Cash or SnGs?

[Paddylad]

Hi All,

I have been playing poker for fun for around 2 - 3 years now and a couple of times have started to get serious by keeping stats using poker tracker etc.

But I have a question that I am interested in what peoples answer would be... so here goes.

Between Cash NLHE and SnGs which would you advise I learn to try and make money and why?

Thanks in advance

Paddy

[Rek]

I think the accepted wisdom is that cash games are most profitable for good players.

Personally, I have won significant amounts in SnGs and I know the reason is that they suit my personality better. I love the fact of a start, middle and end and the changing strategy throughout.

I do play cash games at a profit by find the monotony of one long never-ending games mind-blowing.

My answer to you therefore is the games that suit your personality better. If you like both equally and you are good at both then cash games are the way forward in terms of greater profitability.

[sk8ram]

In order to be making serious money after a few years it's best to choose cash games because there is more money available at higher limits to keep taking.

This is not the case in higher limit sng's where an ROI of 3% becomes amazing.

However, for a beginner trying to grind up a bankroll, sng's can be safer to start with as a solid but simple approach can yield significant and consistent profit at lwere levels.

[Paddylad]

Thanks for the answers so far guys. What do you class as a "Higher Limit SnG" ?

And also do many players play both? Realistically is it possible to be good at both?

Laters

Paddy

[Taso]

In my opinion a good cash game player will be good at sit and go's too after understanding some stategy. Poker is all about minimizing(spelling, wtf) mistakes.

[Peleus]

I personally want to be able to sit down, get up whenever I like. I hate having to leave something, or not being able to go somewhere when something comes up, because I'm in a tournament.

This flexability makes me prefer cash games.

[lucky_mf]

If you learn to be a good cash game player, you will turn into a good SNG player, so in general I would advise learning to play cash games.

This said, the play Heads Ups SNGs is generally pretty bad even up to the $100+5 level (which is as high as I've played). These things are a potential gold mine and it might be worth taking a few shots to learn how to play them.

Lucky

[Mazzinger]

Personally I like tourneys better. They fit more my style and personality. I've made a fair amount of money plaing tourneys.

Cash games are OK. They're good for profit. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes depending where you play, it gets monotonous. Some people only play one type of game (NLHE). I like to mix it a little. I like 7-stud, Omaha Hi and even wild card games.

[EN09]

.02

SnG's - A bit restraining for my tastes. Once begun, you're in for at least 45 mins to an hour. The $5 levels where one might begin is full of atrocious plays/players and loose gamb00lers. Not necessarily a great place to learn or start out as I think you become entwined and then enticed to start playing poorly yourself. Couple that with the fact many times you'll not place in the top third and may even go 10+ SnG's w/o finishing in the money, and you'll feel like you've wasted many hours for little to no returns.

Cash Games - I like. You can jump in for as little or as much time as you want. You can buy in short if you'd like to "limit a loss" or you can buy in deeper if you prefer. You can follow your 'buddies' and pick and choose your tables and seats. You can play a tight ABC style of poker and "pick your spots" instead of gambling when the blinds come around and you're "getting short-stacked". Overall, you can simply make more money in a cash game than a SnG while learning sound basics and using some advanced plays as they present themself.

If you're an action junkie and like to shove, then SnG's can be a good thing. If you're interested more into the tournaments, then SnG's are a good place to get your feet wet, and then certainly move on to the higher limit SnG's.

Personally I think cash games are a better place to learn the basics and then advance your play. I do play SnG's but not on a regular basis and I don't use them to build my bankroll, but use them to break up my cash games from time to time. Sets of ten just to keep up on them and for a breath of fresh air from the games I've been playing.

There are players who begin with SnG's and build some serious bankrolls and move up to the $200 SnG's too though. So it's player dependent and what you want or feel like playing. Neither are "incorrect" nor is one more "right" than another.

Play what you prefer to play, but IMHO, cash is where I advise my friends to start. Win yourself a couple of buy-ins and then go play for fun since you're on a "freeroll" so to speak.

gl to you.

EN