Why Play Tournaments?

[NBB]

I usually play cash games preferring Zoom cash tables at Stars.

Yesterday for a change I decided to play a tournament. It was a $2.20 buy-in that eventually had 1156 players registered (no rebuy, no re-entry, no add-on) with a total prize pool of $2,265. I played tight and got to 13th place after 6 1/2 hours. I won $14.16 which minus my $2.20 buy-in netted me $12. That's less than $2/hr.

And I was lucky enough to win most of the hands that I entered, other than the last one of course. No bad beats for a change. That's very unusual.

My question - what's the point? That's probably less than minimum wage in China.

So, other than the personal challenge, why do people play online tournaments (other than CC freerolls)? How many of the 249,550 CC members actually make more money at it than they would flipping burgers at McDonalds?

This answer is meant to be taken in the pure basic reason why one would elect to play in Tournaments over Cash games.
Reason: You can only lose the amount of a buy-in, unlike cash games, where you could, and at times, can lose everything.

 

[A2020]

I guess it always depends at what stakes you play, playing 2,20 of course you wont make much money unless final table scores, and even then, you probably looking for Top 5 or so.

 

[akmost]

Not that question again!Let people play whatever they want and if they are weak and you have an edge exploit them in any variation.

- The biggest drawback of playing MTTs is that you must dedicate many hours for your deep runs.
- In cash games how many buy ins can you win? By shipping a big tournament you can win 150x times the initial buy in or a greater amount than that!
- In cash game if you have an edge you can see its impact in your bankroll instantly plus you can stop your session whenever you want.
- Good cash games players IMHO are better than the average MTT player because the real brainstorm is postflop. Even a baby can shove with AK with 10bbs in a MTT.

Play whatever you want and have fun.

 

[milka1605]

Many do not come for a profit on poker. Just play, pass the time and get a dose of adrenaline. Therefore, they try not to spend money on the game.

 

[ceco99]

Playing tournaments because it's fun and has a great chance of winning.

 

[Pickat]

For me it is the challenge of trying to move up the leader board and reaching the final table ,where all the good cashes are . I get bored on cash tables and when I get bored I find myself making mistakes because of impatience .

 

[Eric Salvador]

When talking about lower stakes you're not going to get the return on invested time you want if you have a bankroll. These steps are made to build a bankroll then play higher stakes and get a better return on time invested.

 

[Spaceman]

I am a tournament player. Your thread and your questions, makes me want to try cash games.

I think tournaments have more variance as you described but are more safe to the money you could lose. I can easily lose my bankroll to cash games but with tournaments just by playing abc, and nitty, waiting for hands while other people bust, I can make money positions more often. And of course if I get lucky, I could make some nice money that I dont know how easy is to make lets say 300€ with 50 cents in cash games.

 

[RicardoTolfo]

Let's say that tournaments are a calculated risk. In cash you can lose all your money in only one poorly played hand, which does not happen in a tournament. And we have cheap tournaments that can give you a very generous payoff, just look. In PS have the spin n'go that gives fast return if you do not want to play 7 / 8h

 

[MattRyder]

A number of folks have said above that you risk losing your entire bankroll in cash games. That will only happen if you set rebuy to automatic and play poorly and don't set limits for yourself. You don't have to set rebuy to auto. You can top up and/or rebuy if necessary manually, so you decide how much you risk. If you go in to a cash game with the mindset that you will only allow yourself to lose X number of buy-ins (yes cash games have buy-ins too), and stick to your plan, then that is all you lose, period.

Automatic topping up to the maximum buy-in every hand that you are down is a good strategy but NOT necessary.

Winning poker is in large part about discipline. Cash games are actually pretty straightforward if you play disciplined and manage your bankroll in a disciplined fashion.

Variance is a a factor, but unlike tournaments where the blinds are constantly rising, you should never feel pressured to play a hand that you don't feel right about in a cash game. And if you don't like the table you are at (e.g., too many maniacs, too many pros, bad kharma, etc.) then you just change tables. You can't do that in a tournament.

 

[NWPatriot]

So help me out here, just trying to understand. My perspective here is live play - i am a 100% tournament player. The main reasons for sticking with tournament play is the known buyin (potential loss) and there is a bit of a fear of the unknown by shifting to cash games. Call it intimidation if you will. In my local area (live), i know that if i suddenly show up at a cash table, the regulars will likely swarm and eat me alive. There could be collusion (real or imagined) as well.

