I seek advise from players familiar with Ring Tables.

Hey Cardschatters,

I seek advise from players familiar with Ring Tables:

I am writing this Thread for some advise on playing in the Ring Tables. I have read in blogs and threads that there is lots of difference in playing in the two different games.
I have been playing mostly tournament poker for over three years, and am thinking about starting to play on the ring tables.
I would like some advise on how Ring Table play differs from tournaments. And, some advise on how to play at the Ring Tables.
I intend to start at the .02/04 cent level, playing Texas Holdem, and Omaha hi/lo.
Any and all advise will be appreciated.

mange

Well the 2 differences in cash vs. tournament poker are these:

1. Almost always, you will be more deep stacked in cash games, typically 50 or 100 BB is the standard. Therefore you can afford to play tighter and stealing blinds is no longer your main source of chips, especially preflop stealing.

2. You don't need to worry about survival. The implications are that you should take any edge that beats the rake. Never hesitate to stack when you are a 60/40 favorite. You don't have to muck around with ICM and chip equity, just do +EV moves all the time and you'll be all right.

The biggest problem that a tournament player might face when taking up cash games is probably playing the wrong hands. This stems mainly from not recognizing the different strategy required for playing deep. You want to tighten up your hand selection in terms of high cards, because you don't want to lose 100BB to a kicker. You should be playing more implied odds hands (pocket pairs, suited connectors) for the chances they can hit a big hand. These hands are much better in cash games simply because there is more money that goes in the pot postflop (where you will almost always know where you stand).

1) Read this: 10k post: micro stakes full ring guide [long]

2) Generally play to make the best hand (don't try bluffing too much)

3) Profit.

The blinds you mention are limit poker on pokerstars. If that's what you mean then the advice about deepstacks and implied odds isn't pertinent.

Do you mean to play limit or NL? If its limit, then just jump in and get a feel for it...use pot odds to decide whether you should draw/fold, and work on reading whether someone is bluffing or value betting.

...but basically, just find a maniac, play above average hands and profit.

On thing people fail to mention is that with rings, you get to pick who you play against. You get to choose the empty seat you want to sit at, and you can leave it any time you wish (taking your precious chips with you). Table selection is very important.
Ideally you want a table where a lot of people see the flop, where everybody has a nice sized stack (short-stackers can get in your way by shoving on you).

If a table isnt working for you, move to another table of the same price. It helps sometimes too if you have the chance to watch how the others are playing before you join the table.

The most important thing I find in ring games is to select the right table.
I usually will watch a table or several before sitting down.

Look for a table where everyone is looking to limp in. If you open for a raise (assuming you have a hand to do it with) usually half of the limpers will go away. The ones that stay around will either be calling stations or probably have you beat.

In the smaller limits, you find a lot of fish betting their Ace rags or K7 or some other marginal hands just to see a flop.

Be careful of the calling stations, they will stay in with middle or lower pairs so bluffing them isn't always effective.

Make notes on the players, if they overplay an AK, AQ even though flop is all small cards, do they bluff Ace high, or are they always looking for that straight or flush to hit on the river. These players can double your bankroll if played correctly.

Finally, and I know some people will object, but checking the nuts, acting like you are the one fishing is (IMO) perfectly acceptable if you want to win a good sized pot.

Go to Full Tilt Academy and watch the lesson on online tells, it is very good.

The best thing about ring games is that you can sit there for a long time and wait for some nice hands to come along. Needless to say its worthwhile limping in a few times and getting a family pot (When nobody raises).
My advice for playing ring games:
1. It will be very worthwhile calling value bets. If someone raises 4 times BB and you have 4 callers, you should probably call provided you have DECENT hands.
2. Don't chase past the turn. Unless you can see a free card or the bet stands at a pittance to the pot then you may call. BUT on the rare occasion if they potential payout is large and you can afford the cash...go ahead and make that donkey call ^^.
3. Play position very well. Because the stakes are higher if you raise on the BB so that people may not have the odds to call, most likely they will fold. Continuation bets are great too.
4. There's a big difference between cash games and tournaments. When an all-in occurs its easier to call in a cash game then in a tournament. The mentality is as follows:
-In a tournaments, an all in basically says, i'm prepared to lose this game and not come back in...I probably have the winning hand or the nuts.
-In cash games, an all in pretty much either says they have a strong hand, they want to steal the pot because they can re-buy as many times as they want.