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cash games or tournaments.?


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what does everyone prefer and why. I used to prefer cash games but found myself making marginal calls before flop because I got complacent and felt I can either outplay or hit the flop. However calling a 5 times bb raise wiv j10 suited or qj suited is a disaster waiting to happen. You flop top pair and still dont know where you are. Especially harder when you are out of position. But in mtts my game has improved as i use my aggression from cash games to good effect and I try to avoid going out at all costs. Therefore I can make the money and this has helped me to win a 80$ freezeout. Returning 1400$ on party poker. it is good result but cash games probably easier to make money from. becaus eu can go through lots of tourneys wivput winning. Also i get motre pleasure from winnin ourneys then winning a big pot in cash money. sngs can also be profitable but it definitely is a grind!!!!!!!!

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I feel exactly the same way. Cash games are so easy to make money in but tourneys are so much more fun. Its like if you play football or basketball....a cash game is practice and a tourney is a real game.The only problem is that luck plays more of a factor in tourneys especially short ones where blinds increase quickly. Sometimes you cannot get cards when you need to make a move or bad players get lucky river cards to hit their one outer.

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a cash game is practice and a tourney is a real game.
Wrong.A cash game takes a ton of skill and a tourny takes a lot of luck (skill too - but a lot of luck). I prefer cash games because I get to keep what I win. If I bust out on the bubble of a tourny, that's a number of hours of hard work where I get -0- profit. Tournys are fun - but I'd rather make money.
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A cash game takes a ton of skill and a tourny takes a lot of luck (skill too - but a lot of luck).  I prefer cash games because I get to keep what I win.  If I bust out on the bubble of a tourny, that's a number of hours of hard work where I get -0- profit.  Tournys are fun - but I'd rather make money.
I agree with Custom on this one. I can play 3 hours at an MTT and make 0 bucks. If I play 3 hours 3 tabling at Party, I'm generally seeing like 500 hands or so, at approx 3BB profit per hundred... not always, but generally speaking.I just prefer the cash games... I've tried more MTT's lately, but I don't think I have the patience for them. Those of you who do well at 1000 player + tourney's, I have the utmost respect for you guys. It's just not for me.But I have to disagree with the idea that a cash game is practice. A cash game is not "practice" by any means. Tell that to Phil Ivey, Chao Xiang, Greenstein, etc... That's like saying that an NBA game is just practice and the All-Star game is a real game. A cash game is what the pro's do every day to pay their bills, and put food on the table. The tourney's are their way of competing against each other.A cash player is going to play completely differently in a tourney against 1000 players of his own caliber and amateurs than he would against 9 fish in a soft cash game. It's hard to say that a cash game is therefore practice for a game in which he'd play much differently.
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a cash game is practice and a tourney is a real game.
Wrong.A cash game takes a ton of skill and a tourny takes a lot of luck (skill too - but a lot of luck). I prefer cash games because I get to keep what I win. If I bust out on the bubble of a tourny, that's a number of hours of hard work where I get -0- profit. Tournys are fun - but I'd rather make money.
Thank You!!.Any pro wil say in a tourney, you will eventualy need to hit a few river cards to win it. There is no way your winning a tourney without some nice luck behind you.And cash games are waaay more profitable. i can play a tourney and double my entree fee after 4 hours of work. Or i can sit at a cash table and triple my entree within the first 20 mins.
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i have to go with cash games alsoi started out playing NL MTTs exclusively before taking a extended break due to bad luck and a few misplays. There is nothing worse than misplaying a hand when you are in the money and losing your whole stack. It really is mentally taxing to me when that happens. However, there is no denying MTTs are loads more fun. There is nothing more satisfying than having your hands hold up in a MTT and making it deep into the money.I say cash games for profit and mtts for pleasure on the side.

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I used to play only tourneys, but once I started cash games I realized that's where you make your money. Like many have said, it's usually more fun to play MTT, but you won't be able to make consistent money at it and can invest hours of your time with nothing to show for it, even if you playeverything exactly as you should. Do that in a cash game and guarenteed you will have something to show for it.I see Cash Games as work and Tourneys as play!!

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I play predominantly cash games. I think that's where the majority of the money is.That said, I'll break slumps playing Omaha 8/b SnGs.As for MTTs I think they are lots of fun. I enjoy playing them so I'll play them when I have the time, and feel like it. If I can avoid a stupid mistakes and catch a few cards, I can make a nice little chunk of change.So I guess I'd have to say I play both.

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Tourneys because I value cash too much and then I play too tight and don't raise as much as I should. With a buy in and a set amount of chips I can play my real styles and not worry about not having textbook money; I know what is the most possible I can lose with tourneys.

