There’s a huge spread of differing poker formats for you to try your hand at and here we will run through some of the differences between these formats.
Cash Games
Cash games provide an immediate poker hit, allowing players to sit in and play for as long as they are comfortable. Cash games are great because of the ability to stop and start as you please, instead of being tied into a long session as you might be in an MTT (multi-table tournament) or an STT (sit and go tournament – see below).
In cash games, players usually have a maximum and minimum buy-in level and the blinds remain at a constant level throughout. As a result, tables are often referred to as $1/$2 tables or NL$100 tables (the blinds and the max buy-in respectively).
It is a good idea to play cash games that you are adequately bank-rolled to play. This might mean you have 20-50 times the buy-in for that table. So for a NL $50 table it would be sensible to have around a minimum of $1,000 available to play with.
Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs)
MTTs are tournaments where a larger number of players (typically 50-3000) all pay an entry fee into a tournament that begins at a fixed time.
You are given a set amount of chips and the goal is to win all the chips in the tournament. Throughout the tournament the blinds rise at a predetermined rate (e.g. every 15 minutes) and in some tournaments “antes” (a fixed contribution to the pot from every player at the table) will be introduced later in the tournament.
Some MTTs are “rebuy” tournaments, where a player losing all his chips can then “rebuy” back into the tournament during the earlier levels. Often an “add-on” or additional amount of chips can be purchased at the end of the rebuy period.
Usually the top 10% of the field will receive prize money, with prizes escalating the higher a player finishes.
MTTs provide players with the opportunity to parlay a relatively small outlay into a large win. Perhaps the most famous example of someone to have done this is Chris Moneymaker, who turned an investment of $40 into $2.5 million by winning a satellite into the World Series of Poker Main Event and then winning the tournament, achieving fame and fortune in one fell stroke.
MTTs are a great opportunity for players to practise their poker skills as a minimal investment provides plenty of play, although remember to take into account, it takes some time to finish most MTTs.
Single Table Tournaments (Sit and Goes, SNGs, STTs)
STTs are tournaments where there is usually a single table of players (although more than one table sit and goes are available too.)
The format is similar to a scaled down version of an MTT, although instead of there being a fixed start time, play begins once the required number of people have signed up to play.
Again STTs provide a great opportunity for players to play lots of hands for a relatively small investment and are a useful way for a beginner to learn the nuts and bolts of poker.