I feel that in a tournament, the effects i mentioned would be minimized, if not eliminated. Obviously, why would i be intimidated in a cash game, but not in a tournament?? probably just the unknown. In my live tournaments I have cashed 18.2% of the time, which i think is fairly good (yeah i know it is about the money won, not the cash % that matters). I have tried cash game formats at low stakes on-line, but I don't believe this is indicative of the real world.

So given this flawed mindset I have, how would you suggest i try the shift from tourney to cash? I would like to give it a shot, based on everything i have heard. It seems that if i go in with a "if i lose my buy-in, i am leaving" mentality, then i am only going to be trying to play a tournament at a cash table, and this probably won't work. Should i play limit or no-limit? Again, limit has a much different strategy than no-limit (or even spread limit). In limit, it seems like you can't afford to string a bunch of losing hands together, because in limit, the pot will only be so big, and you will have a tough time making it back.

So, there i go, talking myself out of cash games again....

 

[AceKing725]

My reasons

I've had good players tell me I should focus on tournaments. I am a mediocre to fairly good player (on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate myself at about six). The vast majority of my poker talent is in math (I've been nicknamed 'Rain Man').

 

[monstr999999]

I usually play cash games preferring Zoom cash tables at Stars.......

Hi)
I agree completely ...)))
sit at the table for several hours and win a prize - not enough money for a sandwich ...)))
I'm playing for fun ..)) nerves are calming ...)) and no matter what the prize)))
:icon_king

 

[Beardownman]

To me tournaments just seem more exciting than the abc of cash. Ok I have hardly played much cash but i find after about an hour, and still breaking even, out of sheer boredom I return to Tournament. I like the progressive blinds, the amount of players, the chance to win more than I could earn in an hour..day..year. The thrill of getting on the final table, bring it on.

 

[williangg]

I just play tournaments just because i don't have enough control of my bank on cash games, i just lose all my bank in less than an hour

In tournaments I feel more safe to play and I try hard to get at least my money back at the prize pool

 

[JusThieF]

I usually play cash games preferring Zoom cash tables at Stars.

Yesterday for a change I decided to play a tournament. It was a $2.20 buy-in that eventually had 1156 players registered (no rebuy, no re-entry, no add-on) with a total prize pool of $2,265. I played tight and got to 13th place after 6 1/2 hours. I won $14.16 which minus my $2.20 buy-in netted me $12. That's less than $2/hr.

And I was lucky enough to win most of the hands that I entered, other than the last one of course. No bad beats for a change. That's very unusual.

My question - what's the point? That's probably less than minimum wage in China.

So, other than the personal challenge, why do people play online tournaments (other than CC freerolls)? How many of the 249,550 CC members actually make more money at it than they would flipping burgers at McDonalds?

Firstly you played 2,2$ buyin tournament (without bounty prizes*KO what means u recive for each eliminated player cash can be even more then the 12th place for one player )*,without Rebuy-addon what usually means the pot prize is low, and its micro buyin) iNthink about it this way if u buying zoom game 0,50/1 this is 50$ per table right now imagine what would u win for such mtt KO buying (55$)were are not thath many players and they playing not such bingo way as 2,2$ what would be then u win ?

How's that working for you James? You're right in that the only real money seems to be in the top three places. Is shoving and stealing near the bubble getting you there in the big tournaments? I'd like to follow you. Let me know your screen name and what big tournaments you're playing in.

James *this u can do at those 2,2$ buyins ^^

 

[Bozovicdj]

I usually play cash games preferring Zoom cash tables at Stars.

Yesterday for a change I decided to play a tournament. It was a $2.20 buy-in that eventually had 1156 players registered (no rebuy, no re-entry, no add-on) with a total prize pool of $2,265. I played tight and got to 13th place after 6 1/2 hours. I won $14.16 which minus my $2.20 buy-in netted me $12. That's less than $2/hr.

And I was lucky enough to win most of the hands that I entered, other than the last one of course. No bad beats for a change. That's very unusual.

My question - what's the point? That's probably less than minimum wage in China.

So, other than the personal challenge, why do people play online tournaments (other than CC freerolls)? How many of the 249,550 CC members actually make more money at it than they would flipping burgers at McDonalds?

