Tournament poker was where I got my start and, for a long time, I was leery to jump into cash games. I liked the competitive nature of tournaments and being able to limit my exposure. But, between only playing No Limit Hold’em and only playing tournaments and sit and gos, I felt like there was a lot out there I was missing out on.

Years later, I have made the full transition into being a jack of all trades. I play mostly cash games now and am willing to play almost any game, a long way from my only NLHE tournament days. PLO8 has become a staple game and it’s not uncommon for Triple Draw Lowball, Badugi, Open Faced Chinese, and a variety of other games to pop up around the cash games I play in. I was resistant at first, but now have gotten comfortable taking on new games and actually enjoy and look forward to those times when we branch out into something different.

Recently, I took a trip to Aruba, which back in 2006 was one of the first few places I went when I was traveling around and still in my Hold’em-only days. By then, I had branched out to play a few NLHE cash games, but considered myself to be primarily a tournament player.

Being back in Aruba brought back memories and made me question how my play had evolved over the last six years. Overall, I am a much better player. Branching out into new and different games has helped improve my thought process, but doing so has taken away from the amount of time I spend playing and thinking about tournament play.

Although I feel like my overall play has improved dramatically, I have some times when I feel like my tournament play may suffer slightly from letting cash game tendencies slip in or just from a general lack of focus on tournaments.

I play enough that specializing in just one type of game is not in my best interest. There is a lot more value and convenience in being able to pick from a wide variety of games and choose the one that looks the best instead of being forced into playing only one specific type of game.

While specialization has its benefits, for most active and regular players, the benefits of playing many forms of poker and pushing yourself to continue to grow and evolve as a player heavily outweigh the benefits of focusing on one type of game. Also, a little variety can help avoid the burnout and frustration we all experience.

When I first started playing with a limited bankroll and an equally limited knowledge base, picking one area and focusing on it worked well. It let me concentrate my efforts and build a basic understanding of poker without having to worry about the intricacies of many different games. Once that framework was developed, I slowly added a little variety and got to the point where I was ready to take on almost any game that was thrown at me.

Had I taken that approach years ago, it probably wouldn’t have worked out well without the experience and knowledge I have gained over time. Now, my basic foundation is strong enough that a few game-specific tweaks here and there are just what I need to continue to adapt as a player and improve my all-around thought process and game.

As far as tournaments go, I have moments of doubt when I feel like I am behind the curve. Then, when I look back at my general thought processes six years ago, I realize there is no way the tournament player I was then could compete with the tournament player I am now. A lot of that is a result of the advances I have made while playing other forms of poker.