Be One With Your Inner 'Bot-- Unless You're In A Tournament

Been thinking a bit about that old Kenny Roger's song lyric from The Gambler: "You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table." Daniel Negreanu mentioned it in his syndicated newspaper column this week, and it's been bugging ever since...

When you're in a cash game, I agree you absolutely should never count your money. In fact, you shouldn't ever think about how much you're ahead or behind, as it will undoubtedly affect your decision to play a hand or not. I've been guilty of this sin many a time; I'm ahead and want to finish the session that way, so I get timid. Or, I'm behind and want to get back into the black before quitting, so I start gambling more. In both cases, I'm letting my current table stack affect my play. Dumb, dumb, dumb...

In a cash game, you have to make each and every bet/raise/fold decision independently of how much money you've got sitting in front of you. This is true in a limit ring game, but in NL as well. You need to be a robot, plain and simple. The old quote (by whom, I can't recall) goes something like: "take no notice of the harvest, only of proper sowing." In other words, if you do the right thing, over and over at the table in a cash game, the profit part will take care of itself in the long run. Worrying that you're behind (or crowing that you're ahead) can and will cause you to deviate from perfect play. And that will cost you money.

Okay, that said, Kenny Roger's words are utterly false when you sit down at a tournament. We're now talking a whole 'nother kettle of fish. In a tournament, the name of the game is stack sizes. You absolutely, positively have to continually "count your money" or else you will make incorrect decisions. As Harrington says, it's all about your M (the ratio of your stack size to the blinds and antes) and about the M of your opponents.

Last night, Bret and I played a low dollar SnG tourney. At one point, Bret had a short stack player push all-in on him. Bret had K8o and debated for a moment whether he should call with the so-so hand. What tipped the scales in favor of calling was, of course, the result of "counting the money" at risk and in play. He was risking little of his much larger stack, the opp was clearly in a position where he himself had to push with just about any two semi-playable hands, and the upside was knocking another player out of the game and getting to the bubble. It was a clear call situation (which, incidently resulted in Bret hitting the full house to clobber the guy.... but that's not the point!)

Bottom line: tournaments and cash games are such incredibly different beasts. No wonder some guys play well in one format but can't seem to master the other. You quite literally have to change the way you think about money, depending on which type of game you're in.

Okay, 'nuff said. All-in for now...
-Bug