Tournament play vs Cash play

[Talking Poker]

Good post. Good question. I haven't +Repped you in a while, so here ya go, champ.

I know what my basic strategy is going to be for the WSOP, but the most important determining factor is going to be how my table is playing. If they can be bullied, I'll bully. If they are a bunch of psychos, I'll sit back and set some traps.

What I am definitely going to do is avoid big pots... at least for the first day. I'll try to win a bunch of small pots and slowly build my stack, but I'm not going to be doing anything silly. I HOPE that I don't have to say "all in" even once on Day 1. If it comes to that, no worries, but I'm hoping to not find myself in that situation... at least not until late in the day.

You mention players playing too tight, but don't confuse that with too passive. You can play a tight aggressive style with much success in tourneys - I know I can, anyway. I find that style most comfortable, but I like to change gears frequently and play the super-loose aggressive style for a while here and there too. That's not my natural style, and I don't think I could re-reraise Phil Ivey with 8 high.... but there is a time and a place for it. When you KNOW your opponent is weak (which I couldn't know about Ivey), it's ok to play your stack and not your cards. In fact, it's necessary.

To answer your other question about how I'll play with a "pro" ay my table... let me let you in on a little secret. The "pros" aren't any better than the best online players that I play with all the time. Certainly many of them are - don't get me wrong, but it's not like they are gods or something. They are typically just solid poker players. Some are better than others, but I don't plan on changing my strategy one bit against unknown Player X or Daniel Negreanu. Just because someone has a face you recognize doesn't mean a thing.... It's how he plays and your read on him that matters the most.

Oh, and lastly - about the cash game vs. tourney difference, yes, it's huge... really huge. Fortunately for me (depending how you look at it), with NL HE, I feel more comfortable in a tourney setting that I do in a big cash game, so that's good for me at the WSOP. (Oddly enough, I'd rather play limit in a cash game than a tourney).

[X-Longshot-X]

I think tournaments are very important for any players game....i tend to do better in tournaments because i value my chips greatly.....many people fail to realize....that as the blinds go up the chips become more valuable.....this makes it easy to peck away at some players later in the tournies...in cash it doesnt change so its the same all the way through

[eejit101]

Having now playes alot of NL tourneys and cash games, and have entured slightly into thelimit side of it (20k hands) the difference is huge.

In tourneys i take way more risks, figure out the table, what kind of players there are, and go from there. Cash games i try and sit back, play the big hands fast, and the occasional hammer loose too.

If i get to the WSOP this year, number 1 goal, TPs advice is pretty solid. Avoid races, big pots on the first day, accumulate slowly, get yourself onto day 5 as it is. then from there loosen up a tad, and hit the money. Pros wouldnt scare me one bit, we know how they play better than anyone else at the table. Unknown internet qualifiers would scare me more, they are far more agressive, unless your sat on the left of Ivey, but if i get there itll all depend on the table.

Speaking of this, can someone find me the blind structure and starting chips for this years WSOP?

[Talking Poker]

I don't really agree with a lot of what you are writing there eej.... not sure where to start, really.

But I'll answer your question now and maybe get back to you on the rest. You can find all that info here:


Specifically, slick on the event name on this page: