Cash Game vs Tournament Strategy
In cash games vs tournaments parts 1 and 2 we touched on the non-strategic differences between cash games and tournaments, specifically in No Limit Hold 'em. Beyond the points outlined there, certain parts of tournament play are a completely different monster than cash play. To start off:
Preflop Play
Due to the inability rebuy after going broke in tournaments, the play in early stages generally tends to be a little on the cautious side. Note there is a difference between cautious and tight or passive. When I say play is more cautious, I'm referring to the fact that you will rarely ever see a top player getting in K,K preflop for 150 big blinds, whereas in cash games, it would be a standard play. A very common strategy among top players is called "small ball." Pre flop raise sizes range from 2-3 big blinds as opposed to the 3-4 big blinds in cash games. Keeping the pots small before the flop help to keep them small throughout the entirety of the hand so you are less likely to go completely broke with a non-nut hand. Cash games on the other hand are usually played with around 100 big blinds (online) or sometimes 400 or 500 (mostly live) where pre flop raise sizes are often much bigger. When playing a $1-$2 NLHE with $1,000 effective stacks, a $7 raise wouldn't really accomplish a whole lot. If you're trying to put yourself in position to gain the most money off your opponents mistakes, a better raise size would be closer to $20.
Playing a Midsize Stack
In a cash game, the minimum buy in for a standard cash game is 20 big blinds. Suppose the same $1-$2 NLHE game with a $40 stack in front of you. An average player raises to $7 in middle position and you're next to act. Now, if you have a playable hand (whatever your range may be) you're most optimal course of action is going to be to reraise. With a 100 big blind stack the standard reraise size is usually going to be to $24 leaving behind $76 to play with. However, with a 40 big blind stack, a re reraise to $24 is going to leave you with $16. If your opponent were to call the reraise, the pot would be $51 before the flop. Once the flop comes out, he's not going to be folding many hands unless he completely misses the flop, giving you virtually no fold equity with your last $16. Essentially, your opponent is going to be able to play perfectly after the flop, and you will give him no chance to make a mistake. Instead, if you three bet his $7 open to your full $40, your opponent is going to have a much different decision. Even if you do have a wide shoving range, he will have to call $33 to win $50, which will fold out most of his opening range. You on the other hand are risking $40 with the upper echelon of your range to pick up the $10 in the pot. If you do get called, there is a stronger than average chance you will have the best hand.
Compare this to a tournament when you have 20 big blinds. If an opponent opens to 2.5 big blinds to 500 at the 100-200 level, and you find yourself with a hand like 5,5 here an all in raise would not be optimal. Being unable to reload, the original raiser would have a more cut and dry decision to make. Either call with hands that beat you, or are going to be coin flips against you, or fold hands that he is unsure of. In this case, a flat call may be the best option, or a fold depending on the player's tendencies. With a flat call, you're going to see a flop relatively cheap, at which point you will be the one with the fit or fold decision, leaving your opponent the opportunity to make the bigger mistake.
Big Gambles and Forced Gambles
For the most part, you're never going to be forced to gamble in a cash game. Sure, there are going to be times when the pot is laying you 2:1 with 9,8 on a 6,7,2 board and you're positive your opponents has to two aces. You just have to call. Other than cases like that, there really aren't going to be many forced gambles.
In tournament play however, there are going to be times when you really don't have options. You have to ship in whatever stack you may have. Most of the time those situations are going to come up when you have a short stack, not when you're the chip leader. For example, you have 8,000 chips and the blinds are 500-1,000 with a 100 chip ante. You know that the blinds are going to go up to 750-1,500 within the next few hands. With 2,400 chips already in the pot, you're going to be forced to raise all in with more hands than you're probably going to want to. Hands with any Ace, or most broadway combinations are pretty much always shoves.
Due to the payout structure being so steep in tournaments, with the winner and final table receiving such a large chunk of the entire payout pool, simply cashing in the tourney is generally not much of a payday. Therefore, another example of a forced gamble occurs during the bubble period. Although different people have different goals in tournaments (for some people the buy in may be big enough for them to do anything to get their money back just by cashing), most people play tournaments to win. When it comes down to the bubble and you're sitting on a 6 big blind stack, you may have the urge just to try and squeak into the money. Remember though, many times, winning one tournament will net you the same profit as sneaking into the cash in 200. So, while you may be tempted to sit back and let someone else get knocked out while your own stack dwindles to nothing, imagine how much harder it will be to turn 2 big blinds into a win than a 6 big blind stack. It may not seem like a bid deal, but just try it and you'll find out how big of a difference it is. So, my advice is, even though it goes against human survivalist instincts, shove your small stack in, try to take the blinds, or double up to go for the win.
Psychology
One of the most appealing aspects of tournament poker as far as many players are concerned is the psychology involved. Of course there is an element of psychology involved in cash play – what does he think I think he thinks about what he might do later? – kind of stuff, but due to the finite amount of play in a tournament, the psychology really comes out full throttle.
One of the parts of a tourney where professionals really flex their experience muscle comes on the bubble. While most amateurs are simply concerned with squeaking into the money, the advanced players know that the correct strategy is to try to win the tournament. That's why the better players will be the ones raising almost every pot on the bubble picking up all the free blinds and antes they can. On the bubble, if the blinds are $1,000-$2,000 with a $200 ante, every time a player takes down the pot uncontested before the flop, they can add $4,800 to their stack. If they take down two pots that way, they are going to be roughly break even if a short stack with $10,000 chips contests the third pot. Add the fold equity involved when the shorter stacked amateurs are afraid to call with hands they should be instantly putting their chips in with, and the bubble play becomes much easier.
Another point of psychology occurs with big stack play. If two players are at the same table with 80 big blind stacks, they are going to be fighting for the role of "table captain." Usually, big stack at the table is going to be raising more than their fare share of pots establishing an image of a bully, getting shorter stacks to lay down more hands to them. However, as soon as you add another big stack to the equation, the play gets much more interesting and the multi-level thinking really kicks into gear. Neither will want to let the other take control, so hands that were at one point standard raise folds, can escalate to raise, reraise, is-he-just-trying-to-musle-me-and-take-the-table-captain-image-I-can't-let-him-do-that-RERAISE!
Of course, there are going to be other little idiosyncrasies that come out from tournament to tournament and cash game to cash game, but for the most part, we've covered the biggest, and probably most important. Combining, this information with the articles here and here, you are hopefully more well suited to figure out which form of poker is more suited for you. There is nothing holding you back from trying to conquer both the cash and tournament worlds, and by all means, have at it. Just remember, learning solid fundamentals in one game will make it easier to learn the other, rather than trying to figure out both at once.
