change in Hand selection?

[Zybomb]

Does anyone differ in terms of preflop hand selection when in a tournament compared to when in a cash game which normally has a large percentage of the field seeing the flop (6-7 avg if no raise 3-4 avg if raised?) Or a better question might be, should you.

[GTDawg]

In tournaments, I'm usually playing the Top15 or so and playing them strong for a good part of the tourney, and then obviously, loosening up as it goes on and extending to a wider range of hands.

And I used to just go full speed in to cash games and play similar to every one else which was really random and just absolutely terrible poker. however, after losing a little bit of money, I modified my tourney strategy a little bit and applied my thinking to the cash games I play.

In the past few weeks, I don't know how many times we've gotten to the river and I've had pocket TT or something similar that has tripped..and someone called me down with middle pair. Or, it's gotten to the river and it's my AK and someone was calling me down with A7 off with an AKx flop.

Although I start out with a wider range of possible hands in the beginning, I usually still like to keep my hands in check (more in check than I would assume others do) and go from there.

[Reel Deal]

My preflop hand selection during a tournament is very dependant on a number of things like my stack size, the blind level, who's yet to act behind me (ie, is the chip leader to my left), are we getting close to being ITM, are we already ITM, etc. I think all of those things have to be considered when deciding on your preflop play during a tournament.

In a cash game you really don't have to consider any of those things, so I have much more of a set pattern for preflop hand selection at a cash table.

So, to answer your question, yes I think you should definitely have a different preflop hand selection strategy in a tourney as opposed to a cash table. I think the single biggest reason for this is that in a tournament your decision could mean you're risking your tournament life, whereas in a cash game if you go broke on a hand you can simply reload.

[Talking Poker]

That pretty much sums it up for me.

In a cash game, I dont' car if I get short on chips - I'll just reach in my pocket and pull out more. So, I'm more inclined to play speculative hands that have a chance of breaking my opponent. I'll call raises with suited connectors, baby pairs, etc, more often than I would in a tourney.

This is assuming fairly deep stacks at the cash game, of course.... but usually they are.