Cash vs Tournament play?

Ok, as I mentioned before, I've been meaning to write something about this topic. But I guess it's been taking me a while because it's almost like there's too much to discuss that I don't even know where and how to start this discussion. But I guess I'll rewind the whole process. Initially, it came from the point where we were discussing the pros and we were going back and forth about who's good, who's not (obviously, this is relative... it's like watching the NBA and discussing whether Hibachi is better than Kobe or not). So then one of the guys commented about how we should look at the playing style differences of these guys between cash game and tournament play because it's an entirely different game. And his initial point of difference is the fact that in a cash game, your goal is to make as much money as possible. In a tournament, these top pros aren't trying to win some money but rather, they're trying to win the whole thing, both for the money and the trophy. Which is why they may play very aggressively in order to accumulate chips early. I mean you all heard me complain that I hate playing in tournaments because you can play solid for 3 hrs and bubble out (I'm obviously talking about an online tournament). Imagine playing in a big tournament events like you see on TV, play solid for 3 days and be busted out by a bad beat right before the money... That's really gotta suck. Which is why a lot of pros try to accumulate chips early so that it's more like bust out in day 1 or go all the way (or at least to the final table).

But anyways, let me see if I can stay on course here. Some of the other differences between cash games and tournaments may include obvious ones like the blinds (in a tournament, it escalates after a certain amount of time vs in a cash game, it never changes unless you move to different stakes) or the style of play (some people are more aggressive on draws because they can't lose more than the tournament buy-in vs in a cash game, it's their own cash they are actually risking). I'm not saying everyone plays very differently between cash and tournament games. But I've seen a lot of people in tournaments push with draws, mostly because they don't really know what else to do. They just go all in and if they lose, there goes their buy-in. I also think that part of this is ignited by the fact that they have limited chips. In other words, in a cash game, you can always be deep. What do I mean? If you buy in to a 1-2NL game (where the blinds are $1 and $2) for $200 and you get a bad beat, you can reload and have $200 again. In a tournament, you buy-in for $20, you get $1500 in tournament chips, let's say you get crippled early and you have half your stack. Now, that's what you have to work with. But in a cash game, you're always deep. What does that lead to? Basically, that leads to more play. Suited connectors and one-gappers become definitely playable, of course considering position, the type of opponents, etc. In a tournament, those hands may be playable early but not as much towards the end when the blinds become a good chunk of your stack.

In that sense, I guess the beauty of tournament is that it's a totally different game because it requires a totally different strategy. Personally, I feel like I could go on and on about how different the two are but I'm starting to get bored typing this. I mean why would anyone want to read a strategy course 101 by me when there are bazillion other players who could probably describe it better and know more.

For my fellow poker players, check out this link:
http://iakaris.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-excess-of-expectationsaka-waffles.html

Phenomenal discussion about tournament bubble play. I've heard something like this before but this discussion really talks about it in detail. Basically, it talks about keeping the short stacks alive during bubble time. Simply amazing.

On my personal poker front... I don't really have much to report. I'm still playing a fair amount of cash games since I'm on a personal quest to build a bankroll enough to play in a $5-10 NL game and I'm doing fairly well at the 2-4NL. I'm not saying I can dominate but I'd like to think that I'm starting to earn maybe some respect at those tables. But I also am playing some more tournaments - at least more so than before because I really want to improve my tournament play. I played in a 90 player sit n'go which was like a $10 buyin last night and ended up 33rd. I never recovered from the bad beat I took when we went all in - me with AA, villain with AK and I lost to a flush...

One thing I noticed at the 2-4NL, compared to 1-2NL is that a) there are less tables and b) as such, there are less dead money. But I feel like I'm holding my own fairly well... we'll see though. I would hate to jinx myself like that.