I don't know if that makes any difference when comparing 1/2 to 2/5, but since science tells us there is a correlation between income and intelligence, richer recreational players might be better at poker.

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There are so many aspects to Texas Hold ‘Em strategy that it can sometimes make chess seem like a kid’s game. Yet, of all the complex poker strategies to master, the differences between cash game play and tournament play may be at the top of the list. Strategies for the two formats vary so widely, it’s almost as if they’re completely different games. As such, succeeding at both will require that you use contrasting tactics, styles and mindsets.

The Difference Between Cash Games and Tournaments

One of the most successful Hold ‘em players in recent years, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, CardPlayer Magazine’s 2006 Player of the Year, and winner of more than $14 million in tournament earnings in his career, is a perfect example of how different the two formats can be.

He earned his nickname, “The Grinder,” from years of playing in cash games. With his rent money on the table, Mizrachi was known as a relatively tight player, grinding out a living. But in tournaments, he was one of the wildest players at the table, gaining a reputation for non-stop raising.

He described the two strategies by saying, in effect, that at a cash game you had to consider every decision carefully not just from a poker standpoint but from a practical one as well. However, in a tournament, the goal is to collect all of the chips in play, meaning you have to be involved in more pots, making more bets and gambling more often. And since you’ve already put your entry fee down, there isn’t the worry of having to reach back into your pocket to continue playing. You’re either in or you’re out.

Tournament Strategy

As with any other type of poker strategy, there are many nuances to tournament play. But for the sake of simplicity, there are two primary schools of thought for Hold ‘em tournament strategy.

The first is the one used by Mizrachi. The goal in any poker tournament is to end up with all of the chips, so aggressively pursuing them from the outset makes sense. However, that often leads to wild swings in chip stacks, a harrowing experience for even the most seasoned professionals. It’s also a very hard strategy to employ, one that requires a great deal of experience, knowledge, intuition and guts, and it can often lead to an early exit from the tournament.

The second of these strategies is the more traditional, stay-alive-as-long-as-possible method, then hope things break right for you at the end. The most famous practitioner of that strategy may be “Action” Dan Harrington, who won the main event at the World Series of Poker in 1995, and reached the final table back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004.

In this traditional strategy, the tournament turns into a minefield. You have to look at each and every decision as if it is for your tournament life, and avoid every pitfall. In order to employ it successfully, you have to play far fewer starting hands – usually only premium ones like pocket pairs and two face cards – and almost always err on the side of caution. This is also the recommended style of play for tournament novices and inexperienced players.

Cash Game Strategy

Many veteran players feel so strongly about cash games being a superior test of skill that they won’t even play in tournaments. With money more tangibly on the line, and the ability to reach into your pocket and reload at any time (unless, of course, your bankroll runs out), cash games present myriad strategies, decisions, styles and bets for player to choose from. While some of the strategies are similar to those previously discussed for tournament play, the way they are employed is often completely different.

The are four main categories of cash game strategy: Tight, tight-aggressive, aggressive and maniacal.

Tight Play

This style is the one most beginners use, and rightfully so. It requires playing only premium starting hands, rarely raising – allowing the cards to almost play themselves – and waiting for only the most optimum opportunities to put your money in the pot.

The benefits of this strategy are that you are less likely to lose money and will rarely experience large downswings in fortune. On the downside, because you are giving less action you will get less action. That means it will be very difficult to win a lot of money.

Tight-Aggressive Play

This would be the cash game equivalent of the Harrington tournament strategy. You will still only play premium starting hands for the most part. Though, the list will expand beyond that of a tight player’s to include hands like Jack-ten suited.

The main difference between tight and tight-aggressive is that once you enter a pot you will be much more willing to bet and raise. The idea is that by playing few hands, but playing them more powerfully, will allow you to take control of a table without putting yourself at too much risk. It also puts you in a better position to bluff when the mood strikes.

Aggressive Play

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This is where you play far more starting hands and put in far more bets, whether you have good cards or not. The line of thought behind this strategy is that by keeping your opponents off balance they won’t be able to read your hand, and will be less likely to put you to tough decisions since the pressure will regularly be on them. It’s sort of ‘the best defense is a good offense’ tactic.

Also, by putting a lot of money in the pot, there will be more to win, meaning bigger profits. On the other hand, it’s much easier to lose when playing this way.

