Many novice and some experienced players will often find themselves questioning where the most money to be made from poker is. Should you play in the tournaments with the recreational players, or sit down in the cash games where novice mistakes can be punished greatly? Furthermore, should you play in the big multi-table tournaments or just in the smaller sit and gos? Hopefully this article should shed some light on this all to common question for you.
The simple answer is that you should play in the games that you feel most comfortable in. If you believe that you play best in the cash games, then you should stick to them rather than forcing yourself to play in tournaments in the belief that it is easier to make money. The easiest way to make money in poker is to play in games where you have the biggest advantage over your opponents, and therefore you can gain the biggest advantage in the games you play best in.
Cash games are very different to tournaments, as they require different sets of strategies to play them profitably. Despite the fact that both of the rules of the game are generally the same, you will find that it is possible to be a winning cash game player, but a losing tournament player at the same time and vice versa. Some players are simply more suited to the one format of the game than the other.
There are inevitably going to be times where it is in your best interest to play on one table rather than another. For example, a good cash player will choose the cash table with the weakest players rather than the table with the experienced players, as this makes good sense if you are looking to build your bankroll. A similar principle applies to choosing between a weak tournament and a strong cash game. If you are faced with these two tables, it may be more profitable to play in the tournament even if you feel that your cash game is better. Nevertheless, this kind of situation will be pretty rare, unless you are confident that you are very familiar with the players at each of the tables.
Both formats of the game have their weak players; so don’t become too concerned with stories about one game being easier to make money through than another. It is good however to practice both formats of the game to help improve your overall ability. In the long run, you will find that the most money to be made is in the games that you feel you have the biggest advantage. So always look for these advantages and your bankroll will thank you.
