If you buy-in for $200 you receive $200 in playing chips. In cash game poker, however, the value of the chips you get to play with has the same value as the amount you paid. Tournaments force a conclusion by gradually and continually raising the stakes (blinds and antes) throughout. You play in a tournament until you are eliminated by losing all your chips, or until you win it, - whichever comes first. The buy-in is exchanged for tournament chips that don’t have the same value as the cash you paid for them. In tournaments, the object of the game is to outlast all other opponents to be the champion of the tournament, scooping the largest share of the prize pool. Poker cash games, also known as ring games, are the original and purest form of poker and have been around for much longer than poker tournaments, so what’s the difference? Poker Tournaments vs Poker Cash Games
