Tips on Online Ring Games/Tourneys?

I started playing poker a year ago, and was a horrible player playing ever hand, but have greatly improved since then to the point where I turned $7 from a freeroll into 30 with some luck through ring games, and turned that $30 into as high as 380 by winning a few tourneys/placing in money.

Problem is I'm in a bit of a rut right now, venturing into ring games the last few days losing like 60+ bucks (in quarter and dime blinds too....) I seem to use tourney strategy in ring games and have noticed that they are played completely different and am just wondering if someone could point me in some direction in order to improve my game.

Also, while I don't think I'm bad at tourneys, I could use a lot of improvement in that field too, and am just wondering if anyone can give me any tips? While I can place in money easy most of the time (besides the current rut I'm in now) I'd like to become one of those players who is at the top nearly every tourney

I stick to Jetset Poker....since it's the only place I have real money, and am 19 and can't afford to put in any more

Ugh, and the rut continutes, after all in, opponent makes two pair on river, unbelievable

Without more specifics, about the only advice I can offer is never to chase. An example: You have AA, flop comes K-J-9 rainbow. Two folks are betting stiff amounts - do you call, raise, or fold. No clear answer, but you have to be willing to lay down those aces when instinct tells you you're beat. To often folks play high pocket pairs like they're invincible - they are not.

I've said this before and I'll repeat myself: Pocket aces are the best PRE-FLOP hand. After the flop, who knows...

I rarely chase, only chase if the bets are small.

BTW do you play in Jetset? I think I've seen your name before

No, it's actually one of the few I don't visit. I spend most of my time on Noble, UB, and FullTilt...

Poker is fascinating in that it generates so many differing opinions on the same subject. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, for instance, wrote an entry for Full Tilt's "Lessons from the Pros" series a couple of weeks ago about the "difference" between ring game play and tournament play. He doesn't believe there is much of one. He advises to simply play your best cards in either setting, with a couple of specific exceptions.

By the way, if anyone reading this has not checked out this series of essays by the Full Tilt pros, you're really missing out. There's some great stuff there and new entries are emailed directly to Full Tilt players every two or three weeks. They are also archived on their website, so you can catch up from the very first lesson.

For the most part, I agree with CJF that keeping it simple and just playing your game is a good approach. The biggest difference I personally find between tourney play and ring play is that I'll play a lot tighter in the early stages of a tournament than I typically play at any time at a cash table. In a tournament, my first priority is to survive to the final table. At a ring game, my only priority is to take as much money away from my competitors as I possibly can, any way I can.

^^^i've saved all those emails
thats the kind of poker stuff i love reading
BTW does anyone know of any different sites that have anything like those FTP emails?

Chuck, almost all of the big name pros have their own websites and most of them have a section devoted to tips and such. I would recommend that you just google the names of your favorites and see what pops up. I have found that some update their sites more frequently than others. Daniel Negreanu probably puts more personal time and effort into his than about anyone. His "poker journal" entries are usually very current and highly entertaining. I like Howard Lederer's also, but he will go weeks or even months without any meaningful updates. If you're new, though, the archives will keep you busy for quite a while. Good stuff. I haven't checked it out myself, but I've heard good things about Phil Ivey's site.

tx rammer

I can't seem to play my regular game on ring tables, while my normal game (except for the last few days) has usually brought me luck, I have usually lost money at ring games

Hey mate!

I am finding the same sort of problems... I am fairly new to the whole online poker game and find myself throwing away too many hands after calling pre-flop to idiots that go all-in in the early stages of the game! I guess i need to be more ruthless with hand selection and stick with my gut feeling more but i don't want to get shutout of the tourney early. Oh well sorry for the rant

Someone advised me to focus on betting patterns (something I don't look at) any advice on that?

Depends on the kind of ring games you're playing and at what limits. The micro games aren't much different from the freerolls in that not much is being risked. I don't play the NL ring games so I don't have any experience there. As far as reasonably priced (.25/.50, .50/1.00) limit ring games, my game changes based on the table. If I'm at a tight, conservative table I'll loosen up a bit and try to steal. If I'm at a loose table, I'll only play premium hands - conservatively. I almost never raise pre-flop in a limit game as I'd rather see the flop and decide if I'll push or not. Also, I've found the check/raise a very effective technique in these games - seems to make folks nervous...