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You love poker games. You decide to put your money where your heart is and play at a legitimate poker site like the best online poker sites here. However, you are caught in a dilemma.
As a beginner to online poker games, which types of poker games should you play for real money; Tournaments or Cash games?
These two poker game formats are readily available at online poker sites, and they seem to have attractive and rewarding features. You can decide to select one or the other and win real money from both.
But if you are running on an average budget, you need to choose the right poker game option to maximize your bankroll and playing time. You should also not forget that you are a newbie, just starting to learn how to play online poker real money games.
You will be playing the same poker game either you go for cash games or tournaments. However, bear in mind that the two game formats require a different strategy to emerge victorious while playing them. So what do you go for? The thrill of cash games or exciting poker tournaments?
This article covers the key differences and pros and cons of both cash and tournament games. Using this information, you will be able to decide which game format is best for you.
Key Differences
The best way to carefully decide whether to play cash games or tournament games at a poker site is to understand the two formats' fundamental differences. Firstly, what are poker cash games? Also known as live-action games or ring games, this poker game format is played with real money on a single table. If you’re interested in playing something different like online blackjack you can also find some guides dedicated to it on our site.
To play cash games, players exchange their money for chips and, depending on their budget, can go for the minimum or maximum buy-in limits cash games offer. Another unique feature of cash games is that you can buy in, opt-out and convert your chips to real money anytime.
In poker tournaments, several players compete against each other to win a prize pool offered by the site. Like cash games, players have to purchase a buy-in to participate in the online poker tournament. Here are the primary differences between poker tournaments and cash games.
A poker tournament features only one buy-in amount that every player willing to participate in the competition is expected to buy. Also, each player is given the same number of chips in a tournament. However, cash games come with different table buy-in amounts.
A tournament ends when a player has all the chips. Players are paid after the winner is declared, and their payouts depend on their tournament position. However, you can convert your chips into money any time you feel like leaving the game.
Tournaments may be played on more than one table. Cash games are usually played on a single table.
In tournaments, the blinds' costs increase while it stays fixed for each hand in cash games.
If you lose all your chips in a poker tournament, you are automatically out of the game. However, if you exhaust your bankroll during a cash game, you only need to rebuy to continue playing.
Now comes the million-dollar question? How do these poker game differences affect your chances of winning some poker cash? Which game format will give you the best and most consistent payout? Poker tournament or real cash games?
Although much depends on your strategy, your competitors' skill set, and several other factors, cash games are known to give regular payouts than tournaments. This is mainly because cash games have a lower volatility level compared to poker tournaments.
If you are skillful and you get your strategy right, your payouts while playing cash games may be small but consistent.
However, tournaments often come with huge prizes, which can significantly boost your bankroll, especially if you finish in the top three positions.
How often should you cash in a poker tournament? You only cash out in a poker tournament when the winner is declared, and that's one of the main reasons why payouts of poker tournaments are not as constant as cash games wins.
Let's look at other pros of cash games and poker tournaments.
Cash Games Give You More Flexibility
Cash games should be your option if you are looking to have a flexible time playing online poker. You can opt-in and leave anytime you want without affecting your cash-out. Cash games are your best bet if you want to have control over your time or have other important activities in your schedule.
Since cash games run 24/7 or around the clock, you can buy-in and play the game whenever you want. Tournaments do not offer this kind of flexibility. You can't easily leave a tournament until it is over, or else you risk disqualification and the forfeiture of your chips. Since tournaments do not come with a fixed time, you can end up playing for hours till a winner emerges.
Another way cash games offer you flexibility is on your bankroll and playing budget. You are not restricted to a specific buy-in amount like tournaments. Instead, cash games feature a wide range of amounts with a minimum and maximum limit.
Tournaments are Easier to Learn
One specific positive feature tournaments have over cash games is their easy and straightforward gameplay. As a newbie, you can quickly grasp the workings of a poker tournament rather than a cash game.
As you progress in the levels, the blinds get more increased, and fewer hands are played. Before you get to 'the river' or a winner emerges, several players' stack sizes would have thinned out, which will help you make more straightforward decisions.
However, in cash games, irrespective of the time you buy-in, you may find players with bigger and deeper stacks. In such a setting, the experienced players have more advantage over beginners since they will be able to manoeuvre and try other moves. Not having a solid strategy while playing against these skilled gamblers is a fast way to lose your bankroll at the poker site.
What Should YOU Play?
Now that you know the differences between Cash games and poker tournaments, which one do you think is right for you?
