Most novice poker players who haven’t spent a whole lot of time in the game tend to think that there isn’t much of a difference between cash games and tournaments.  After all, one still holds the same amount of cards and gets dealt the same amount of community cards whether it’s a tournament or cash game.

The only time this stuff changes is when the poker variation changes, right?  The truth is though that this is definitely the wrong line of thinking and there are plenty of differences between cash games and tournaments in poker.  Here are some of the main ones.

1. Tournaments are played in phases while cash games aren’t.

One considerable difference between cash games and tournaments is that tourneys are played in phases and cash games see more consistent action.  That’s because a person won’t see players falling out left and right in a cash game and the action follows a hand by hand pattern.  Tournaments on the other hand normally feature different types of players at different levels and the point is to knock others out or avoid getting knocked out.

A good example of this is that the first part of a tournament sees lots of reckless players who will go all-in many times and bluff far too frequently.  Most good players want to avoid these types and so they must play conservatively in the first phases and get more aggressive in later phases. 

2. Cash game odds don’t always apply in tournaments.

Cash games are often dictated by different odds such as pot odds, implied odds, and reverse implied odds.  The better a person becomes at mastering this stuff, the more money they will make playing cash games.  Tournaments, on the other hand, are much more about survival and making plays just based on odds is a bad decision.  Making plays in tournaments is more about picking the right time to make a move and that is the next difference.

3. Timing is everything in tournaments.

Since players can bust out of a tournament at any moment, they have to be consciously aware of when they should get in pots and when it’s best to stay out of them.  That’s why odds can’t be used as heavily in tournaments whereas they are much more useful in cash games.  Defining when to make a move is a better skill in tourneys and an example of this is noticing a frustrated fish who has just pushed their dwindling stack in hoping to double up.  A veteran tournament player who holds anything at all might find this a good time to get in the pot and see if the fish is actually holding anything.