Should I start with cash games or tournaments? Beginner needs advice

Hello everyone!

I recently started playing poker (I've been playing for about a month now) and I'm trying to figure out where to start — with cash games or tournaments?
On the one hand, tournaments seem more exciting: you can turn a small buy-in into a big win. But on the other hand, cache games look better for learning theory because the stacks are more stable and you can practice discipline.

So far I've played a few freerolls and a couple of cheap Sit & Go tournaments, but I keep losing — either because of bad luck or just because of the wrong decisions.

Here are my questions:

1. Which format is better suited to improve a beginner: cache or tournaments?


2. Is it wise to try both formats at the same time, or should you focus on just one?


3. What common mistakes do beginners make (perhaps you have encountered them yourself)?



I would be very grateful for any tips, links to educational resources or just stories from your first days in poker.
Good luck at the tables!

babyrosejr said:

1. Which format is better suited to improve a beginner: cache or tournaments?

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How much time do you have to play?

Obviously if you have only 20 minutes or 30 minutes at a time then cash is better.

babyrosejr said:

2. Is it wise to try both formats at the same time, or should you focus on just one?

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I would try both formats - but focus on one at a time.

babyrosejr said:

3. What common mistakes do beginners make (perhaps you have encountered them yourself)?

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My favorite beginner mistake is betting too much or too little, both are sins.

You need to build a pot to get value from your good hands.

You can try both formats to find out, which one you like most, but after a while its best to make a choise. Otherwise there is a risk of becoming "a jack of all trades but a master of none". It does not need to be a choise for life, but you should not flip back and forth every week or month.

Cash is better I think for beginner ,you can learn for cheap the game with zoom/rush poker for 2$ buy in 2ct big blind , it’s way better to learn with cash games

Personally if I was just starting out and know what I know from 20 years experience I'd do both but I'd start with cash by depositing $50 and starting at 2nl and playing full-ring. From there I'd work my way up to $500 and 10nl full-ring.

Now that I have $500 and am playing 10nl full-ring my schedule would be as follows:
1) Saturday and Sundays would be for longer blind level MTT's(10+ min blind levels). And I'd start with $5 MTT's nothing lower.
2) Mondays and Tuesdays would be for studying and hand reviews.
3) Wednesday-Fridays would be cash(full-ring) and I'd work my up to double tabling. I'd personally stay far away from any fast cash games like zoom/rush and even 6 max. They're tougher then full-ring and create more variance making the mental game way more important and the bigger variance swings come at you much quicker. Also playing full-ring cash means you don't need to change much in your MTT game. Other then ICM and shove and re-shove ranges below 40bb.

Also I would focus on a basic TAG style of play to start even for MTT's when you're deep stacked. What you really need to focus on and study for MTT's is ICM and shove and re-shove ranges for stack sizes 40bb and below.

Cheers!!!

I don't think anyone can really answer your question for you. Some people are great at tournaments, but suck at cash games, and some people are great at cash games, but suck at tournaments. Some people are good at both, and some people are not good at either.

If you are a loosing player I strongly recommend learning more in-between sessions. Playing is good for practice, but without effort in studying you have a a risk of learning all of the theory painfully, by spending cash, instead of reading or watching videos. Also, if you lose in a few games, it can be bad luck, if you lose over hundreds of thousands of hands, it's skill.

You should find the best way for you and play what suits you best

Freerolls!

play all the freeroll. no need to deposit anything. if you are lucky and good you will succeed. then try playing micro cash games

babyrosejr said:

1. Which format is better suited to improve a beginner: cache or tournaments?

Click to expand...

Both are good, but you need to find which of these options will be less painful to put into your routine.

Tournaments brings a lot of emotion and strategies variations during the games, but they have their own time to start and to spend until the last prize, so you need to have more time to invest on poker, clearly.

Cash games are way more flexible, you can play what you want, when you want, where you want... You can just get out of the table and take the money you have, so it's good if you need to spend more time of your life studying, working and/ou with your family.

I love both of them, but, personally, I would choose cash game due to the flexibility, as I need to take long sessions of studying.

babyrosejr said:

2. Is it wise to try both formats at the same time, or should you focus on just one?

Click to expand...

You can do this, but is better to choose one if you are a true beginner. You will still be playing poker, but you will learn how to get different behaviors while playing each of them.

babyrosejr said:

3. What common mistakes do beginners make (perhaps you have encountered them yourself)?

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Limp call and passiveness (except in very specific situations).

Getting stressed by losing in short term against bad players (remember: you need to aim at long term profits while playing poker, don't let the variation kill you...).

Being the greediest person in the world (you don't want to lose money like a fool).

And more... we could spend days talking about beginner mistakes, but I don't think this care that much; we should focus only on learning more about the game and on how to improve our skills. Do this and trust me: you will be naturally getting better day by day...

The best way to start is by learning the game.

There is a lot of variation in competitions, you can go a long time without success experience, at the beginning the path is more difficult, you will lose your mood from the game that's how I went

I definitely prefer tournaments to start with. But it also depends on the type of person. That's why some people are good at cash games and some are good at tournaments. Of course there is overlap, but I think tournaments are more effective.

babyrosejr said:

Hello everyone!

I recently started playing poker (I've been playing for about a month now) and I'm trying to figure out where to start — with cash games or tournaments?
On the one hand, tournaments seem more exciting: you can turn a small buy-in into a big win. But on the other hand, cache games look better for learning theory because the stacks are more stable and you can practice discipline.

So far I've played a few freerolls and a couple of cheap Sit & Go tournaments, but I keep losing — either because of bad luck or just because of the wrong decisions.

Here are my questions:

1. Which format is better suited to improve a beginner: cache or tournaments?


2. Is it wise to try both formats at the same time, or should you focus on just one?


3. What common mistakes do beginners make (perhaps you have encountered them yourself)?



I would be very grateful for any tips, links to educational resources or just stories from your first days in poker.
Good luck at the tables!

Click to expand...

1. If you can properly bankroll yourself, then definitely cash, the tournaments have much more factors too consider, while cash is pure poker in its essence.

2. Better focus on one until you master it. Studying both at the same time can get overwhelming.

3. Ohh, the list of all possible beginner mistakes is very huge. Just study opening ranges first, do not open-limp and research what hands you can overlimp with and what you can iso-raise with (there are too many limpers on the lower stakes so just studying pure GTO openings may not be implementable there). Then you can proceed to theory, how to make correct bet sizes and how to play postflop.