In the latter stages of a no-limit Hold’em tournament it’s almost mandatory to raise. You’re under pressure to accumulate chips and this is a great chance to take the blinds and antes without resistance, as you only need to chase off the two blinds. Most importantly, though, the blinds are often very signifi cant compared to the stack sizes and taking them down cheaply without seeing a flop is an essential strategy.

Now let’s assume you have the same hand in a cash game and the players in the blinds and you all possess deep stacks. Here it’s often correct to limp on the button. Clearly the blinds are not that signifi cant compared to the stacks so winning them is not significant. However, the stacks in play offer you a chance to win a big pot. You can play suited connectors if you’re in great position in order to take advantage of the implied odds available.

But do bear in mind there are no absolutes in poker – it may be correct to play a given hand a lot of different ways in either tournament mode or cash games, but this gives you an idea of some of the differences in thinking between the two.