Tournament or cash game: how the strategy changes

In a cash game the blinds stay the same all night, every chip is worth its face value, you buy in for what you like within the table limits, and you leave when you want. In a tournament everyone pays the same buy-in and gets the same stack, the blinds rise on a clock, you are out when your chips are gone, and the prize money goes to the last players standing, usually the top 10 to 15% of the field.

A cash game stack is typically 100 big blinds, and the play after the flop decides most pots. A tournament stack averages 20 to 40 big blinds for most of the event and far less near the end, which moves the decisions before the flop. With 15 big blinds a raise and a call leaves you committed; with 10 or fewer, the only sensible moves are all-in or fold. Tournament players need push and fold ranges by stack size; cash players need a plan for the turn and river.

In a cash game a $100 chip is worth $100, so a coin flip for stacks with a tiny edge is a fine bet. In a tournament, doubling your chips does not double your prize money, because the money is paid for finishing position. The independent chip model, ICM, puts a number on what a stack is worth. The practical result is that the chips you might lose are worth more than the chips you might win, especially when a payout is close, and the medium stacks near the bubble should fold hands that are easy calls in a cash game. The big stack should attack, because nobody can afford to call. The tournament calculator shows the money value of each stack at your table.

Most tournaments pay nothing. A good player might cash in one event in six or seven and make their profit from a few deep runs a year, so the swings are long. Cash game results arrive every session and the swings are shorter.

A tournament runs until it ends, and a large one can take four to eight hours, longer with a late registration period and a final table. You cannot pause it or leave with your chips. A cash game takes exactly as long as you want. If you have an hour, play cash. If you have an evening and want a shot at a prize many times your buy-in, play a tournament.

Cash games take a few percent of each pot, capped. Tournaments take a fee on top of the buy-in, often about 10%, so a $10 tournament costs $11. Both are rake, and both are where rakeback comes from. For a player who plays a lot of hands, rakeback is a large part of the result in either format.

• You have little time, or want to stop when you are ahead: cash games.
• You have a small bankroll and want it to last: low-stakes tournaments, where one buy-in buys a long evening.
• You want the steadiest profit per hour and a measurable win rate: cash games.
• You enjoy the final table and the chance of a prize many times the buy-in: tournaments, with a bankroll of 100 buy-ins or more.

Many players do both: cash games on weekdays, and a tournament on Sunday when the fields are largest.

WePlay runs tournaments with a guarantee every day, the Daily Grind, the Bounty Blitz, the Rebuy Rush and the Sunday Showdown, plus cash games, satellites and Spins. Basepoker has Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash games, tournaments, Spin & Cash and All In or Fold. Our own club on Basepoker, Crypto Poker Network, will run both formats for the players of our sites.