Cash Games VS Poker Tournaments
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 1:02 PMAt Poker Approved, we follow poker players across the United States from live cash games to live poker tournaments and we often see players who normally play cash games enter poker tournaments with the same mentality and strategy that they use in cash games. As seasoned
poker professionals, we can honestly point out that a lot of strategies do remain the same in both cash games and poker tournaments, however the starting basis that players should adopt should definitely differ from cash games to tourneys and a lot of players fall into that trap of not being able to adapt and switch strategies between the two.In cash games, most poker players know that you can afford to sit around and wait for "more" premium type cards for your hand, before playing and taking in on the action. In poker tournaments, this is not usually the case. Players should know that the blinds go up quickly and you need to start building your poker chip stacks very early in the game to survive for the long term. Therefore, poker players should know that you will have to be more agressive in your starting play in a poker tourney, versus any cash game.
Early in a poker tournament, you may be forced to play mid range cards in order to steal the blinds and start building your chip stack. In tournament play, veteran players will most likely do this and play more aggressively and therefore start building on their fortress of chip stacks. For newer players into the tournament scene, (especially in the WSOP, WPT, EPT and NAPT tourneys) ...it will be very important to start taking advantage of the tighter playersand knowing how to push them off their hands early in the game.
Also, good to note in tournament play versus cash/ring games, is that players are more likely to take a risky coin flip toss draw or bluff in cash games, than they are in tournament play. If you're playing in a large buy-in tourney where the entry fee is $10,000 (as in the WSOP Main Event), players are less likely to put their whole tournament play into jeopardy or at risk with coin toss hand and you may want to take advantage of this situation a little more aggressively
when playing the larger buy-in poker tournaments. IE: If you believe that your opponent is
going on a flush or straight draw, with only the river card to come, this would be the ideal time to put pressure on the player (even if you don't have the goods yourself) and put an aggressive bet into the pot, knowing that the player is less likely to chase their flush or straight draw and in putting their tournament health into jeopardy on a wild call.Overall, there are many strategies to adopt in both cash games / ring games VS tournaments, but the essential in tourney play is to remember that you will have to play more aggressively in the starting rounds of poker tournaments in order to build your chip stacks, then you would have to in cash games. Cash games are more about patience, strategy and knowing when to make the right move ....versus poker tournaments are more about being aggressive, isolating your opponents and building your poker chip stacks.