tournaments versus ring game

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but thought i would ask anyway. I'm not saying that I'm a really skilled player. But I would like anyone's thoughts on why I'm a much better ( see above about skill level ) tourament player than a N/L ring game player. If this question is in wrong area forgive me. Also I might mention I'm a very low stakes player.
Thanks

I am the same, I am a far better sit n go/MTT
player than I am in ring games

In ring games I can play really good for a long
time and then make one stupid mistake and lose
all the money I have won, i am just not a very
good ring game player

In all poker book you always read about not
playing with scared money and in ring games
I feel I am playing with my own money and it
is scared money cos I am not confident in my
ability

In sit n go's/MTT you pay your buy in and then it
is just chips not money to me and I feel more
relaxed, that might sound stupid but it works
for me

I tend to get bullied in ring games and for some
reason I am a far better reader of cards in sit n gos/
MTT's than I am in ring games

I always wanted to play ring games but I have almost
given up on them because I am just not very good

my advice would be to find whichever form of poker
you are best at/suits you, and stick to it because we
all need every edge we can get

I hope this helps you a little bit

I think to get a better grasp on the game itself you need to at least sample both. Ring and tourny are different games but to help you understand 'poker' you should be able to be comfortable playing both styles.

However, this from Colbefc:

my advice would be to find whichever form of poker
you are best at/suits you, and stick to it because we
all need every edge we can get

Click to expand...

is your answer.

Cheers

Ring games are harder to put your OWN money into the pot compared to tourney play.

I enjoy both thoroughly , they are two different monsters though and should be played accordingly. You cant have the same strategy you have in a tournament on ring game play and vice versa. My thought is you are probably better at tournament play because you have much more experience in tournaments , than in cash games. If this is untrue and you have equal playing time in both I would recommend changing your strategy in ring games..or if youre winning in tournaments stick to those.

I will be the first to say i struggle with ring games i play mostly tourneys and when i convert over i try toplay the ring like a tuorney cant put my finger on it i can beatout anywhere from 500 ppl to 5000ppl but not 5 ppl you just have to adpat your play style

chip06 said:

I will be the first to say i struggle with ring games i play mostly tourneys and when i convert over i try toplay the ring like a tuorney cant put my finger on it i can beatout anywhere from 500 ppl to 5000ppl but not 5 ppl you just have to adpat your play style

Click to expand...

Your not tring to beat out 5 people.That might be part of the problem.

I am 1000% in this same boat, i started off my online poker play doing only MTT's and i do fairly well at them but then i noticed that to build up any points or get your bonus released you need to play raked hands so i took a bit of cash i had won in the MTT 's and strolled on over to ring game blvd and proceeded to get my ass whip 5 times in a row.I also felt it harder to play with my own money then with the sites chips. So the moral of my story is take my ass back to my side of the tracks and stick with MTT & sit-n-go's

One day you will have an epiphany... I just spent my 15th $1 MTT trying to wade through 3000-5000 people, and I played for 4 hours and gained $2.38. Ok....well I just played an hour of .1/.25 and made $24. I don't see the comparison when looking at trying to achieve my ultimate goal--win $$.

I had just gotten knocked out of my umpteenth $10 MTT drooling at that $8,000 top prize and got frustrated because yet again I didn't get there. So I tilted and sat down at a $10/$20 limit game. WAYYY over my br management. On my 3rd hand I caught a set of 5's and raked a $420 pot. 2 minutes of my time. That's when I understood that for time spent, ring was more in line with trying to achieve my main goal.

Now I am NOT advocating that risking your entire roll is a good thing--it's not, it's stupid. And MTT's are a great way to learn the game of poker and see a great number of hands for a fixed price. However, for myself, I dove into learning ring and understanding the game from there. Now I'll only play MTT's for a change of pace. It's whatever you get a better feel for and whatever you believe can get you to your ultimate goal.

Set up and write down your goals. Then attack that system to learn and achieve those goals. Wherever you are most comfortable will create the least resistance for success. Just always try and learn and always set up a structure that you can direct your actions towards your ultimate goal.