Thing about tournaments is that they actually have better ROI in my opinion.
Let's say you play 2NL cash game (2$ buy-in) and have a 10BB/hour winrate, which is considered to be exceptionally good winrate, you earn 20cents every hour. That means you need to play for 60 hours to win 12$ as oppose to 6hours in a tournament with the same buy in.

My best guess, is that you play higher stakes cash games and when you win, it is significant as oppose to what you won in that 2.2$ buy in tournament. Use the same buy in in cash games and tournaments, and ROI should be better if you are at the same skill level for both cash games and tournaments.

 

[Peppinotom]

Cash games are hard work (hand range, pot odds) and tournaments are fun, thrill and exitement (beginning, ITM bubble, FT bubble and FT.
But above all I consider as well the calculated risk as the most important reason to play MTT instead of cash games. You get ITm, you get your buy-in back and have another chance the next day/week/tournament...

 

[MolonAA]

To be profitable in tournaments we have to play 4 or more screens. Playing 8 screens in tournaments for $ 2.20 out of a total of $ 17.60. there are $ 2.2 tournaments out of 1,200 entrants who pay $ 32 if they arrive at the final table. suppose you get two final tables to win $ 64 - $ 17.60 buy-in $ 46.4. and the chance at the final tables to win a 3 or 4 place are very considerable and also because.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Tournaments are usually softer IMO, the game theory on it is a bit more sound, the bad players inflate the prize pool quite a lot and its generally fun for people who don't shy away from the attrition part of the game. The only real negative thing is most days you will probably lose money playing a bunch of tournaments but you don't need to go on a deep run very often to make up for it and winning a tournament can turn around your week/month.

100% agree! ... tournaments are definitely softer (not just in your opinion).

 

[midoooo90]

I play tournaments for training to continue to play in live tournaments. Live poker of course different, but the experience will still be

 

[Whodahustla]

Well I’ll tell you why...

I usually play cash games preferring Zoom cash tables at Stars.

Yesterday for a change I decided to play a tournament. It was a $2.20 buy-in that eventually had 1156 players registered (no rebuy, no re-entry, no add-on) with a total prize pool of $2,265. I played tight and got to 13th place after 6 1/2 hours. I won $14.16 which minus my $2.20 buy-in netted me $12. That's less than $2/hr.

And I was lucky enough to win most of the hands that I entered, other than the last one of course. No bad beats for a change. That's very unusual.

My question - what's the point? That's probably less than minimum wage in China.

So, other than the personal challenge, why do people play online tournaments (other than CC freerolls)? How many of the 249,550 CC members actually make more money at it than they would flipping burgers at McDonalds?

First there’s discipline....

Think of it in the case of what else you could have been doing with your bankroll during that 6 1/2 hours. For that whole entire 6 1/2 hours the only amount that was at risk was $2.20. Where as at a cash game your entire Bankroll could be at risk....

Practice....

We all know the place we want to end up eventually is millionaires or at least a comfortable lifestyle. How else do you attain that in poker other than tournaments. You can’t cash game your way into it. You’ll need to add tournaments to your resume to get to Daniel Negreanu status.

Payout.....

Simply put, you entered the wrong tournament! I’ve been there. I entered a tournament where I got 12 place and there were no payouts. It really depends on the tournament. I entered to pay $10 buy-in tournament. Got second place and won $147. Entered another $10 buy-in the next day, got fifth place and made $83. Remember the bigger the buyin the bigger the payout.

Good luck! 😉

 

[lsbenn]

Some people are cash players, some are tournament players, and some play both. I know some of all types. I myself play both and prefer tournaments over cash but only if the payouts are worth my time. I play a lot of live tournaments and the pay outs seem to pay more than online pays because you usually have a smaller playing field in live tournaments.

 

[dragunovich]

I find the tournaments too much fun, you can play more aggressively because in cash, playing very aggressive is a little bit dangerous .. Also, for people who are learning or starting in this world of poker, it is more profitable to play a 5-hour tournament than playing 5 hours in cash .. it seems to me that playing cash is very boring ... people literally kill themselves for 1 dollar.

 

[mariale_1990]

I think what many of us look for in the tournaments is to win and get the highest prize, of course you have to work hard to get it especially if it is a tournament where there are many players, it will be many hours of games but winning is satisfactory