Full Tilt Poker Pro Strategy Tips Huckleberry Seed

Why I Prefer Cash Games to Tournaments
Huckleberry Seed
April 24, 2006

I'm best known in the poker world for my tournament success. I've won four World Series
of Poker bracelets, including the World Championship in 1996. With as much success as
I've had in tournaments, however, I still prefer to spend most of my time in cash games. If I
were to limit myself to tournaments, I'd miss out on some of poker's most interesting
aspects.

In tournaments, you're constantly moving. The tournament director may move you so that
he can balance tables, or your table may break. So, even if you've been attentive to your
opponents' tendencies, there's a good chance that you won't be able to exploit the
information you've gained. In a cash game, however, you have far more time with a set of
players. When I play a cash game in a casino, I might spend eight, 10, or 12 hours with the
same group, so I have a longer time to study my opponents and exploit their weaknesses.
If I'm going to be playing with the same people for hours, I can create a table image that
will benefit me over the course of my session. For example, when I first enter a game, I
might make a series of unprofitable plays - some strange bets or bluffs. These plays may
lose me a little bit of money, but they affect how everyone thinks of me for the rest of the
session. Even if I shift to a more solid mode of play, some players will retain the idea that
I'm a nut case. In a tip I provided a few weeks ago, I showed how developing this sort of
table image can be used to great effect by representing a bluff.

In a tournament, however, it's tough to profit from that kind of persona. You can spend an
hour getting everyone to believe you're a maniac only to be moved to a table of complete
strangers. At that point, your stack will be decimated and your image will have
disappeared.

In cash games, you also have the chance to track your opponents' mood shifts over time.
At various points in a session, a player may get tired, frustrated or just go on tilt. If you're
attuned to your opponents' moods, you'll find opportunities to profit from their weakened
states. In a tournament, you rarely get a chance to take advantage of someone else's tilt.
Usually, the hand that gets a player steaming also busts them from the tournament.

While tournaments can provide for some great action, playing them exclusively can limit
your game. By branching out and playing cash games, you'll develop a completely different
set of poker skills and be able to explore some of the more interesting psychological
aspects of the game.