Learn Texas Holdem

Hi Alan,

I've been learning a lot from your site. One issue I'm still struggling with is the difference between no-limit cash games and tournaments. Other than (a) the overriding goal of staying alive in a tournament and (b) the fact that you need to play more hands in a tournament end-game to win chips before time runs out, is there any substantial difference in how you should approach cash games vs. tournament games?

I suppose my question is, should you play as you do in a cash no-limit game pretty much the same way you would in the early round of a tournament? Raise with the same type of hands, the same amounts, from the same positions (I know you don't put much stock in starting hand requirements/tables, and neither do I, but I'm speaking relatively here)?

What's your opinion, for instance, of Dan Harrington's books on no-limit tournament play? And could his advice (for early tournament play) translate easily enough to no-limit cash games? The relationship between tournament-play advice and cash-game advice is often not spelled out clearly in the literature on no-limit hold em.

Thanks again. I've found your own advice on how to play no-limit cash games more helpful than some of the wisdom offered in published literature!

Best,

Loren

Answer:

Hi Loren,

Thank you for your question and I am glad that you like the advice on the site.

I have answered a similar question here.

The most important thing to take in to account when you go from cash game to tournaments is the need to stay alive (as you mentioned).

Even though it was a while since I wrote this I still believe that the gambling (and luck) factor is what most distinguishes tournaments from cash games. You will have to gamble more in order to succeed in a tournament. This also mean that you often have to deviate from what I would consider being a solid cash game strategy. (See previous answer.)

I treat the early part of a tournament much in the same way as I treat a cash game (at least if the stacks are deep). With a deep stack you can still use a solid cash game strategy even in a tournament. But everything changes if your stack becomes small in relation to the blinds or if you get a big stack and other players are fighting to stay alive.

One important thing to remember in a tournament is that a chip won is worth less than a lost chip. This means that you sometimes should avoid gambling if you don't have to (even when you have decent odds). But the tournament structure will also force you to gamble in a lot of situations, where you wouldn't in a cash game.

Harrington's advice (when he speaks about the green zone) translates decently to cash games. But you still often have an even deeper stack in a cash game (100BB) than in his green zone (30BB). And as I said, I think that cash game strategy applies best to the early stages of tournaments with really deep stacks.

Hope my opinions can be to some help - please read my other answer also (where I elaborate more on the subject).