Beware: Tourney Play can Destroy your Cash Game Play

I used to be a good cash game player. That is how I originally built my bankroll. However, tourney play has just destroyed my ability to play cash games. I wonder how many other players are in the same boat?

I guess it comes down to patience. When I was strictly a cash game player, I would sit for hours at a time patiently waiting for big hidden hands like trips and str8s. However, as a tourney player you do not have that luxury. You need to play more hands and you need to mix it up more after the flop.

While my post flop play is much better than it used to be, I also chase far too much in ring games. In tourney play, it is often appropriate to call off chips to get to showdown where there is a chance you have the best hand. The scarcity of chips just dictates that you have to try to win more chips.

However, in ring games players really do not keep firing without very good hands. It is difficult to switch back to that mentality when you are getting rewarded in tourneys for opposite behavior.

Most good tourney players do not mix tourneys and cash and I can see why. However, now here I am stuck. I am not yet a good consistent tourney player and now I am no longer a good cash game player. Oops!