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I play both, but mostly tournaments, just so I don't end up blowing it all. However, when I play cash games, I do use proper BR management, and get up when I'm losing badly. I'd rather not put a lot more money at risk trying to make my money back when I'm not playing at 100% and when the cards aren't falling right. I'll just make it back and plus some later.I do love tournaments, my tournament skills way outrank my Cash Game skills, at this point

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Cash games for sure.MTT on Party Poker suck and the blinds raise way too fast. It ends up being a crapshoot. I would enjoy playing deepstacked tourneys but they do not have that. Cash games are for making money. MTT tourneys are for people who enjoy going all in preflop with AK vs. 66

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a cash game is practice and a tourney is a real game.
Wrong.A cash game takes a ton of skill and a tourny takes a lot of luck (skill too - but a lot of luck). I prefer cash games because I get to keep what I win. If I bust out on the bubble of a tourny, that's a number of hours of hard work where I get -0- profit. Tournys are fun - but I'd rather make money.
Well put. I totaly agree. Tournys are fun but i love to play in the cash games.
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a cash game is practice and a tourney is a real game.
Wrong.A cash game takes a ton of skill and a tourny takes a lot of luck (skill too - but a lot of luck). I prefer cash games because I get to keep what I win. If I bust out on the bubble of a tourny, that's a number of hours of hard work where I get -0- profit. Tournys are fun - but I'd rather make money.
I think you can't be more off the mark than the above.There's so much more to think about and be aware of in a tourney. Are you saying this because you aren't proficient in tourneys? That's what it sounds like.I actually prefer NL cash games over tourneys because of blind structure. In cash games you can basically just rock up and play relatively robotic.The only x-factors in cash games are your opponents. I'm pretty proficient in limit and consistenly profit when I play it.But I don't enjoy it.What limits do you play at Custom?And to clarify, I do prefer cash games over tourneys. But I also completely disagree that cash games involve more skill than tourneys. :wink:
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I think you can't be more off the mark than the above.There's so much more to think about and be aware of in a tourney.
Ehh, that's debatable. There are different things to think about in a tourny, but I don't know if there are more.
Are you saying this because you aren't proficient in tourneys?  That's what it sounds like.
Lord no. I'm pretty good in tournaments. I have a number of cashes and wins in them. But overall playing tournaments (for me) is -EV.
I actually prefer NL cash games over tourneys because of blind structure.  In cash games you can basically just rock up and play relatively robotic.
No you can't. If you play the same way every time, you're going to get stomped.
The only x-factors in cash games are your opponents.  
And, ya know, variance. And bankroll management. And emotional stability. And how well you're playing.
I'm pretty proficient in limit and consistenly profit when I play it.But I don't enjoy it.
I don't see why not. I enjoy it more than NL.
What limits do you play at  Custom?
Not that this is at all relevant, but I currently play 2/4 LHE and switch off between $50 NL and $100 NL.
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Hey, I just wanna thank you for putting together an intelligent reply.Seriously. You were nice and presented your case well.However, I definitely think that bankroll management, variance, and especially emotional stability are much more prevalent in a tournament player than a cash game player. And as far as what limit you play goes, I just wanted to see where your level of play was at b/c I didn't feel like having this convo with someone who plays .02/.04. I started playing seriously like 8 months ago at 2/4 & 10 dollar SnG's. I made the switch from LHE to NL and like it alot better because I feel more in control of whats going on when I'm in a hand. My reads come in alot more handy & I like being able to push people off hands.Right now I'm playing 1-2 NL and 50 SnG's and find it alot easier to make money than I did with 2/4 & 3/6. But then again it's all personal preference so I guess this was a waste.

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Hey, I just wanna thank you for putting together an intelligent reply.Seriously.  You were nice and presented your case well.
Didn't see that one coming.Thanks. :club:
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cocks or pussies? Women like one, men like the other. Does this make a **** WORSE than a pussy?CTPS: If this is censored completely, the first censored was a crude word for male genitals and the second word was a crude word for female genitals.

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I prefer MTTs to cash games. I feel I am quite successful at both, but I enjoy tournaments much more. I can usually go to a NL cash game, play ABC poker, and come out a winner at the end of the day. If I devoted all of my time to cash games, I could probably make a decent earning. However, nothing for me compares to the rush of a MTT. In MTTs, you can be much more aggressive, and I find that to be much more fun. To know that your entire tournament life is riding on a coinflip because you had to is exciting. Busting someone on a resteal play is exciting to me. These are things I would never do in cash games, but are part of what makes MTTs exciting to me. I also disagree with the cash game supporters who say that you can't make a consistent profit playing MTTs. There is enough dead money entering MTTs to where you can build a stack off of them. I agree that luck plays much more of a factor in individual tournaments. However, luck plays a big role in individual cash game sessions as well. I prefer MTTs because I can probably make about the same amount of profit, and I find them much more exciting.P.S. It also doesn't hurt my position that I've made like $8,000 of of tournaments in the past week, so I may be a little high on them right now, but my basic position would still be the same... until I go about 10 straight without cashing. :wink:

