Are cash games harder?

[sheltowee420]

Cash games are easier, because you can win some chips and cash out. If you win some chips in a tournament, you have to maintain them (for hours) all the way to the bubble. Then you can cash out.

 

[roman5551993]

For me the cash games more difficult than tournaments.

 

[VictorOd]

Cash games are completely different, it's another discipline. I recommend every rookie to read 'Crushing The Microstakes' by Nathan Williams.

 

[djasset]

i would say just just don't bounce around. I am all over the place with my online games and i think it is the biggest flaw in my poker career. but.... sometimes there just isn't a game i can get in on that i wanted to play, so i play whatever format is available at the time. (it is also boring for me to play the same format day in and day out.)

 

[Lugubrious]

Is cash games more difficult to accumulate profit or are they as hard as tournaments.

I tend to use cash games to fuel my tournament buy ins. Even though i cash alot I've seen some amazing things in tourneys sometimes you run hot and then suddenly it feels like they're tryna cooler you but cash is the way to go + BR management

 

[NUGGEETTEE]

Depends on the stakes but I feel like lower stakes the games are easier but too many donkeys

 

[Benego]

I found cash games easier... If you lose all your stackz you can rebuy

 

[whitesmoke420]

I honestly think the higher the stakes the better the players usually tend to be. Or at the very least at the lower end they just don't care as much and are more willing to play an off hand and wing it.

 

[Deedgee]

For me, casino cash games are much easier than online cash games. But it depends on the stakes. Online, the lower the stakes, the tougher the games are, because of the low quality of the players. At casinos, I find it's the inverse.

 

[blackdust_poker]

different strategy but its all luck at the end of the day settle into a rhythm and push

 

[jmateuspoker]

Cash harder game

I think that all hard are games you need is training and study to be effective in the mode you choose to err less game and hit more

Thus I see that the results will come more efficiently and more speed

I prefer tournament to find that we have more than one goal to earn the money and the course to be champion reach a final table going into itm all have a certain emotion the cash game will not ever

mateuspoker

 

[sibird]

In cash games you win fast but you can also lose fast. The big advantage is you can start or stop playing any time you wish.
Now the question is why some players think that cash games are much harder? In my opinion (forgive me if you disagree), in cash games actual poker is never played. Most of the time game is bluffing. It may look like sharks are less concerned about the strength of their cards. Their main concern is how you react in a game. If your reaction shows some kind of weakness then don't expect any mercy from them. I think that is one of the reason why most of the hands don't go to showdown.
It is often suggested that you enter the cash game with maximum buy-in. At least that will establish that you are not financially weak.

 

[Lugubrious]

In cash games you win fast but you can also lose fast. The big advantage is you can start or stop playing any time you wish.
Now the question is why some players think that cash games are much harder? In my opinion (forgive me if you disagree), in cash games actual poker is never played. Most of the time game is bluffing. It may look like sharks are less concerned about the strength of their cards. Their main concern is how you react in a game. If your reaction shows some kind of weakness then don't expect any mercy from them. I think that is one of the reason why most of the hands don't go to showdown.
It is often suggested that you enter the cash game with maximum buy-in. At least that will establish that you are not financially weak.

This is true if i see a limp i automatically see it as weakness and raise pre even on the turn if you check behind i will most likely barrel of any river card especially if it makes the board looks scary most of the times an OB works but there have been times and i think that it was my fault when i bet pot on the riv and my opp called me with a flop top two pair but that was my fault i wasn't paying attention to my opp. Also if you're short stacked in a cash game it makes harder for you to call down with top pair because i can just keep barreling and will bluff you out the pot so that's in a cash game but in a tourney there is alot more at stake like if it's a freeze out unlimited rebuy and your stack really signifies your playability there

 

[LA PokerKush]

You know, theoretically cash games are harder but like someone mentioned in the thread, a newbie is more likely to play a lower level tourney or sit N go. so the softness of the game is there,
However the midstakes to high roller tourneys are filled with sharks who crafted a style to play and adjust at all levels of the tourney. Even seasoned cash players have come around to respect the top tier tourney players.

 

[Ltech]

They are both hard.

Cash games work in the same tournament mechanics. Although they have a different psychology, for example KO tournaments the players with more stack are always looking for players with little stack.

 

[Smokewood]

You are going to have to define what you mean by "harder". However you are not going to get rich playing cash games unless you put in tons of volume. On the other hand you could play in just 1 big tournament, get a little lucky, and bring home a very large win with very little investment.

I play cash games to get volume and experience, but it's the tournaments that I really want to win!

 

[Tvorets]

Cash games are much more difficult, but looking at what the poker room to play

 

[vovqa93]

Imo cash games are much more skill - dependent then tournaments but with lower dispersion. To be successful in any of , anyway you need to put work on.

 

[c0rnBr34d]

There are a few differences between tournaments and cash games.
In a tournament, when you lose your stack, you're done in that tournament. You don't have to make any decisions about when to quit, while in a cash game you can quit whenever you want-- you can make better quitting decisions than your opponents. Nobody decides when to quit in a tournament, they just quit when they lose or they win the tournament.

Another big difference is the stack depth. In a tournament, a 50bb stack is usually quite healthy. Often in cash games, especially of the live variety, people's stack depth can be well over 300bb. There's a lot more room to maneuver postflop with a deeper stack, whereas in smaller SPR situations that you often find in tournaments, the decisions are practically made for you by the time the flop is over.

