Differences in variance, strategy and bankroll

• Cash games: fixed blinds and deep stacks. You can table select, quit on schedule, and avoid bad lineups. Variance is driven by pot size choices, multiway pots, and rake caps.
• Tournaments: rising blinds, antes, and top heavy payouts. Field size and re-entry create long breakeven stretches even for winners.
• Sit & Go's: small fields with fast structures. Bubble ICM decisions and short stack all-ins concentrate variance into late stages.

• Cash: win rate in bb per 100 hands and standard deviation per 100. Treat 50k hands as noisy and 150k to 300k as stronger evidence.
• MTT: ROI, ABI, and cEV. Stable ROI needs thousands of entries. Use cEV trend to read progress early.
• SNG: ROI over large samples. Bubble and heads up edges compound slowly, so judge after hundreds of games.

• Cash NLHE: expect 10 to 30 buy in downswings at equal skill. Bigger swings appear in loose games, high rake micros, or when using large polar sizes often.
• MTT: expect 100 to 300 buy in downswings depending on field size and structure. Very large fields can exceed this even with solid ROI.
• SNG: usually between cash and MTT. Stretches of 50 to 100 buy ins are normal when bubbles run poorly.

These are directional. Your exact swing depends on pool strength, table selection, sizing, and discipline with stop rules.

• Cash online NLHE: 50 to 80 buy ins. Tight pools or aggressive style use the high end. Live cash often 30 to 50 because you can seat select and quit on schedule.
• MTT: 300 to 500 buy ins for small to medium fields. 800 plus for very large fields or hyper structures. Add extra buffer if you fire re-entries.
• SNG single table: 100 to 200 buy ins. Faster turbos and hyper formats require more.

Set stake guardrails. Move down when bankroll drops below a threshold and move up only after a sustained sample at target metrics.

• Cash reduce multiway bluffs, pick clear equity semibluffs, and value bet thinner in position on safe runouts. Use smaller flop sizes on dry boards to control pot growth without losing EV.
• MTT protect stack utility. Maintain open sizes that preserve fold equity, widen steal and resteal when antes are large, and respect ICM with tighter calls near bubbles and pay jumps.
• SNG study push and call ranges at common depths. On the bubble pressure medium stacks as the big stack and avoid thin calls that ignore payout risk.

• Rake hurts small pots most in cash. Prefer clean steals and value lines that reach the cap. In micros consider slightly tighter opens from early seats.
• ICM is a tournament and SNG factor that converts chips into uneven dollar value. It reduces the EV of thin calls and thin bluffs near ladders.
• Re-entry increases field strength late and raises variance. Budget bullets inside your bankroll plan, not from life money.

• Online higher volume and tougher average opposition. Variance resolves faster with more hands, but edges are thinner so discipline matters.
• Live lower volume and softer average fields. Variance resolves slowly and session outcomes are more lumpy. Table selection, seat selection, and patience add a lot of EV.

• Predefine stop loss per session and time caps. End when you hit either.
• Use table change or leave rules when conditions degrade. Protect mental game and bankroll.
• Run weekly leak filters for big river buckets and blind play. Fix the highest loss spots first.
• Keep a move down trigger and honor it. Returning to a softer stake restores confidence and reduces risk of ruin.

• Cash lowest variance, measure bb per 100, bankroll 50 to 80 online and 30 to 50 live.
• MTT highest variance, measure ROI and cEV, bankroll 300 to 500 plus for big fields.
• SNG middle variance, measure ROI, bankroll 100 to 200 depending on speed.
• Adjust strategy to stack depth and ICM. Bluff less multiway and value bet bigger in live pools.
• Protect bankroll with guardrails. Move down quickly and fix the biggest loss buckets first.

Pick the format that matches your risk tolerance and schedule. Build a bankroll plan for that format and align your strategy with its incentives. That is how you stay in action and let skill compound over time.