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I enjoy both, but probably tournaments more (SNGs only though--haven't played an MTT since my heyday of freerolls 8). This is probably due to the games I play. When I play cash I tend to either play 4-5 low-stakes limit games or 1 to 2 higher stakes tables. The first one can bore me with its repetitive, mathematical nature, and the second can bore me simply because I see so few cards, and the hands seem individually near meaningless. I definately do not concentrate enough on either of these.I play NLHE for tourneys, the buy-in usually being around 2 1/2 to 5 x the BB at my limit games. Since that equates to over an hourly wage either way, I concentrate a lot more (and because of the bust-outability of NL). I enjoy getting reads, which are more important in tourneys since players don't get up and leave with frequency.

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Recently I have been playing $400 NL and $1000NL on Bodog. I have found that moving up in limit allows for tons more profit playing mathematically sound, sklansky-style poker. Without worry of a low chip stack or not cashing, you can play winning poker 100% of the time in a cash game because you are not forced to "have" to do certain things. Plus, being able to put $1000 down on one hand seems a little more exciting to me than playin one long drawn out tournament your lucky to cash in because of the quick blind regiment of most online poker sites.

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Hey, I just wanna thank you for putting together an intelligent reply.Seriously.  You were nice and presented your case well.However, I definitely think that bankroll management, variance, and especially emotional stability are much more prevalent in a tournament player than a cash game player.  And as far as what limit you play goes, I just wanted to see where your level of play was at b/c I didn't feel like having this convo with someone who plays .02/.04.  I started playing seriously like 8 months ago at 2/4 & 10 dollar SnG's.  I made the switch from LHE to NL and like it alot better because I feel more in control of whats going on when I'm in a hand.  My reads come in alot more handy & I like being able to push people off hands.Right now I'm playing 1-2 NL and 50 SnG's and find it alot easier to make money than I did with 2/4 & 3/6.  But then again it's all personal preference so I guess this was a waste.
I dont think you have played enough cash games to realize.A tournament is strutured so you dont over exhaust yourself, with breaks, etc.. Tournaments are set buy-ins, perhaps a few re-buys. Tournaments have increasing blind structures which results in more "all or nothing" type of plays.Cash games requires a ton of mental preparation, to be able to bring your set amount of money to a table. The ability to leave when you either A), you lost, or B) you won. It is easy to TILT while playing cash games. especially NL.Cash games are "use at your own risk" attitudes. Its a no holds bar, no one to say "ok 15 minute break". and no one to stop Killer mcdougal from pushing you all in everyhand, everyday, at everytable.
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However, I definitely think that bankroll management, variance, and especially emotional stability are much more prevalent in a tournament player than a cash game player. And as far as what limit you play goes, I just wanted to see where your level of play was at b/c I didn't feel like having this convo with someone who plays .02/.04. I started playing seriously like 8 months ago at 2/4 & 10 dollar SnG's. I made the switch from LHE to NL and like it alot better because I feel more in control of whats going on when I'm in a hand. My reads come in alot more handy & I like being able to push people off hands.Right now I'm playing 1-2 NL and 50 SnG's and find it alot easier to make money than I did with 2/4 & 3/6. But then again it's all personal preference so I guess this was a waste.
You should've just posted again, considering that none of this stuff was in your post when I replied.You are most certainly wrong in your first paragraph. Playing cash games, it can be very easy to tilt away your bankroll or move up in limits to try to make back what you've lost. You're playing with YOUR money in a cash game while in a tournment you're playing with a specific number of chips for your buyin. Managing your money is a TON more important in cash games than tournaments.You say you feel more in control of the hand in NL than LHE. Funny thing is, I feel more in control of the hand in LHE than NL. It's probably just personal preference. I feel my reads are better in limit than NL (and my bankroll has certainly shown it).
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Tournaments and cash games require different mindsets. Based soley on the replies I've read here, it appears most people who prefer tourney's over ring games have no concept of playing strategy for ring games and like the rush of playing "all-in". Which is great for people who understand poker and poker strategy beyond NLHE tourney. Unlike cigars, Lamborgini's and Miami Vice, poker is one fad I hope has some staying power, because I actually make money. If you don't think winning money is the main object of poker, you're playing for the wrong reasons. "Boring, mathematical play" is the bread and butter of poker. Succesful, long term players live for the daily limit play in their local B+M and OL for the simple fact that it's a living.

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