POKER
Cash Games or Poker Tournaments – What’s your thing? It is essential to understand which one is the right fit for you and your mindset - cash games or poker tournaments. We got in touch with Manish Yadav and Radhika Shankar to get a quick understanding the best of the both.
By Ananya Agarwalla
A
s a poker player, you might have, at some point, evaluated what your priorities are when it came to choosing between poker tournaments and cash game poker. Building a tournament poker strategy or cash game poker strategy requires different skills and mindsets. Thus, it is essential to understand which one is the right fit for you and your mindset. Gutshot got in touch with the two poker pros who have been shipping poker tournaments and cash games poker for quite some time. We spoke to Manish Yadav, a high-stakes cash player, and Radhika Shankar, a poker pro and
Radhika Shankar 28
G UTS H OT
AUGUST
tournament crusher, and tried to understand their perspective on why they play, what they play. Cash game poker or poker tournament? Manish: Cash game poker! For me, it’s more about the flexibility the cash games offer. I can join the game anytime and don’t have to skip on the other things because I can’t miss out on some MTT schedule. When I started playing with friends, we were only into ring games, and that was an organic way for me to grow as a player. I had no plans to play full-time back then and wanted to keep it as a hobby that doesn’t interfere with the other things I’d like to commit. I’ve played some MTTs now and then. However, I never really enjoyed the grind. I’d instead work on the ring games and get better at it. That may change in the future, though, as I love traveling and playing those live flagship events. Radhika: Poker tournaments! I feel that poker tournament brings out 2021
far superior qualities in a poker player than anything else - be it patience, perseverance, skill, discipline, grit; nothing tests your strength more than tournaments do. Fortunately, being a parent taught me to be patient. So why not use that tool where it’s needed most – in poker tournaments! How do you handle variance? Manish: Variance isn’t a big deal now. I think when you’ve played enough professionally, it’s natural to come to be on terms with the variance. I would look up at those bell curves to know how far and for how long I can deviate from the actual win rate without worrying much about my ability to beat the games. I now have enough samples to have the first-hand experience