Cheers

in tourneys or sng's, i can easily put my chips in the pot with drawing hands to chase them... but if its in the ring game, puting your money in the pot is really very hard. That is the difference for me. I play my mid pairs and small PP differently between SNGs and ring games differently.

Maybe your playing style is just better suited for tournament play. That is how I got my start in real money play. Both private and public freerolls, then built up from there. Now, I play both cash and tournament games(and freerolls still as well). Sometimes there just are not many good tournaments value wise. Also I suggest at least dipping a toe into all the games. No sense playing at a hard hold em table when there is a seat available at a soft omaha 8 or 2-7 triple draw table table,imo.

Because:

1) Tournaments are easier.
2) Idiots play tournaments more.
3) The high variance tournaments have allow you to trick yourself into thinking you're better than you are.

wagon596 said:

But I would like anyone's thoughts on why I'm a much better ( see above about skill level ) tourament player than a N/L ring game player.

Click to expand...

As previously mentioned, the two games are entirely different. Some people are better suited to one and some people are better suited to the other. I'm the same way as you... ring games just don't suit my style. I recognized early on that playing with real money on the table just gives me too many heart attacks and it affects my play. So I stick with tournaments. If I had deeper pockets, then maybe it wouldn't matter. I haven't tried low stakes ring games online... maybe I'll try that sometime. But in a live game, $100 can go like that!

I do like how tournaments have a predefined end to them. Also, I like how tourneys allow you to put the double hurt on: (1) take all their chips, and (2) BONUS -- knock them out of the tourney!

Good luck to you.

Maybe this is just my thoughts but because anyone can leave at any time in a ring game, that can affect some decisions. In a tourney you know you have so many people and they all want to get to the money. If you sit at a table and everyone has 10 bucks, some goals may be just win 1 dollar and leave or double stack and leave or just play for an hour. I waste time at penny games sometimes so I could assume someone with a much bigger roll, or just better paying job, would do the same thing at a bigger blind table.

That could affect different people in different ways. but I know if I sit at a ring with 10, I get to 15, and sometimes (depending on how i'm playing, others are playing, and cards i'm getting) I want to leave. Sitting at a sng with a 10 buying and I win a similar ratio, I don't have the choice of leaving and I know even though I have 3 stacks, I have to survive.

Sorry about the rambling but I guess since tourney is survival and goals are obvious makes it different from rings, where you just want to make a profit, even with just 1 big hand.

c9h13no3 said:

Because:

3) The high variance tournaments have allow you to trick yourself into thinking you're better than you are.

Click to expand...

That makes sense too. get last at singles 3 of 4 times and win the 4th youre still making money but you still stink 75% of the time.

I prefer rings for much the same reason as Hawtshawt, if the cards are running bad then I can quite easily leave the table and go do something else. Also I find that strategies are easier to play at ring tables because its less about stealing and staying ahead of the blinds or maybe thats only because I ditched tournaments long ago.

Im also a low stakes player and I dont play much anymore so whenever I do pop on for for a quick one it has to be just that, a quick one.

I think the reason some people aremore suited to tournaments is that sense of objective and tournaments can be quite engaging.

Try playing multiple styles of game MTT's and cash games simeltaneously.

My main goal is to play MTT, but I like to fund them using my ring game winnings. It was easier to win ring games a couple of years ago, but I can still show a positive return on rings which I seem to blow on MTT entries.

if your not confident playing ring games and u enjoy playin tournys ,stik with wat u like,,wen u get more confident in your game, throw in the odd ring game at 1 cent 2 cent ,,and only bring u the min amount for the table,,,biuld it from there

Same problem for me. I think in tourneys we can often "out last" the competition, but in ring games we can make that fatal mistake. One thing I've tried with some success is to avoid all-ins and play for a set amount of time, or a goal of say doubling my buy-in and then leaving.

c9h13no3 said:

Because:

1) Tournaments are easier.
2) Idiots play tournaments more.
3) The high variance tournaments have allow you to trick yourself into thinking you're better than you are.

Click to expand...

I know that's why I play them.