One generally also has the ability to table select a little better in cash games, whereas tournaments assign you specific seats.

Overall, while there are nuances to both cash and tournament play, I believe that cash games offer more complicated decisions and therefore a chance to have a larger edge than in tournament play. I think cash games are harder.

I live here in NV. I play both cash games and tournaments. I definitely prefer the cash games, why?...There is never the constant and ever present pressure of the blinds going up, which coincides with my TAG style of playing. In a cash game, one can just kick back and play ABC poker, which is NOT the case when you play a tournament. I do play tourney's, but I play online, and only one table Sit & Go's....Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth on the topic.....Ronster

Some good points raised above. Semi-grunch as there were already a lot of responses. Apologies if I'm just re-stating things. Here's my take:

You can accumulate a profit in either case. Not all cash games are created equal but they are vastly more similar than the many different tournament types. Just size alone can make tournaments way different. You can play heads up tournaments and if you have an edge on your opponent it may be easy to accumulate profit that way. Same with single table tournaments. As the tournament size increases the chances of you making the money decreases. But if you DO still manage to make the money the return on investment is much greater. Another huge factor is the blind structure of tournaments. The faster and more aggressive the blinds go up the quicker the game will devolve to shove charts where it is all but solved and just a matter of knowing which hands to shove from what position facing what action. Certain tournament structures are deeper with longer levels that allow more skilled players to maneuver and exploit their edge. Even so, as many have said, when the fish jams his flush draw on the flop and you call with the nut top set your tournament is over one out of 1 times when he hits. You also have to win a LOT of coin flips in the larger tournaments. So when it comes to the larger MTTs while I wouldn't say it's "harder". I would say that you have to be luckier to survive all those spots where your stack is at risk and you're flipping a coin or even 60/40 or 70/30. In cash games you can re-load and get the money back from the fish. You can also make an incorrect fold if you don't feel like flipping a coin for that amount of cash. The blinds aren't going up so you can wait for a better spot and still make money. The rising blinds in a tournament force you to stay aggressive and play those coin flips and win them or bust. On the other hand, most people say that making 10 big blinds per hour in a cash game is crushing. So if you're playing 1/2 and banking $20 / hr for 10 hours you made $200. But if you win a $200 buy in tournament over 10 hours you are probably making several thousand dollars. The tournaments give the top end potential to out earn cash dramatically. The catch however is that the life changing 7 figure pay days require immense levels of "run good" or luck to attain. Even if you're getting it in good, we have all been on the wrong side of a suck out.

For all those that say cash games are harder, I would argue that means your fundamental poker game needs more work. Either that, or you're only comfortable making the correct aggressive betting and raising decisions when only your initial $50 buy in is at risk and when you have to call a $600 bet on the turn even if you think you have the best hand you are too influenced by negative thoughts about "what if I lose this much money in one hand". For this reason and for the reason implied above that if you get lucky you can get a big score I think there are more weak players in tournaments than in cash on average. Decisions are generally easier with smaller stacks and mistakes are amplified with larger stacks which are more common in cash, especially live cash.

Long story short. I don't think there is a definitive answer. If you find a sweet spot tournament size and blind structure it may yield a higher sustained rate than a cash game. For me, I prefer cash as you can also post pretty insane hourly rates. And when a whale sits down and dumps $3,000 to the table in a couple of hours, that session would be like a tournament players deep run.

 

[Alijohn]

i think its easier to make money in cash games than Tournaments but you have to play more aggressive.

 

[c0rnBr34d]

i think its easier to make money in cash games than Tournaments but you have to play more aggressive.

Disagree very strongly. There are tight passive cash game players that make a small steady profit playing only premium hands and not being particularly aggressive at all. Nits and OMCs. There are options in cash where different styles can be used. You don't "have" to play any one way. I would argue the opposite is true. Late in a tournament when the blinds are big you "have" to often pick a spot to go all in for your last 10 big blinds or so. With antes and blinds providing constant pressure you literally "have" to be more aggressive with your stack to keep from blinding out if you happen to get a bad stretch of cards. In a cash game you would typically never even have a stack smaller than 40 BB so you don't have to shove pre. You may 3 bet or 4 bet shove pre, but not just shove 10-15 BB over limpers or one raise.

 

[TeUnit]

I think cash is generally "harder" because cash usually plays at a deeper stack depth. 300 blinds with AJo is a lot different than 6 blinds with AJo.

 

[Thugmann]

I prefer cash games since Its the area I’m adjusted to and have made consistent profit. Sure the money you can win in a MTT can be huge but I’ve never liked the odds of me getting a cash place when there is another 1000+ players plus rebuys and late registration, it does seem as though the odds are more stacked against you.

 

[90SG90]

Hey new here but been playing online for a while,

I had the same question some time ago, it all comes down to individual preference you need to look at the benefits to both and also the negatives then make that decision based on your style

I prefer cash games because I like the freedom of leaving as and when I choose, I can make a consistent profit GENERALLY, you can also take a big hit if you're not careful tho. A lot of my sessions I'll sit down for half hour a time 2-3x a day.

 

[mad_bad]

Mix it, its the key, from all this spots first practice hads up, that's the root s 🤔👆