Among the variations of poker games, no-Limit tournament has far more popular appeal than either cash or limit poker games. Tournament holdem and its variations is the game of choice among 75% of online players. No-limit is the go-to game of all cash games and those who have a great deal of experience with tournament games will find the transition takes little effort.

Because the tournaments have gotten so much exposure, the new and nave players flock to this arena where they are easily taken advantage of by their more experienced opponents. Free-roll tournaments abound because they demand no deposit for the wary beginner to try his hand and maybe with a few passes from lady luck, the novice may find a new career or at least an addictive pastime.

In a sit-and-go tournament game, the player enters with a fixed deposit and then only plays for chips, not money. This makes for a much less stressful game than the cash game. This relaxing nature accounts for its popularity as well as media coverage, and one may even gain his 15 minutes of fame as a celebrity poker player..

The frequent and rapid-paced SnG (sit-and-go) tournaments must be distinguished from the less accessible MTT (multi table tournament) games. The most important distinction being that in the MTT, every game has the potential of going on forever and a player cannot depart the table without kissing his entire investment goodbye. Add to that the length of time and the difficulty of the play that must be endured. The players must be absolutely aware of these factors, else he may sink into despair, become too inert to leave, and lack the high-level of concentration necessary for skilled play. Of course, those who can take the heat will wind up with quite a haul.

MTTs are also inaccessible even in the online situation. Depending upon where you are playing (which country) you may find yourself able to locate such a game only in the wee small hours. Add to that the fact that little is written about tournament and no-limit games, and the literature that does exist is mostly geared toward psychological strategy rather than strategies of technique.

The transition between cash and MTT is not particularly difficult. No-limit and cash games do have a lot of similarities, but there are more drawbacks to the MTT. No-limit cash games are thought to be the most prospective of all online games by the majority of players. Among all the cash games no-limit is by far the most available and can be found at all places and at all times with no lack of gung-ho players. You can be sure that not all of those eager beavers are experts. Because the game is not well documented in literature, the talented players have an excellent opportunity to practice some psychological manipulations. Those less talented need to be aware of this and proceed with caution.

With cash games, the literature is more available and growing, but even if it does have merit, it is not precise, lacks substantial guidelines and weighs heavily on the potential of the assorted individuals gathered around the table. The only way to become expert then at no-limit cash games is through the experience of playing and closely observing your opponents, thereby piling up a memory of observations to carefully draw upon when involved in future, and just as unpredictable games.

Dispersion is most vicious in no-limit games and even good players may loose as many as half a dozen buy-ins in one session – not something just anybody can easily bare or afford.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Red Star Poker Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Players Only.