Cash games are like the anti-tournaments, one of the big appeals of tournaments is that you can turn a small amount of money into a lot of money but also when you become accustomed to winning the rush is addicting. You have moments like that with cash games but there is no build up to it and it is gone as soon as it came. Recently Shannon Shorr wrote a blog about possibly giving up poker, I can’t speak specifically to his problem but it is likely similar to what most of us go through at some point. Winning a tournament is such a rush that you want to do it all the time, the only problem is that luck and variance gets in your way. Rather than grinding things out you become addicted to the adrenaline.
Two guys I have seen this happen to more than any other 2 people are Mike Mizrachi and Erick Lindgren. Both were cash games guys long before they won tournaments. Mike was so good at mid level cash games it was unreal, while his style was anything but a Grinder he won a lot of money. Same with Erick, there was a time where you would see Erick playing tons of 15-30 limit poker on Party Poker where that was the biggest game offered and the fish supply was endless. Both of those guys have been cursed by tournaments. Sure it has provided them with a lifetime of experiences but it is a little difficult to go back to grinding 15-30 if you are Erick Lindgren. Same with Mike, I saw Mike blow 80k to a buddy of mine in about 30 minutes once. The old Mike would have never done that and really he didn’t have a chance against my friend, he just wanted the gamble.
When I see people that win a tournament and go back to playing the games they used to play I respect that because that is how it should be done. If you make a big score put it away, take a shot if you need to but playing in the highest games just because you think other people think you should is silly.
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