Poker Strategy
Tournament vs. Cash Game Strategy
Although the same basic rules and structures of the game apply to both tournaments and cash games, you will soon find that playing in these different games with the same strategy will not be most profitable approach. If you want to succeed in both forms of poker you will need to adapt your playing style to the situation.
A successful cash-game specialist will probably be a winner in tournaments as well, but is not likely to achieve a win rate comparable to an experienced tournament player. The tight-aggressive playing style that is widely recommended in poker books and articles is generally a winning style in cash games, but playing too tight could be a mistake in tournaments - depending on the current stage.
Tournament Considerations
In the early stages of a tournament you are usually better off not taking any chances and sticking to the best starting hands unless the circumstances are special, like in a re-buy or winner-take-all tournament. The goal of a poker tournament is to survive until the very end, a fact that is often overlooked by many players. Building a big stack is important, but while the blinds are still small you will risk a lot to win a little.
Assuming the game is no-limit holdem, you always risk your entire stack any time you decide to play a hand. Combined with the fact that the blinds are too small to be worth stealing, it's better to play only the best starting hands in the early stages of the tournament. As the blinds increase the situation changes, however and if your stack is still small you may need to loosen up your play considerably in order to survive.
Cash Game and Tournament Variation
Sit-and-go tournaments have much less variations than cash games or large multi-table tournaments, which mean you'll win less or lose less in an average session. You never risk more than your buy-in in a tournament, but on the other hand the winnings are never substantial in single-table sit-and-go's either. Variation in cash games depends a lot on your playing style; loose and aggressive players will experience much larger bankroll fluctuations than their tight counterparts.
The least forgiving game in terms of variation is probably large multi-table tournaments. These usually just pay the top-10 percent of the starting field, and just barely reaching the money doesn't usually pay much. Multi-table tournament specialists will have to make the occasional big win to be able to finance their play, but when they do win big - the profit can be massive.
