressive bets and the "economy" of the tournament and that ability to adapt gives me a serious advantage towards other players. In cash games there is no time controlling you so i think that patient players have more chances here.

I started with mtt's etc and sadly i still have that tournament mind set where i'm willing to ship too easily. But starting with cash you may be at a disadvantage in tournaments because you are used to a slower pace and not used to shoving trash. It's quite a tricky one to answer .

Playing different sized blinds right after one another to me has a huge influence on how I play.

Maybe it shouldn't but it does. Play a high limit then go to a fresh table with a low blind, I tend to play as if the blind were already as being 30 minutes into the game.

Has it's advantages too, as you realize that the clock moves quite fast when you are folding folding folding. Instead of raising raising raising.

Two different structures cash and tourneys. Tourneyment as I was tought is all about survival. First making the money, second, when in the money make the final table. Third, having made the final table play for the title.
Cash games, especially at the level I can afford, there are just too many there to have fun and gamble ( not saying there aren't any good players at micro limit ) plus cash games play many more hands per hour.
Think I'll stick to tourneys.

Martinez said:

Two different structures cash and tourneys. Tourneyment as I was tought is all about survival. First making the money, second, when in the money make the final table. Third, having made the final table play for the title.
Cash games, especially at the level I can afford, there are just too many there to have fun and gamble ( not saying there aren't any good players at micro limit ) plus cash games play many more hands per hour.
Think I'll stick to tourneys.

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Tournaments are about building a stack early so that you can enjoy the middle stages. I love the survival mode players because I will exploit fold equity. When you bet top pair on the flop, i know you'll fold to my all in. With the blinds eating your stack away, all that dead money is what makes you survive. Not being tight. It's hard at first but what's your honest chances of winning anyway? Even a 45 man you're 44:1 to win , all being equal. Go and have some fun! When you do cash it certainly won't be a mincash!
Don't know if you watch game of thrones but just loosen up and say ' What do we say to the lord of death?'.


:call: 'Not today!'

In my opinion,you have to build your experiences first in the cash table before considering moving on to tournaments.Experience in the cash tables really help you to go through the multiples phase of a tournament.Therefore, i think transition from consistent cash-game winner to consistent tournament winner is much easier.

I think it would be easier to transition from cash game to tourney.. I feel like the experience you get from cash games is more well rounded than from a tourney.. you get to see all the aspects of play throughout a cash game.. but tournaments can be short lived.. its better to learn and develop alot of parts of your poker game playing cash so that you can in turn mold them into a tournament strategy..