Cash vs Tournaments preference? (1 Viewer)

Cash or Tourney

  • Cash

    Votes: 88 54.7%

  • Tournament

    Votes: 28 17.4%

  • Both

    Votes: 44 27.3%

  • Neither, why am I here?

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • Total voters
    161
JScott

JScott

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Did an exhaustive search on this and surprisingly found very little on this topic, so let's dive in.

What justifies your preference of one over the other? I recently played my first Tourney this week in over a year. I'll be honest, absolutely hated it. Could have been the fact I didn't host so it was a game with strangers, there was a mystery rake, sticky chips, bad cards, poor table and just general dingy atmosphere. I'm sure not all tourney's are like this, but I also found the tournament a bit of a donkfest with people going all-in and re-buying 5-6x within the first hour (I re-bought once, ran into a cooler the second hand of the night so I'm not blameless).

But all that specific crap aside, I think it's also the type of game I didn't like. I usually run a chill cash game with friends, so while the atmosphere, game is more my style. I like cash because it doesn't give me blind anxiety. I can get a bit tilted, and then take some hands off without worrying about raising blinds, stack sizing etc. I also like the fact I can get up and quit whenever I want.

Hell, maybe I'm just not good enough at Tournaments and need practice... would love to hear your opinions.
 
BGinGA said:
Prefer tournaments. Fixed outlay with known prizes, with more skill sets required.
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You prefer tournaments? ;)

DD77008B-4833-4335-9376-605361E1B724.gif
 
It highly depends on the tournament's structure, but, even with the best of structures, a tournament in its late levels is closer to roulette.
True poker is cash poker, IMO.
Only tourney advantage I can think of is that it can be a lot more affordable, with a very much contained money risk (or no money risk at all, if the rule is that the winner is awarded just a BJ - BJ chip, apparently):)
 
I played tournaments for years but always was more interested in the cash games that broke out with them.

My dislike of tournaments mostly stems from playing really well, getting to the final table and then as the blinds increase it comes down to luck when I shove and get called or someone else shoves and I call of who is going to win the coin flip. The lack of post flop play in late stage tournaments annoys me. Spend 5+ hours to go out a few spots from the money sucks. Hell, even a min cash after a long day is nothing to write home about.

With a cash game if I lose that big all-in hand I can reload and have a chance to win it back.
 
Rhodeman77 said:
My dislike of tournaments mostly stems from playing in poorly structured events. really well, getting to the final table and then as the blinds increase it comes down to luck when I shove and get called or someone else shoves and I call of who is going to win the coin flip. The lack of post flop play in late stage tournaments annoys me. Spend 5+ hours to go out a few spots from the money sucks.
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^^ FYP. ;)

Lots of ways to structure both gameplay and payouts so that those things do not occur. Vote with your wallet. :tup:
 
I prefer cash games, just because I think it's possible (albeit not wise) to make a play for every single pot if you choose.

Tournaments require an altogether different strategy, patience, perseverance, and focus on the long game. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy the occasional tournament as well (especially with all the great hosts we have here in CO!), but I love the the strategic "restart" that each hand brings in a fun/splashy cash game.
 
justsomedude said:
I prefer cash games, just because I think it's possible (albeit not wise) to make a play for every single pot if you choose.

Tournaments require an altogether different strategy, patience, perseverance, and focus on the long game. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy the occasional tournament as well (especially with all the great hosts we have here in CO!), but I love the the strategic "restart" that each hand brings in a fun/lively cash game.
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This is dead on. I have my method in Tourneys, which works alot of the time, but boy can it screw me up in cash games. I get way too long game and don't take my immediate hands. God I suck at cash...
 
Love both for different reasons!

Tournaments are more exciting than cash games, also have a built-in stopgap and for me typically involve a lot more bluffing which is a lot more fun.

Cash games, especially a good cash game with a producer, are definitely more lucrative. Being able to leave if a douche bag sits down is also a big plus.

Really to me as different as cash games and tournaments are, they are both tons of fun and games I love very much! If someone held a gun to my head and said I had to pick one it would probably be tournaments, mostly because of the fun and excitement factors that escalate if I happen to go deep .
 
Tournaments are great for recruiting players in general. The fixed buy-in amount lets people know their potential loss for the night up front. They can provide hours of fun hanging out for that set price. They are cost effective way to learn basic poker concepts as well. If you manage to win one the payout is usually decent enough.

I don’t know of many people that got into poker without playing tournaments first.

I just prefer cash games at this point in my poker life.
 
