QA-Zachary – tournament vs. cash game strategies

Annie,

You absolutely stole the show at the TOC. That was awesome with you sending Phil into his obligatory tantrum. My entire gym was watching and we were doing back flips when won.

To let you know, i’ve been playing poker ever since I first watched Rounders. In that time i’ve won big and lost big. Cash games and mini poker night with the guys tournaments are my forte, but I have recently started the online and live tournaments. I’m extremely motivated to become great at being a tournament player. I recognize the difference between being a cash specialist and a tournament strategist. Can you give me some brief but insightful tips that might help me on my path?

Thanks so much,

Your fan…

Zachary

Hi Zachary–

First off let me say thanks for the kinds words.  Sending Phil into a tantrum is reward enough but knowing you got some enjoyment out of it too just adds a cherry on top

There are big differences between playing cash games and tournaments both in the psychology of the situation and the math that you can leverage strategically. 

The main and most obvious difference between the two is that in cash games you can always rebuy but in tournaments each player starts with a finite number of chips.  Once the player loses those he is out.  Because of this a skilled tournament player can leverage this psychology by playing a game which puts more pressure on his opponents.  Players areby nature easier to bluff when they know that one misstep and they are on their way out the door.  Players playing under finite chip conditions will work harder to preserve their chips.

In a cash game when you put someone to a decision for all or most of thier stack they know if they are wrong they can always rebuy and stay in the game.  This makes it more likely they will call you than in a tounament. Because of this you should play a more aggressive, “bluffy” game in tournaments and a more “trappy” game in cash games.

The other important factor that governs your play in tournaments is an understanding of how quickly the blinds escalate and how big your stack is in comparison to the blinds.  In tournaments where the blinds escalate very quickly, which is often the case in online tournaments, a player needs to gamble more.  The greater the risk of going broke while waiting for a hand, the looser a player must play in order to keep up with the blinds.  If you never had to put a blind in you could wait for Aces.  But when you have to blind and those blinds go up really fast, you have to play a riskier style. In general, this is the style you have to play on the internet because the blinds tend to escalate more quickly there than in a brick and mortar casino

I hope that is at least part of the answer you are looking for. 

xo
annie