Tournament specialist looking to move to cash games

[ahsfl]

Since starting online poker I've spent about 95% of my time playing tourneys on FTP rather than the cash games as I typically enjoy these more since I can always find cash games B&M (within driving distance of Metropolis Harrah's, Tunica, and STL) but now want to begin playing the cash games on FTP. What adjustments do I need to be looking to make?

[tarheeljks]

hit up the ssnl sticky. loads of good info

[pzhon]

If you play SNGs by skipping the early levels and concentrating on good pushes when the blinds are large, then you probably need to start over. Pushing preflop to steal the blinds does not resemble cash game play at all, unless you can buy in for 10 BB.

If you play multitable tournaments with relatively deep stacks, or pay a lot more attention to the early levels of SNGs than is fashionable here, then you may already have the skills you need for cash games.

The main differences are that

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] The stacks tend to be deeper in cash games. Buying in for something like 40 BB at first makes a lot of sense for those moving to NL from limit or tournaments, as it will mean you don't have to change your hand evaluations as much.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Your cash game opponents will not be as frightened of getting stacked. You can't bluff someone off of their last dollar in a cash game, but people fold with great pot odds in tournaments because they (over)value survival.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Many more cash games are 6-handed, while tournaments tend to start out 9- or 10-handed, and then end up very shorthanded, spending little time with 5-6 players. Shorthanded play is different from full ring play because you don't have players entering from early position, and you don't have as many players who assume that you do, whether or not there are any early position players are in the hand. On average, 6-max players give less respect to an open raise on the button than full ring players do.

[aaokwitme]

that was a great responce. I would like to adjust one thing you said. Buying in for 40x bb is a bad idea, as it can cause you to miss out on a lot of power plays and implyed odds, and it just wont help a tourney player adjust well to cash. I love all other parts of what yopu wrote.

[willyc]

[ QUOTE ]
that was a great responce. I would like to adjust one thing you said. Buying in for 40x bb is a bad idea, as it can cause you to miss out on a lot of power plays and implyed odds, and it just wont help a tourney player adjust well to cash. I love all other parts of what yopu wrote.

[/ QUOTE ]

pzhon probably recommended 40BB because most of the tough situations OP has faced have been after the first round of blinds in a tournament, ie when he's often sitting on less than 100BB's. So he is probably used to sizing his bets etc. relative to that sort of a stack. pzhon also said 40BB at first, meaning once he gets more comfortable he can buy in full, which makes sense. He's only missing out on implied odds etc. while he adjusts to cash games, which isn't going to be when he's making the big bucks anyway.

[aaokwitme]

Not to beat a dead hourse, but I stand by what I wrote, because buying short can lead to bad habits and I just think its better to learn right from the start how to handle the change.
How will playing short stacked at first help him adjust?

[HeroInBlack]

I haven't read the other responses, so forgive me if this has already been covered. I have spent almost this whole year making the transition you are proposing making. It's hard. It's a much different game. But it can be done. Read SSNL a lot. Watch some CardRunners videos. Play lots of hands, but don't play too many tables at a time. You have to think a lot when you are new at it.

Play some donkaments, too. They will seem so much easier once you have gotten used to playing deep.

[pzhon]

[ QUOTE ]
Not to beat a dead hourse, but I stand by what I wrote, because buying short can lead to bad habits and I just think its better to learn right from the start how to handle the change.
How will playing short stacked at first help him adjust?

[/ QUOTE ]
Among other things, as your stack gets shorter, you go to showdown more frequently, so you get more rapid feedback if your estimates of the ranges of hands your opponents have are wrong.

You are arguing for jumping into the deep end first. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it is a frustrating waste of time and money, and a player may lose and not know why. Many experienced players have concluded that buying in for 40-60 BB is good for learning.

It is neither ideal to play with a short stack, and not understand deep stack poker, nor to play with a deep stack, and not understand short stack poker. However, when you have a short stack, you can't be forced to play with a deep stack. When you have a deep stack, you have to worry about the short stacks in the hand who are forcing you to play short stack poker some of the time.

Starting out by buying in for a shorter stack that resembles tournament play in early levels means that the tournament player can start out as a winner (and so can someone who wins at limit), which is very important to many people. It means you can take your time learning, and can concentrate on dealing with some of the differences before others.