If you are new to poker, I recommend trying both tournaments and cash games. This will help you determine which format suits you best.
If you were to dive into cash games and get proficient at them, it's your best path forward to becoming a winning poker player. It is widely accepted that playing cash gives the most players the best chance to be profitable. There are a myriad of reasons for this. One reason is because tournaments only pay generally around the top 15% and there can be a lot of costs associated with playing tournaments (taxes, travel expenses). Another reason is that when you play cash games, you can just leave a game if you find the game to be tough and move to a soft game. In tournaments, everything is random; you have no control over these things.
If you want to play tournaments, you will need to dedicate six to 12 hours (or sometimes several days) to a single tournament. While playing small stakes tournaments may feel like a safe option, you can quickly be playing for very substantial amounts of money. In tournament poker, winners can receive anywhere from 100 to 500 times their initial buy-in, depending on the field size and payout structure. Just last year, the winner of the 2024 WSOP Gladiator of Poker, a $300 buy-in event, took home $400,000—over 1,300 times the buy-in! That is really exciting but if you are new to poker, playing for those amounts of money can be very stressful. I recommend starting with small buy-in tournaments at your local casino or home games. The smaller field sizes increase your chances of a good result, and it's less painful if things don’t go your way since the stakes aren’t life-changing money. You don’t have to choose one over the other – many people enjoy playing both.
For beginners, the best place to start is online. I suggest subscription-based sites like ClubGG or ClubWPT (the only two I know of) for tournaments. These sites allow you to play for real money while capping your monthly losses at a small, fixed amount. If you're interested in cash games, playing online is also a great option. If you live in Nevada, New Jersey, or Michigan, you can play on WSOP.com. For those outside of these states, ACR Poker or Global Poker are good alternatives, both offering cash games and tournaments.
Online poker is especially beneficial because you don’t have to worry about common mistakes, such as posting blinds incorrectly, acting out of turn, or making illegal moves. You can quickly learn the basics while playing a high volume of hands, which is essential for improving your game. Online play allows you to experience the equivalent of a year’s worth of hands in just a few weeks or months, accelerating your learning process. Plus, it's easier to make mistakes when you're shielded by the anonymity of your online username.
Whichever you choose, make sure to gamble responsibly and most importantly, have fun
