Transitioning From Cash Games to Tournament Play

While there are a few similarities between cash games and tournament play such as having a 52-card deck to play with and similar rules your style of play and over time profitability will more than likely change. For many players they prefer one or the other when it comes to spend real cash. While some individuals only play cash games others may only play tournaments and again some players prefer a mixture of both in order to keep their skills brushed up in all areas.

If you are more of an advanced cash poker player and want to transition to playing tournaments you will need to make several adjustments in your overall play and thinking in order to maintain profitable play.

You’re Stack is Limited

The biggest problem for many players who are trying to make the transition from solely playing cash games to tournaments is understanding that your chips are limited and once your stack is gone so is your place in the tournament.

When playing cash games players may purchase as many chips as often as they want. However, some casinos or tables have specific buy in limits so in order to rebuy you will need to be below that amount. When playing tournaments the chips you start with is all that you will receive and how many you end up with is all up to you. In order to increase your stack you will need to win them from other tournament players.

Due to having a limited amount of chips, optimal play is much different. For loose or aggressive players you will often be forced to play more conservative than what you are used to. This is due to not being able to buy your way back into the tournament unless you are of course playing in a rebuy tournament but most do not have this option. You cannot afford to lose your chips by calling loosely or on false hope of winning a hand so protecting what you do have is imperative in your advancement of the tournament.

Normally in a cash game you will take on a situation that you feel to be even slightly which is known as +EV, meaning even if you do lose in short term you will be profitable in the long run. In a tournament there is a difference and you should fold in slightly +EV spots where losing and calling which will help prevent from making additional +EV choices once down the road.

A simple way to think of it is like this: a pro player wants to toss a coin with you for 1.5-1 on $100 or tomorrow on that same $100 he will do 4-1. Now if you only have $100 which option would be in your best interest? Now many players would think it over but the obvious answer should be to pass up the first day and take the second for better odds. The reason for this is because if you accept on the first day and then lose you will be unable to even more +EV flips on the next day.

This is strictly tournament poker play. Of course you will normally have to fold in order to protect your chips even if you feel as though you may be ahead in order to remain in the tournament since calling will risk your stack and possibly eliminate you completely if you lose. Also it will keep you from making bets are the right time in order to better your placement in the tournament later on.

Increased Blinds

For many players who are just learning how tournaments are played are often confused by the increased blinds. Normally when playing cash games you are placed at a table that has specific blinds such as $1/$2 or $2/$5 which is not the case in tournaments. In tournaments in order for it to eventually end there needs to be something in place in order to move the tournament along at a fast speed and for this purpose blinds will increase every so often. Depending on the tournament and the establishment hold the tournaments requirements. Some speedy tournaments will increase the blinds every 5 – 10 minutes while others only do so every hour or so. The most common time frame for increased blinds is 15-30 minutes. By increasing the blinds it also forces players to act eventually instead of waiting for only good hands otherwise they will eventually blind out meaning they will be knocked out of the tournament.

By blind increases it will make your stack to blind ratio go down dramatically which causes more individuals to play more hands in order to attempt to win more chips to stay in the tournament. However, it also helps to eliminate players faster as well.

As the blinds go up its imperative that you become active in the tournament. This will help to improve the size of your stack keeping you in the tournament longer or be knocked out trying. While cash games allow you to be more flexible and choose on a specific style to play tournaments are different. You will need to utilize your game play and will need to do so regardless of your chip stack. As your stack size starts to change you will also need to change your basic strategy play as well.

Stealing the Blinds

While many players start off as conservative and tight players in the beginning of the tournament this will change as the blinds are increased and you start noticing how quickly your chips are dwindling away. Again remember that as the blinds increase your stack to blind ratios will decrease meaning you need to step up your game in order to gain more chips.

One thing that you will see advanced player or poker pros often do is steal the blinds with aggressive play and bluffs that are done at just the right time. Stealing the blinds often happen in cash games but when the hand is completed you may have only added 2% to your stack which is much higher if done so in a tournament. Once the blinds are quite high in tournaments stealing blinds may increase your stack by as much as 10 – 15%.
There are a couple important things to remember when attempting to steal the blinds which are your hand strength and position. Most of the time steals happen from a late position because there are less players to stir up with the hand behind you.

The hands that you will want to attempt to steal are only ones that you have some type of shot of really winning or your cards have a value after seeing the flop. For example, 6 clubs & 7 clubs is a much better hand than Q hearts 3 spades. That is for some reason you are called the 78 will play better than the Queen 3.

Adding to your stack by stealing the blinds is a necessity if you want to advance when playing in tournaments but should only be when done at the right time. You should keep this in mind and when playing in tournaments you should practice stealing from a late position but only use solid bluff hands or those that have some kind of value.

Always Resteal & Fold Equity

Common sense will tell you that your opponents are often raising in attempt to steal the blinds in order to increase their stack, however you know that they may also often have a hand that would lose if called so keep track of how often they do so. If you notice a player who is attempting to steal the blinds repetitively from the button and then cut-off you may pick up a few chips from them by reraising which will force them to fold their weak hand. You will notice that often many players will fold to a late position raise or reraise.

When you attempt to be aggressive in attempt to steal or resteal you must be ready to fold equity. At times you will have a hand that if for some reason another player calls you will have the lead. So you will be able to steal or resteal only if you believe the other players will fold to you.

Often players make the mistake of trying to resteal without realizing that their push will only give their opponent a 2-1 odds or even better of winning the hand. Regardless of how conservative a player is they will not fold if their odds are 2-1 or better once seeing the flop.
Always make sure that you have fold equity otherwise you will be handing your chips away to other players willingly.

The Bubble & Getting Paid

When playing cash games if you have turned a decent size stack into a large one you can choose to leave at any time pocketing your profits and going home. However, in tournaments you are not as fortunate to do so. You will be required to play in the game until there is only one player remaining. The payout structure for the majority of tournaments will often pay only 10% of the players meaning that the other 90% will go home without winning anything.

This creates what is known as the “money bubble”. As each player advances closer to the money they will often tighten their play especially if they have a small stack. At times it may seem completely ridiculous how players try to avoid playing all together in order to make the money.
Even though 10% of the participants will be paid most of the payout goes to the top places. Typically first place will receive between 25 – 50% of the full amount of the prize pool with second and possibly third taking a larger portion as well. The rest of the prize pool is divided amongst the other winners. Placing should be the last thing on your mind and only think about winning the full event. Of course winning any amount is better than none at all but if your goal and mindset is only to place in the money regardless of what rank once you reach that goal your game play will more than likely go downhill.

You should attempt to use the money bubble in order to build your stack. Observe which players are attempting to play tight or those who are scared of being knocked out before reaching a paid position and hit them hard with raises and bets. For good or advanced players utilizing the bubble in order to build their stack is important.

The bubble is the perfect time to earn your money so make sure to take full advantage of it.

Poker is Poker

While there are several differences between cash games and tournament play once you get down to what’s behind it all you still have the same game which is poker. It’s a strategic card game that is based on position, making good decisions, and by learning as much as possible about your opponents in order to defeat them successfully.

If you make justified decisions and play to the best of your ability overpowering your opponents most of the time then it won’t matter what form of poker you are playing because you will still come out a winner and profiting in the end.

Posted by Joel on Apr 29 2010. Filed under Poker Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry