Cash Games vs MTT

[Zispin]

Over the last few months i have been having reasonable results in the MTT's online. I am able to maintain a nice profit in these tournaments and feel i play ok. However when i switch over to cash games its a totally different kettle of fish. Even if i drop down to .10/.20 or .25/50 I still seem to get my ass kicked in every session. Is there a different style or approach that people use in these games? your opinions would be greatly welcomed.

[The Baron]

The best thing I can tell you to do is type cash games into the search function. There has been some really good material written by some very good players on here. I wont be able to better what's already been said.

[Swordpoker]

I find the strategy needed on cash games to be vasty different to tourneys. On another thread someone suggested that Doyle Brunson's book Super System is the best book to read for cash games.

[Zispin]

Didn't actually think of that...doh! There is some really good info here, going to take some time out and read it to get some tips. 

[thetank]

If you're doing well in MTT there's no shame in not playing cash games at all.

Cash games are IMO more difficult to beat than tournaments.

Good luck pursuing fame and foortune, or just fortune, whatever your goal is.

[MrMoves]

I find online cash the easiest way of making money since sawn off shotguns and post offices. 

Online MTT is much tougher for me for some reason.  I have batches of great results then nothing for weeks.  If I could find consistency in MTT I'd be a happy bunny.

[TightEnd]

I now play, online, almost exclusively cash

I do this in part because I am attempting to cover my monthly expenses from online and found that the returns from MTTs were too lumpy to be able to achieve this with any confidence

In part also I find that ring games, which I play in a "mathematical" stye, suit my style compared to MTTs online. By mathematical I mean concentrating on odds, both those which I am recieivng and those I am offering.

Most of my profit is achieved from value betting. I use pokertracker religiously to reduce losses from certain types of hand and thus state that my style is comparatively low variance...I am not "nut peddling" to make my return but am not relying on hitting with drawing hands to make my return.

This approach is at odds with some of the cash players on here, who play to win "big" pots and gamble to do so

Also this apporach has a downside, it affects my live tournament game such that I have to leave a good gap between playing the online cash and going live otherwise I am stuck like a snail in the slow lane in the live game.

[JP]

I've been playing NL cash much more recently and I have made a good few adjustments. I play 6 handed and my aim is to "stack" someone. I play very slowly in the small pots, make sure a couple of bluffs are shown etc.

I will call a lot on straight draws in particular as they are very well disguised and big winners for me so I play a lot of connectors and get them to overplay their hand so they donate it all to me. I use "implied" odds a lot.

Basically then I am a lot tighter than in a tournament preflop and will throw away a lot of hands that I consider "top pair" hands like KQ and KJ that are hard to win a big pot with . One thing i was thinking about today was if it was worth raising with small pairs in cash as surely the idea is for people to be in the hand and donate when you flop a set. So raising and winning the blinds with 33 seems like a waste to me. Any ideas??

[AndrewT]

One thing i was thinking about today was if it was worth raising with small pairs in cash as surely the idea is for people to be in the hand and donate when you flop a set. So raising and winning the blinds with 33 seems like a waste to me. Any ideas??

When you do flop your set, you want some money to be already in the pot so your opponents are more likely to fight for it. Otherwise, you will flop your set with only 4 bets in the pot. If you bet, your opponents are more likely to let you just have it. If you slow play it, you can get out drawn.

[JP]

Indded you are right just realised that. People play badly in big pots.

[The Baron]

Also you want to be playing against strong hands like AK so that when it comes AJX (where X is your set) then you get paid. Must admit I like multi-way pots with trips though so I usually only min raise pre flop from early position. Depends though, if I'm in late position with say 5 previous limpers a bigger raise is fine.

JP's post is almost exactly how I play cash.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=1662.0

[ifm]

I have been experimenting with limit cash for a while now and i have given myself some rules that i believe over time will (hopefully) give me a better return.
Pretty basic stuff though.
I always raise with pocket pairs.
I always call if there are 3 others in a pot (except with ace rag to a raise).
I always call with suited cards.
I always raise with suited connectors.
I always "chase" with a pocket pair unless hitting a set makes a flush possible.
The trick is hitting the flop

[matt674]

I have been experimenting with limit cash for a while now and i have given myself some rules that i believe over time will (hopefully) give me a better return.
Pretty basic stuff though.
I always raise with pocket pairs.
I always call if there are 3 others in a pot (except with ace rag to a raise).
I always call with suited cards.
I always raise with suited connectors.
I always "chase" with a pocket pair unless hitting a set makes a flush possible.
The trick is hitting the flop

i hope none of your opponents are blondties

(unless this is a monsterous bluff on your part to throw people off the scent )

[ifm]

You never know which hand i have though.................
That's actually part of it, nobody knows what you have and you do get an image at the table that is between calling station and absolutey useless

[Sark79]

I almost always play ring games online. Nowhere near the limits of some of the other Blondites, but they are ring games all the same.

I have tried some MTT, but so far have only had 3 pokerstars cashes. I tried practicing these and I have siphoned matt674's brain of MTT information,( thanks...you are a good teacher ) but at the end of the day, I feel much more comfortable playing cash games. I still like to play the $10 MTT on stars though.

I liked CHAMPIONSHIP HOLD'EM By TOM McEVOY and T.J CLOUTIER.  I also read Antonio Esfandiari's book. I liked this as well. It deals exclusively with cash games.