Those who enjoy both tournaments and cash...

These are questions for those of you who enjoy and maybe even excel at both MTT/STT and cash games. How do you decide when you want to play which? How do you study for both? Does your mindset for one ever influence your decision-making in another? If so, then is it usually in a positive or negative way, and how so?

Also, if anyone has any general thoughts or insight with regard to Tourney/Cash in a mutualistic sense, then that would also be appreciated.

This is random, and I may some day make a separate post about this: If someone happens to read this who enjoys and plays a lot of both FL & NL, it would be awesome to hear your thoughts. Just replace Tourney/Cash with FL/NL.

This may be a little different but I play 6max nl cash games on ACR, 6max stt on intertops, and 6max O8 cash games on Bovada. I usually suck at mtt but play a few every now and then at any of the above.

I play tournaments online and cash live. I'm much more loose live. I feel once I've made my table rep I can make some moves. I don't feel as comfortable online making the same moves. I guess it's something about looking at someone that helps.

Not sure if this is helpful or not but gl.

ShoTyme said:

Not sure if this is helpful or not but gl.

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Every little bit is helpful, in its own way

That is an interesting perspective. Is there any reason why you are comfortable playing tournaments online? Do you find tournaments to be less about "making moves"?

At the moment, I play exclusively online, but I think that I will eventually prefer playing live. It seems like it would be much more fun and social. online poker is fun, but I feel as though I can't relate to any of the players, and there really isn't a social aspect. I can't even say "gg" or "nh" fast enough before everyone leaves after a SNG or I bust out of a tourney. I'm also fascinated by the idea of live tells.

44Blackhawk said:

[...]and 6max O8 cash games on Bovada.

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Do you play PLO8 or a different betting structure? At the beginning of a potential poker session, how do you decide what you want to play? Do you just go by how you feel? Is your transition from playing NLHE to PLO seamless, or do you have to make major adjustments? I guess anything gets easier with time and practice.

vwls said:

Every little bit is helpful, in its own way

That is an interesting perspective. Is there any reason why you are comfortable playing tournaments online? Do you find tournaments to be less about "making moves"?

At the moment, I play exclusively online, but I think that I will eventually prefer playing live. It seems like it would be much more fun and social. Online poker is fun, but I feel as though I can't relate to any of the players, and there really isn't a social aspect. I can't even say "gg" or "nh" fast enough before everyone leaves after a SNG or I bust out of a tourney. I'm also fascinated by the idea of live tells.

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Online I tend to play more ABC poker. Live I feel like I can get some sick reads off people. For example I called an all in bet with a pair the other day for an extra $280 on the river after telling the guy "you have nothing. I call." Online I play mostly by the math.

You mentioned plo8 in the previous post. I also play that every now and again as it's one of my favorite games. I only play online tournaments with this game cause I can't handle the swings in a cash game. But yesterday I did get 4th in a $10 mtt. I tend to only play one or so per week. I try to stick to what pays better and for me that's no limit holdem.

If you have time, tournaments are more exciting and you have and freerolls. Cash games may give a lot of money quickly but you can also lose money quickly. So tournaments can offer you measure!

ShoTyme said:

I play tournaments online and cash live. I'm much more loose live. I feel once I've made my table rep I can make some moves. I don't feel as comfortable online making the same moves. I guess it's something about looking at someone that helps.

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I am the opposite to this, cash games online and tournaments live. With cash games I feel like it is a lot more about the long run so it is nice to get in a lot of hands online which you can't do live. Also you get to start and finish whenever you feel like it. With tournaments if I set time aside for it I would rather go out and play, also for a bit of fun.

vwls said:

Do you play PLO8 or a different betting structure? At the beginning of a potential poker session, how do you decide what you want to play? Do you just go by how you feel? Is your transition from playing NLHE to PLO seamless, or do you have to make major adjustments? I guess anything gets easier with time and practice.

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I play PLO8. I get up early every day and in the morning I play cash games for a couple of hours. After work I play the SNG's as it kind of relaxes me. I play PLO8 because it is fun. No problems with transition, some times I'll have an o8 table going at the same time as a NLH table either cash or SNG. I mostly play 2-3 tables at a time as its what I feel I can give proper attention to. I find 1 table just too boring and 4-6 too much work.

ShoTyme said:

"you have nothing. I call."

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Spoken like a true badass.

ShoTyme said:

I tend to only play one or so per week. I try to stick to what pays better and for me that's no limit holdem.

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I'm noticing the same trend in what I play. I enjoy STT/MTT, and I enjoy FLHE even more, but NLHE is where I have had the most success, so I focus on that.

No Brainer said:

With cash games I feel like it is a lot more about the long run so it is nice to get in a lot of hands online which you can't do live.

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This is also a valid and interesting point. I feel like there are pros and cons to live and online, but none of the pros/cons outweigh each other. At least, that is my impression as someone who has yet to play live. I watch a lot of live poker streams and videos, and I can't wait until I am able to play, myself.

44Blackhawk said:

After work I play the SNG's as it kind of relaxes me.

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That's actually what I do. I save the cash sessions for my off days.

That's pretty cool that you can multi-table two different games. If I play more than one table, it's usually only two, and it's usually the same game. The most that I have tried is four tables of FL or one FL and one Freeroll. For NL, I stick to one or two of the same game.

vwls said:

Spoken like a true badass.


That's pretty cool that you can multi-table two different games. If I play more than one table, it's usually only two, and it's usually the same game. The most that I have tried is four tables of FL or one FL and one Freeroll. For NL, I stick to one or two of the same game.

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From what I've read in various forums 2 different types of games at the same time is not recommended, but honestly with only 2 tables open I don't really see any difference. I don't think I would do more than 2 tables at a time though. With 2 I am able to pay attention easily compared to 4-6 where I tend to have to go on semi auto pilot to keep up and start to get stressed.

Tournaments are much more engaging and a lot more fun, they have a beginning and an end. Whereas in ring games its basically repetition of the same thing over and over again. In a tournament, there are times when calling a shove with 72 is the right decision and times when it doesn't. Cash games rarely have this wide range for strategy.

Having said that, there are more times than I can count where mtts got in the way of real life, where some friends unexpectedly drop by and you are still enrolled in a dozen mtts expecting to last about at least another hour or two. When you need to pick up your family member. When it's a nice day and you feel like going out. This really sucks and is really the only reason to ever play ring games in my mind as you can start and stop ring games any time you like.

rickroll said:

Tournaments are much more engaging and a lot more fun, they have a beginning and an end. Whereas in ring games its basically repetition of the same thing over and over again. In a tournament, there are times when calling a shove with 72 is the right decision and times when it doesn't. Cash games rarely have this wide range for strategy.

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Comparing the two isn't the reason I created this thread. I actually find them almost equally as fun and engaging, with a slight edge given to ring games. Tournaments are slightly less fun for me, because I actually don't enjoy the all-in decisions. However, I am able to find solace in the fact that there is usually a rational decision to be made. That alone puts tourneys even with ring games, for me. Interestingly, the aspects of poker games that most people seem to find boring are what I find to be most engaging. Full ring NLHE, fixed limit HE, slow tournaments, etc. are all my favorite types of games. That said, I almost equally enjoy faster and short-handed games, so much so that I sometimes find it difficult to decide what to focus on. At this point, I have resolved to focus on what is most profitable for me, which is full-ring NLHE cash games. That is what will encompass the majority of my time, while I will designate a couple of days every week to be my tournament days.