Maniacal

We’ve all seen them – the maniac who can’t help but throw money into nearly every pot. Sometimes his chips are stacked to the ceiling, other times he can’t stay in the game more than a half-hour. Aggressive play, especially if it’s tempered by experience, can be a highly effective strategy. Maniacal play is more likely a desperate call for help by the player who uses it.

Ultimately, you want to become proficient at most of these strategies, and be able to continually vary your playing style depending on your opponents. That’s why it’s highly recommended that you find somewhere to work on these different tactics, like an online game where you can see a large number of hands per hour, until you come up with the strategy that works for you.

In addition to the variety of poker games and betting variations there are also different game formats and it’s important that you understand the differences. The two main formats of playing poker are cash games and tournament play.

Here are the main differences between cash games and poker tournament play:

• Cash games are played on one table. Tournaments can be played on one table but can also consist of multiple tables.
• In cash games players exchange money for chips, and there is usually a minimum and maximum buy-in amount, depending on the stakes. In tournaments, players buy-in for the same amount and are all usually given the same amount of tournament chips.
• A player has the option to quit a cash game at anytime, and can then exchange any chips for cold, hard, cash. Tournaments end when there is one winner who has all the chips. Players are paid based on where they finished in the tournament.
• In cash games the blinds stay the same for each hand, depending on the stakes (e.g. $1/$2). In tournaments the cost of the blinds escalates (e.g. increase every 15 mins).
• If you lose your chips/money in a cash game then you may buy-in again and continue playing. If you lose all your chips in a tournament, you’re done and are out of the game.

Clearly there are some fundamental differences between cash games and tournament poker. Let’s take a look at each format in a bit more detail, starting with cash games.

Cash Games

This is the format where most players are first introduced to poker, many times played around the kitchen table. As the name implies it is played for cash not matchsticks, coupons, or any other medium other than cold, hard cash. This type game is played regularly all around the world in homes, clubs, lodges, casinos, cardrooms and on the internet.

Depending upon the stakes of the game there is normally a minimum buy in to get started. Many times in no limit play there is also a maximum buy in as well. This is actually a form of protection for the players. No-limit or pot-limit cash games generally require a buy-in of 20 to 100 big blinds. Therefore in a no-limit game with blinds of $1/$2, you can generally buy-in from as little as $40, but a standard buy-in would be $200.

Fixed limit tables usually require at least 10 times the small bet. Therefore a $2/$4 game would therefore have a minimum buy-in of $20. The buy-in amounts will vary from venue to venue – as will the stakes.

There are real money cash games to suit all budgets, particularly if you play online. In online poker the stakes are nearly always grouped into different levels such as micro stakes, low stakes, medium stakes, and high stakes. Here are typical groups you might expect to find at an online poker room:

No-Limit hold’em:

• Micro ($0.01/$0.02 to $0.05/$0.10)
• Low ($0.10/$0.25 to $0.50/$1.00)
• Medium ($1/$2 to $4/$8)
• High ($5/$10 +)

Fixed-limit hold’em:

• Micro ($0.01/$0.02 to $0.25/$0.50)
• Low ($0.50/$1.00 to $3/$6)
• Medium ($5/$10 to $10/$20)
• High ($15/$30 +)

This is just a fuzzy guide to illustrate the range of stakes available when you play online – there’s literally something for everyone. When you play live, such as in a casino, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find stakes as low as the ones listed here. In most casinos the lowest stakes are usually $1/$2 for no-limit and $2/$4 for fixed-limit – although you might find lower stake games in some venues, and in home games people often play for pennies.

Full Ring vs. 6-Max Cash Games

Cash games are often called “ring games” and a table that seats 9 or 10 players is known as a “full ring” game. With the advent of online poker short-handed play has become very popular. Short-handed means the tables are usually limited to a maximum of six players. As such, short-handed cash games are normally referred to as “6-max”. These games have developed a large fan base because they are action packed. Players get to play more hands than in a full game and play their hands more aggressively. This is due primarily to the fact that strategically one cannot just sit back and wait for premium cards as the blinds come around much more quickly.

Even though the size of the table is the only difference between the two formats, they play very differently. These differences are highlighted in our separate poker lesson on full-ring vs. 6-max cash games, but as a beginner you’re much better off starting out by playing full ring games before trying your hand at the more aggressive 6-max games.