Rhodeman77 said:
Tournaments are great for recruiting players in general. The fixed buy-in amount lets people know their potential loss for the night up front. They can provide hours of fun hanging out for that set price. They are cost effective way to learn basic poker concepts as well. If you manage to win one the payout is usually decent enough.

I don’t know of many people that got into poker without playing tournaments first.

I just prefer cash games at this point in my poker life.
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100% how my game has grown after the last 5 years. Some of the guys now call it the Windy Crest Courtesy Tournament. I don't disagree.
 
I used to host a tournament every Friday for about 5 years. Towards the last 2 years as soon as a cash game was about to start I would start shoving to get out. The tournament was a $30 buy-in. The cash game was 25/50c $100 buy-in. It was rare that the tournament winner made more money than I did in the cash game.
 
I used to be exclusively a tourney player, for the simple reason that was how I got started in a home game, and there were no casinos nearby.

Slowly I drifted into cash, both in private games and at the three casinos which opened in the past few years within 1-1.5 hours away. I was a terrible cash player at first, but got the hang of it, and it really forced me to up my game. I prefer cash overall because it is less of an all-or-nothing prospect, and if you’re properly bankrolled you don’t get into nearly so many spots where you have to get it in and just flip.

OTOH, I’ve been drifting back into tourneys lately, and am finding I’m much better at it now than before I got into cash. My cash experience has led me to feel much more on top of things in tourneys, less panicked as blinds escalate, more clear about when to go for thin value, to bluff, to fold, or how to get paid when you make the nuts.

By the same token, a tourney background helps me be more patient and less tilted in cash when things go awry.

So, both. I feel it helps a lot to go back and forth between both to keep upping your game.

Same goes for playing some mixed games. I don’t play a ton if PLO or PLO8, but I enjoy it and it helps put Hold ’Em into better focus / perspective.

P.S. I can’t re-emphasize enough the importance of bankroll management whatever one plays. I started our as a super-not in low stakes tourneys, then jumped into bigger games without having set aside enough to be comfortable and ride out variance / downswings. Playing both cash and tourneys (at appropriate stakes) slowly has helped me take the longer view of how many buy-ins and rebuys and reloads are reasonable, and not to overly protect my current stack.
 
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Used to be only tournaments. Now I prefer cash, but I am still a better tournament player than cash player. For some reason I can lose A $500 cash pot and not care but I will rage when busting out of $15 tournies. Even in the money.

put me in the ”both” camp.
 
CASH GAME. I mean I started playing poker at like 8 after watching MASH. After years of 7 stud and draw games played Rounders came out and then we started doing NLHE. Moneymaker happened and it made us start playing tournaments because that is what the noobs wanted.

Cash games forever! VIVA LA CASH GAME! Especially MIXED GAMES.
 
Far prefer cash. I only really enjoy a tourney if there are three or more tables. Poker was invented as a cash game and to me that will always be real poker.
My old poker crew hosted very well structured 30-40 person tournaments 7-8 times a year for several years. Four spots payed with first usually around $2400. Always had a waiting list. That said, the most memorable parts of those tourneys were often the $1-2 cash games on the side.

Single table tourneys my least favorite way to play and I will only play in these to scratch a poker itch.

It’s unfortunate that so many players only know tournament style poker. For many they got Interested in poker from TV and tourneys also seem like a safer way to play. I’ve done my best to convert these people to cash with low stakes games. Once comfortable most end up preferring cash In my experience.

Its also the most conducive to regular games because people can come and go as they please.
 
After reading some other responses, and thinking about it for a while, I think my only real gripe with shorter home tournaments is the phase I call "the hump." Basically, it's that time in almost any given structure where average chip-stacks and blinds converge, and you see a massive reduction of the field in a short period of time. Once you get over "the hump," play returns to normal (for a period of time).

Case in point: We had 14 players in our Halloween tournament this year. Played for a few hours before we got down to single table play. I think we went from 8 to 3 players in less than an hour. Part of the game, I know, but it's something that's always bothered me about shorter structures.
 
While I’ve only played in two MTT’s in my life, my opinion is that both are poker. They put you in different situations, but both are poker situations. To be a “good poker player” you should have the skills to play in both types of situations.

For example, in cash games it’s hard to be in a situation where you need to navigate 3 streets with 10 bb’s. And in tournaments it’s hard to be 200-300bb’s deep facing a huge river bluff and be able to call down.

But both are poker. Both require poker skills.

I had a blast playing in a 10 table tournament last weekend (knocked out in 7th). It really galvanizes my desire to play short stacks better.
 

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