In the end, the decision to choose a poker game format depends on your preferences. Both of them offer exciting gameplay and excellent payouts. But what are your choices? If you want huge wins, play poker tournaments. However, if you desire consistent and steady wins, then cash games are great for you.
Also, if you have limited playing time and a busy schedule, then opt for cash games. Poker tournaments should be your choice if you want a more straightforward approach to playing poker. However, cash games give you an opportunity to learn broader skill sets. So, if you want to be more competent, go for cash games.
Final thoughts
Cash games and poker tournaments are some of the essential features of a poker app or site. They contribute to the fun and thrill of a poker site and can't be substituted for each other.
However, they have different pros and cons that a newbie must consider before deciding to play one. As has been mentioned earlier, the ultimate decision lies with you.
However, irrespective of the format you choose to enjoy your online poker game, you must learn some basic and advanced poker strategy like how to play poker tournaments online. Having a solid strategy will help you secure wins whether you are playing cash games or online poker tournaments.
Tournaments
If you’ve ever seen PokerStars’ live or online poker coverage, there’s a strong chance that you’ve seen tournament play before. Events such as European Poker Tour (EPT), PokerStars Players’ Championship (PSPC) and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) focus on tournaments with major prizes and glory going to the winner.
The biggest ever poker success story comes from a tournament in 2003 where Chris Moneymaker qualified to the WSOP Main Event for just $86 and went on to win the event for a cool $2.5 million.
Tournaments are scheduled with a stated buy-in, start time, prize structure and starting stack (the chips you can play with). Your buy-in will consist of a contribution towards the prize pool and a smaller fee towards the casino or poker site.
The objective of playing in a poker tournament is to be the last player remaining in the field, but once you lose your chips – and if there is no opportunity to rebuy – then your tournament is over.
At regular intervals, the compulsory blind levels will rise, which means the minimum bet-size escalates and players will have to continuously spin up their stack to be safe from elimination. These intervals are determined by the ‘speed’ of the tournament. Furthermore, after a set number of blind levels, antes are introduced – this means every player starts to pay a fraction of the big blind towards the pot in every hand.
You may have heard of the popular Sit & Go and Spin & Go games, and they are also types of tournaments. These are not conventional tournaments as they start as soon as the predetermined number of players is reached, and in single table tournaments they will be over much quicker than a scheduled tournament. It remains that players will buy in for a certain amount and receive the same amount of chips to use to work their way through the competition.
There are certain nuances to poker tournament play that will see you adapt how you play. Here are some examples:
Cash Game Vs Tournament Poker Strategy
- Freezeout tournaments: You only have one buy-in, so make it count
- Rebuy tournaments: Everyone has at least one more chance to enter should you bust out, so players may be more aggressive from the start.
- Knockout tournaments: You receive a cash prize for eliminating other players, so look for those opportunities.
- Satellite tournaments: The prizes is an entry to a bigger tournament. If the top prize is the same for a number of players, focus less on being 1st and concentrate on surviving into those prize places.
Cashgames
Cash Game Vs Tournament In Dfs
Cash games are the purest form of poker. This is the game commonly seen in movies where the hero sits down at a game already underway and starts playing. This happens because unlike tournaments, cash games have no natural start or end time – if there’s a seat open, you can play, and you can leave whenever you like. This is unlike tournaments as you don’t have to wait for a certain number of players to buy-in, or for the start time to come around.
You can buy in for any amount between the lower and upper limits of the table. This is where the fiction of movies diverges from reality, you can’t throw your car keys into the pot – you can only use what you have bought in and is sitting in front of you. Nor can you use stacks of cash – the cash you use to buy in is exchanged for chips worth the corresponding cash value.
Unlike tournaments, going bust in one hand isn’t necessarily the end of your game. If you can afford it, you just pay for a new stack. Similarly, blind levels will not change from the level of the table you sit down at, and you’ll be able to continue playing for however long you like, so long as you still have chips to play with.
Cash games come with their own different types of games also. Not as varied, because cash game is a standard that is difficult to disrupt, but for instance there are Zoom games on PokerStars which see you moved to a brand new table with a new starting hand as soon as you fold. There are also differences in sizes between the tables; you can play at tables with six players, tables with as many as 9 or 10 players, or heads-up against just one other player.
Which should you play?
Cash Games Vs Tournaments Draftkings
This question is up to you. Which game sounds like the most fun to you? Better still, try out each of the games with play money on PokerStars and see which suits you better.
There are other bankroll and playing time considerations – which we will cover in What is the Best Poker Game For You? – but the most important aspect to deal with right now is making sure the game of poker is fun for those playing it.
Cash Games Or Tournaments
Test your knowledge with our short quiz below