Tournaments vs Cash Games

tazer

tazer

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What are the playing differences between the two and how beneficial or detrimental can they be to your bankroll if played the wrong way?

Basically I play cash games like I would play in a tournament and that hasn't gone too well for me so far. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
aa88wildbill

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When you are playing in tournaments, tried to stay away from early allins. Tournaments are about endurance, not sprints. You have to stay alive long enough to make it to the cash.
 
Propane Goat

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The primary difference between tournaments and cash games of course is that the blind amounts in cash games never change.

Success in tournaments depends on being able to open up your range correctly as blinds increase and everyone starts getting short-stacked, in contrast, if you're trying to play cash games with a short stack you're making a huge mistake, particularly in NL.

I would recommend picking up some books on cash games and studying them with the primary focus of looking for differences between tournaments and cash if you're already familiar with tournaments.
 
DonV73

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And when you play MTT's, don;t forget that your bankroll should be accordingly too.

For example, I use 25 buyins for CG's and 50 buyins for MTT's.
So if you have say $100 bankroll, you could play a 0,02/0,04 cashgame, or max buyin of $2 for MTT's.

GL! Personally I like MTT's more than CG's.
 
crusinnn

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What are the playing differences between the two and how beneficial or detrimental can they be to your bankroll if played the wrong way?

Basically I play cash games like I would play in a tournament and that hasn't gone too well for me so far. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

One of the important things you must have when switching is patience. Your seeing your $$ growing in cash games, you don't see that till the end in tourneys and that's if you make it through . This can become discouraging when switching and cause you to play wrong early in the tourneys. Have patience, play your A game and the reward will be great in the long run. Good luck.
 
tazer

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I guess what I'm looking for is more of the difference in playing styles between the two. Would you tend to be more aggressive in a CG or a MTT. I understand tournaments are about patience and playing your cards when you get them, but you have to throw in the amount of chips in your stack and tournament position. So aggression depends upon the cards and your stack in MTT's. Does the same theory transfer into CG's or is it a completely different style that you have to undertake?
 
teepack

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Tournaments require more patience, a tighter opening range and changing your strategy as the blinds progress. A cash game basically requires the same strategy, so I think they are a little easier. Reading your opponents is more critical in a cash game because you tend to play with the same people for longer periods of time. In tourneys, tables get closed and you move around and you get less intelligence on your opponents. I think in a cash game you need to see a higher percentage of flops so you will open your range up a little. I think you also will see more people chasing flushes and straights in a cash game, because the potential payday for any one hand is great. You can't win a tourney with one hand, but you can win several hundred bucks in a cash game with one well-timed river card.
 
crusinnn

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I guess what I'm looking for is more of the difference in playing styles between the two. Would you tend to be more aggressive in a CG or a MTT. I understand tournaments are about patience and playing your cards when you get them, but you have to throw in the amount of chips in your stack and tournament position. So aggression depends upon the cards and your stack in MTT's. Does the same theory transfer into CG's or is it a completely different style that you have to undertake?

I'm not sure but didn't you ask this question already about how to play mtt ?

Cash games requires a lot more skills than mtt. It's a slow process to build little by little especially if the table is tight. There will be grinders and you have to know when to play tight and aggressive towards them. Sometimes they fold, fold and 3bet every other hands, it's a strategy they use to mix in different hands. By doing that they are trying to confuse you as to what type of player they are, sometimes it's very hard to know what cards they are holding. They will play an aggressive pot AA ..ect , show you and make you think they are a tight players. They mess with your mind. They will do the same 3 bet preflop and always c bet on the flop. If they suspect your a tight player , they will test you, at this point you wanna play aggressive , most likely reraise. If they suspect your a loose player they will play their premiums tight and slow play them on the flop. Key details is You have to watch and try to make out what type of players your up against , this info will help you make the right decision in the pot weather to play tight or loose. This is not like tourneys where you want to play tight at the beginning Etc. Cash games requires you to play tight/aggressive/loose at any given time. Now to move on the good part, when the fish joins you will know instantly what to do, as you see them shoving 50% of their stack in preflop hoping to double up on their cash that's when you hit em. Just becareful of the grinders, don't mistake a grinder/pro for a fish. Im not a big cash player. Maybe someone else can break the stats down for you better.
 
Diogo Jorge

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in cash game you could see fold too many times, but in tournments youonly should see 15% of the flop..

in tournments you need to be tight and agressive, you shouldnt go all in early, just be patient
 
tazer

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I'm not sure but didn't you ask this question already about how to play mtt ?

Cash games requires a lot more skills than mtt. It's a slow process to build little by little especially if the table is tight. There will be grinders and you have to know when to play tight and aggressive towards them. Sometimes they fold, fold and 3bet every other hands, it's a strategy they use to mix in different hands. By doing that they are trying to confuse you as to what type of player they are, sometimes it's very hard to know what cards they are holding. They will play an aggressive pot AA ..ect , show you and make you think they are a tight players. They mess with your mind. They will do the same 3 bet preflop and always c bet on the flop. If they suspect your a tight player , they will test you, at this point you wanna play aggressive , most likely reraise. If they suspect your a loose player they will play their premiums tight and slow play them on the flop. Key details is You have to watch and try to make out what type of players your up against , this info will help you make the right decision in the pot weather to play tight or loose. This is not like tourneys where you want to play tight at the beginning Etc. Cash games requires you to play tight/aggressive/loose at any given time. Now to move on the good part, when the fish joins you will know instantly what to do, as you see them shoving 50% of their stack in preflop hoping to double up on their cash that's when you hit em. Just becareful of the grinders, don't mistake a grinder/pro for a fish. Im not a big cash player. Maybe someone else can break the stats down for you better.

So what you're saying is that it is more about who your up against and learning how to bet against them over everything else. I can see how that would cause me some problems. I tend to play very tight and I think people see that and will put a huge bet in front of me almost as a semi-bluff just to see if I will stay in. I just need to learn to open my range up slightly depending on position and see where that takes me. I appreciate the help!
 
Arjonius

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Playing cash requires quite a different mix / balance of knowledge / skills. To give only a few examples, since the blinds don't rise and you are (or should be) fairly deep-stacked at all times, implied odds are always a consideration instead of just early on in MTTs. Also, you should never be in a position to play shove-fold poker, and your opponents won't be very often either. Stealing blinds to stay alive doesn't happen much either.

Add in that your table composition tends to change less, and you generally have more scope to gain from building an image and then changing gears.

And because money is money, concepts like ICM, changing chip value over time and the value of your tournament life don't matter.
 
crusinnn

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So what you're saying is that it is more about who your up against and learning how to bet against them over everything else. I can see how that would cause me some problems. I tend to play very tight and I think people see that and will put a huge bet in front of me almost as a semi-bluff just to see if I will stay in. I just need to learn to open my range up slightly depending on position and see where that takes me. I appreciate the help!

No problem. Exactly what I was aiming for, now with my explanation it can help you adjust your own self.
 
tazer

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No problem. Exactly what I was aiming for, now with my explanation it can help you adjust your own self.

Yeah, definitely. I need to really work on my table image a lot more, or at least think about it. I tend to always forget that poker is not just a game of cards. Hopefully I can start using some of this advice and become slightly more profitable. Thank you once again :)
 
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