7 Concerns of Tournament Poker Players

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Cash game players have it easy. They have no idea how easy they actually have it.

Ok, I’m joking a little… a little.

Think about it, cash game players can come and go as they please (they can just get up and go eat whenever the hell they want, and they come back to a big blind button, that’s it!) and they get to pick and choose which table they want to play at based on the lineup. They also have a bit more consistency in their life thanks to the difference in variance between tournaments and cash games.

Of course they have no chance at a big score the way tournament players do, and they never know how much money they are going to be putting up to play on any given day.

Don’t get me wrong, tournament poker is where it’s at, especially if you can play both online and live tournaments. But the unknown part of tournament poker can certainly cause problems for people who try to treat it like cash games.

So yes, cash game players have it easy, but they also don’t have the potential rewards of tournament players.

Tournament players have to prepare for a number of variables that cash game players never have to concern themselves with. The life of a tournament player is more mysterious and filled with massive amounts of intrigue, with a lot more “unknown” involved in the game.

So with that in mind here are seven things tournament players have to account for that cash game players get a pass on.

Understand variance part 1 — up and downswings

Cash game players will certainly complain about variance and their “losing streaks,” but a losing streak at the cash game tables isn’t even in the same ballpark as a losing streak in tournament poker.

The life of a tournament poker player (especially a live tournament player) can mean not having just a bad week, or a bad month; for a tournament player a bad run can last a couple years! Even the greats of the gamed have horrible runs that last a year or two.

Think about it this way, you could make two or three final tables at major tournaments during that span and lose a coin-flip and head out in 7th place instead of a Top 3 finish all three times. That right there could mean the difference between a poker millionaire and a tournament player in makeup.

Understand variance part 2 — you may never get here again

Another aspect of tournament poker that people don’t quite get is how in some instances you can never get to the nirvana like state known as “The Long Run.”

It’s one thing to console a cash game player who just had the worst session of his life by saying, “as long as you made the right play it’ll all even out in the long run.”

Try doing that with a tournament player who just took a sick beat at the final table of the WPT Championship, or in the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event that caused them to go from overwhelming chip leader to out in 9th place.

“it’ll all even out,” is complete bullshit for these players (missing out on a seven-figure score because of a rivered two-outer doesn’t even out my friend), they’ll never be in this situation enough times for things to “even out.” Tournament players just have to suck it up and deal that they got unlucky.

As I said above, for a tournament player who is running way below expectation in coin flips this could mean the difference between the Hall of Fame and Brokesville.

For a cash game player it will all even out… the bastards.

Schedules

Wait a minute, didn’t I get into poker so I didn’t have to keep a schedule?

Unfortunately, if you’re going to play tournament poker you have to abide by someone else’s schedule… the tournament’s schedule.

As a tournament player you need to learn to live on the tournament schedule. Live tournament players are pretty much all on the same time schedule: Wake up at 10 AM and get to the gym, grab something to eat, and get your ass down to the poker room by noon for whatever tournament is happening that day.

Online players have to abide by the tournament schedule too, but for online players this means sleeping from Monday to Saturday to play tournaments all day Sunday –ok, that’s not quite how it works, but it’s not too far off.

Cash game players come and go as they please, tournament players have to play when they are told to play.

Plan for long days

Like I just said, cash game players can come and go as they please, but as a tournament player you are at the mercy of the tournament schedule and the tournament clock, and that goes for bathroom breaks and eating.

Sorry pal, you might be hungry right now, but there is still an hour and a half until the dinner break.

Furthermore, if you’re a good tournament player you’re in store for long days whether you want to or not.

When I played cash games I had a four hour clock. Unless I was crushing it, after four hours I was done. When I played tournaments I had to suppress the desire to be done.

If you want to play tournaments you need be able to sit for a looooong time.

Always prepare to play the best

A cash game player has the luxury of picking which game they want to play in, but for a tournament player you might start off at a “Table of Death” or if you make a deep run you are likely to be playing against some of the top players in the game.

There is no running and hiding in tournament poker.

Adjust on the fly

When you join a new cash game table you can sit back and play tight for a few orbits to see how different people are playing, but if you’re moved to a new table in the middle stages of a poker tournament you really don’t have this luxury as it can eat away your stack really fast.

Tournament players need to be able to adjust on the fly and sometimes that means taking calculated risks against unknown opponents.

Look at the rules

Cash game rules are pretty universal, and any differences you do come across are usually small potatoes type of stuff that result in a casual warning (talking about your hand) from the dealer. But in a tournament the rules are generally strictly enforced and can be quite different from one venue or one tour to another.

Furthermore, getting hit with a penalty in a tournament is far different than a cash game. In a cash game they may ask you to take a walk and you’ll be sat out (this almost never happens except when a near physical confrontations or belligerent tirade occurs), or you could just pick up your chips and leave for the day.

Basically, there are no penalties in cash games.

In a tournament you’ve already paid and you can’t “sit-out,” so you lose your blinds when you get tagged with a penalty. So, it is imperative that you understand the rules in advance, as the last thing you want is a one round penalty when your nursing a short stack on the final table bubble.