With that said, it is not nearly that simple.ĭeciding which type of game you are best cut out for can very well decide whether you end up profiting at poker in the long run. The primary difference between these two forms of poker can be summarized in just one word: luck. You won’t see a random cash game player go out and win consistently for two months if they had previously been a long term loser. There are a number of huge tournament winners who will never again make a big cash in a major tournament, but it just doesn’t work this way in cash games. In fact, the luck element is evidenced by the World Series of Poker Main Event winners over the past 10 or so years. There is very little doubt that cash games require a lot more skill and effort than tournaments. This is why there are so many tournament players who just can’t post a winning cash game session no matter what they do.Īn interesting note, though, is that there are far more successful cash game players who also beat tournaments than there are successful tournament players who also beat cash games. Though they are both poker when it comes down to it, they require completely different skill sets. There are few bigger differences in poker than MTTs vs.