Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Poker pearl #45


In the May issue of Poker Pro magazine, Nick Brancato was asked about the differences between cash games and tournaments.

The single biggest difference ... is stack size relative to the blinds. In tournaments, it's typical for the average stack to be 20 or 30 big blinds whereas in a cash game, the average stack size is often 100 big blinds or more. Shorter stacks lead to the chips going in preflop or on the flop rather than on all streets with room to still bet and raise on the river.

Also, you never have to be short-stacked in a cash game because you can reload at any time. Therefore, short stack strategies are not necessary. Yet, they are a critical skill for a winning tournament player. You have to familiar with push-or-fold hand ranges.

5 comments:

  1. I might take up poker if Christina was at the table! :-)

    Thanks for your nice comment on Ocala DP, even if I went to the dogs!

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  2. Very nice cover on the magazine. Even got this OLD guys attention

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  3. Geez -- you guys had better not look at Bam-Bam's blog on Fridays if that cover gets you going. lol

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  4. To some it's entertainment, to others it's just poker! Heh, heh! Hope you're having a good week and winning more money!

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  5. That's a big stack behind your stack. That's OK - having a big stack is perfectly valid poker strategy - just look at Jennifer Tilly.

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