Tournament Poker

In a standard tournament format all players enter for the same amount of money which also carries a fee which the entity running the tournament keeps. As an example, “Casino Pokerology” might offer a no limit hold’em tournament that has a $50 entry cost plus a $5 fee to play. Once you post the $55, $50 of which goes into the prize pool and the other $5 is the fee to run the tournament, you may get $2,000 in non negotiable tournament chips. The blinds might start at $10 and $20 and escalate every twenty minutes. The continual escalation of the blinds forces the players to “gamble” more versus just playing conservatively and waiting for premium cards. This format is how the attrition of players whittles the number of starting players down to the eventual winners.

The number of winners is normally dependent on the number of starting players but typically in a tournament with a $50 entry fee, if there were 100 starting players providing a prize pool of $5,000 it may pay the last nine or ten players at the final table. First place might be in the neighbourhood of 30 to 50 percent of the total prize pool, with less for second, third, forth, and so on. This example is meant to demonstrate how a tournament can work, not to state as fact how they all work. The number of your starting chips, beginning blind levels, the length of time at each blind level and the prize pool distribution is at the discretion of the tournament organizer and can vary significantly. Always make sure you understand just what is being offered for your tournament dollar.

Remember that the values of the chips used in a tournament are only relevant to the tournament itself. You may have the more chips than anyone else after an hour, but you can’t walk away and exchange the chips for real money. The chips only related to your position in the tournament, and to get paid you must finish in the positions that get paid. For example, if a tournament plays the top 10 players out of 100, then you’ll get nothing for finishing 11th-100th. You might have the most chips with 50 players left, but it doesn’t count for anything unless you make the top 10.

In addition to the standard tournament format explained above wherein for one cost you’re in it and several players, such as ten, share in the prize pool there are a few other ways tournaments can work. We’ll highlight several formats.

Freeze Outs

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A freeze out refers to any tournament format in which you cannot rebuy or add to your chip stack – aside from winning pots. The cost of entry and the amount of starting chips is set in advance as explained above. If you lose all your chips, you’re out. Freeze outs are the antithesis of rebuy tournaments, which are explained next.

Rebuy Tournaments

Under the list of how tournaments are different from cash games the first difference listed was – if you lose all of your chips, you’re done and are out of the tournament. Well, not so in a rebuy tournament. This tournament format allows you to buy-in again if you lose all your chips. Depending on the format, you may be able to rebuy as many times as you wish, normally within a predetermined time limit, such as an hour or two. Many of these tournaments also offer what is termed an “add-on” which is just the ability to purchase additional chips, until a certain point such as before the first break. This format changes much of the normal strategy of tournament play as the participants are not as fearful of being busted out since they can rebuy. These players play significantly looser until the rebuy period expires. Once the rebuy period is over the tournament becomes a freeze out with no further chips added to play.

Satellites

Using our WSOP reference once again, a one table satellite tournament to qualify for the $10,000 buy-in championship would require each of the ten players to post $1,000 (don’t forget the fee of $100) with the winner gaining free entry into the World Championship. “Free entry” actually means he would have put up $1,100, won $9,000, and gained a seat into the tournament for a total cost of $1,100.

Satellites offer a potentially cheap way of gaining entry into high buy-in tournaments. There are also satellites which win you a seat into another satellite, and so on. There are some that start with a free entry (referred to as “freerolls”), or just a couple of dollars. If you play online poker you will notice complete sections for satellite tournaments, for all sorts of events, such as the WSOP, WPT, and other special events and high buy-in tournaments.

Sit & Go Tournaments

This type of tournament was started by the online poker sites but has now spread into the bricks and mortar cardrooms. They are played both one table as well as multiple tables. The name comes from the fact that to sign up all you need do is sit down. When the players in the tournament have all sat down – it “goes”. As an example, you enter an online poker site and select a one table sit & go (SnG), pay your entry fee, sit down and wait. The tournament starts when the last player who will complete the table sits down. These type of tournaments on the internet have become extremely popular, so much so that sometimes you need to be very “quick to click” in order to get in before the table fills up. One table sit & goes normally pay the top three finishers.

Conclusion

There are many forms this intriguing game of poker can take. Some people prefer the challenge of playing cash games, and others prefer the buzz of playing in poker tournaments. It really comes down to personal preference, so you should decide for yourself if you prefer cash games or poker tournaments.

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Each format has it’s own unique strategies and we’ll cover these in much more detail in the poker lessons throughout the site. Many of the poker lessons on Pokerology are applicable to both formats but we also have separate lessons devoted to cash games and tournament strategies. By following all the lessons here on Pokerology you should become skilled in both disciplines.

By Tom 'TIME' Leonard

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Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.

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