You’ve logged onto your online poker account and you see you no-deposit bonus sitting in a space next to the words “Real Money.” Suddenly you start to fantasize that your $25 is really $25,000 and you can’t wait to get started. But where should you start?
It all comes down to one of two choices: cash or tournaments. There are significant advantages and disadvantages to each of them, but I think that the best way for beginners to gain experience and build their bankrolls is with Sit ‘N Goes and Multi-table tournaments Here are my top 5 reasons why you should agree:
Important! Do you have your bankroll started yet? If not, please make a point to view our free poker bankroll and no deposit poker bonus lists at some point and see how much money is available to new poker players, no deposit required.
Reason 5 – You only risk a limited amount of your money
When you’re playing in a cash game, you risk every penny in front of you. Even in a game as low as $0.25/$0.50 that can be $50. That’s a lot of money to risk to make a couple dollars an hour. By contrast, Sit ‘N Goes can pay 5x your investment and multi-table tournaments can pay several hundred times your investment. The best part is that you never risk more than the tournament buy-in.
Reason 4 – You get more bang for your buck
You can buy into tournaments for $1 or less and play for hours. That time will help you get a feel for the game so you can sharpen your reading skills and develop your “poker sense.” Essentially you’ll get more experience for less money.
Reason 3 – Playing solid tournament poker is relatively easy
Sure things get tricky when you get to the big buy-in games, but you can turn a profit by playing straightforward tight-aggressive poker at the lower limits. All you have to do is play strong hands early and when the blinds get high you can negate your opponents’ superior postflop skills by going all-in preflop with your strong hands. In addition, you can slowly experiment with more advanced strategies as you gain confidence and your bankroll grows.
Reason 2 – The play in low-limit tournaments is generally softer
People tend to play looser in tournaments. In a cash game, $1 is a real thing. It represents something real that could be used to buy any number of things. But in a tournament 100 chips are toys. They have no intrinsic value and are tossed around more haphazardly.
Reason 1 – Because that’s where the money is
The big money is in tournaments. Try as I might, I can’t think of any professional poker players that made large sums of money solely on the cash circuit. Winning tournaments earns you the big money.
New players tend to think that Texas Hold’em is the same whether you’re playing in a cash game or in a tournament game. It isn’t. These two formats require significantly different strategies. For example, folding pocket aces preflop can be the right thing to do in a tournament under the right circumstances. In a cash game, it’s never right to fold pocket aces preflop. Don’t worry if you don’t understand that yet. You will before I’m done with you.
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