Tournaments or Ring Games

Ever since I won a Full Tilt freeroll and worked my $12 up to over $1,000, I've only played low stakes tourneys, generally single tables for $2, $5, or perhaps $10. Lately I haven't been as successful as I had been, and I'm wondering if I should venture out of my comfort zone into ring games. Does anyone have any advice? I very comfortable playing tourneys, which clearly have a beginning, a middle, and an end (that doesn't necessarily include me ). I'm not sure how I'd feel without that structure. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Micro stakes ring games are great for variation, but if it doesnt go as well as before, maybe you need to take a few days vacation from the poker tables, and come back with new energy.

Start low on the ring games and check out how it works out...

I think it's good to play sng/mtt/cash. You keep variation and don't get bored fast...

This: http://www.cardschat.com/f50/ring-ga...eading-144488/ (http://www.cardschat.com/f50/ring-game-hand-analysis-required-reading-144488/)

But here's my own quickie input:

1) In rings, you get to pick where you sit and for how long you sit there. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Spend some time picking juicy tables, and leave if the fish leave so you can find greener pastures. If the table is bad or if you have bad position on good players it is your fault.

2) You don't *need* to bust anybody to make $. You can sit an hour, never see the turn, and leave the game a winner. In tournaments it's kill or be killed. You want that top-heavy payout for first place so going all-in on a coin flip when it probably means the difference between finishing 1st or 3rd it's worth it because 1st pays to much more. This is not so in rings. You need the odds for that particular pot. So be more conservative.

3) Another reason to be conservative: In rings you are deep stacked compared to what you are in the non-early stages of a tournament, and you can rebuy. This means two things.
a) You need a better hand justify to go all-in. Typically TPTK is not enough.
b) Drawing hands like small pocket pairs can pay off bigger because when you hit you can win a bigger pot (in comparison to your investment).
Example: A nit raised in early position and you call in the BB with A/Q. The flop is Q/J/5. He raises, you re-raise, he shoves. What do you do? You fold. You are crushed, and best case scenario you split the pot.
Or, same situation, but this time you have 5/5. Now you call that 3xbb raise (knowing full well that 7 out of 8 times you'll be folding that flop), and you get paid off 100xbb's when you stack his K/K.

4) You don't get randomly moved, so the time you've spent building an image and getting reads on people lasts until they/you leave. So be sure to take advantage of that.

I've considered making this transition myself. I've built up a roll on a half-dozen sites, mostly from MTT play & SNG, freerolls, private tourneys, etc. I've also read a bunch of other player's experiences with playing MTT & SNG and then making a transition over to NLHE FR & 6-Max and not one of them seemed to have regretted it (although maybe the others just didn't post about it?? lol).
As I'm sure you're aware of, there's tons of stuff to learn when playing the cash tables and also some habits picked up from SNG play that need to be dropped.
So... I gave it a go for awhile on a couple of sites and did okay with it.. BUT.. it never really grabbed me to the point of wanting to put in the necessary time I believe would be necessary to get very good and to move up in limits. Now MTT's on the other hand... my interest never seems to wane,... just wanting to soak it all up.
I strayed from playing cash tables but have occassionally put in a few sessions at micro limits (10 & 25NL). It's just never grabbed me up to this point although lately I've been considering making the move towards it again.
As far as 'mixing it up' goes... and always playing a variety.... I disagree with this personally. I find it much better to just focus on one type of the other... >> MTT's... SNG's... or CashTables. I get better results this way by far (even with SNG's... it's either 6-handed, 9-plyr. reg. speed, 6-plyr. Turbo, 9-plyr. Turbo, 45's, etc.,.... it's one or the other... I prefer to not play a variety. Focusing on one particular type/variation has been working better for me (when I first started out I'd switch around all the time) ).
Another cool advantage to playing the cash tables is that you can just sit down at any time for a short session. THis is great if one doesn't have a window of oppurtunity to make the time committment for an MTT.. or even SNG. I still prefer MTT's though... and will keep pasting notes on my door saying I'm not home.. I'm sleeping,... I'm sick...etc... ha ha ha.

Variation is welcomed and don't forget the limit game.

Always depends on your playing-style and what you like!
If you are doing well stay at the tournements.....

What if someone wanted to go the other direction, say from cash to SnGs or tourneys ?

The one thing that, IMHO, is the difference between the ring game and the tourney game is that in tourneys (any variation) a decent understanding of ICM is paramount. This is a concept that ring players never really have to grasp (except short stackers), nor deal with (though it might help them against short stackers).

So the first thing to do is to google ICM (Independent Chip Modeling) and try to figure out what its about. It is not for the faint of heart, it is some heavy shit.

BTW, if you do get a decent grasp of ICM, and can simplify it into a great post, many many MANY folks will love you.

lol ! Thanks for the quick reply ! If the only thing from a body of knowledge perspective is ICM, and I can add that to my normal cash game routine, then that's fine. It puts all of the "new" poker knowledge in one spot. And as I am still learning poker, I am not yet able to answer many questions, compared to what I ask. But surely, once I "get it", I will remember this post !

Thanks again !

play whatever you feel comfortable with. eb has different views and opinions
seekout what works best for you. gl.

Congrats on building your bank roll. That is quite an achievement. Well done.

I agree that is a pretty impressive BR from $12. How long did that take playing the small tourneys?

Ive actuallly been venturing more into the ring games as well. I just been playing tight and getting paid off. Lately Ill still have a tourney or two going as well as a few full rings.

Quick Question...? If I am new to poker and only play NLHM and start off with a BR of about say $50 and want to make lots of money in a short amount of time, what type of games and stakes should i be playing at? I play on Full Tilt BTW. I was thinking about starting off at the 3+0.30 Knockout tournys mainly for the bonus but how about 0.01/0.02 or 0.02/0.05 ring games? Leave your honest opinion and a link if there is one that i might have missed

[quote=The Dark Side;1276400]I agree that is a pretty impressive BR from $12. How long did that take playing the small tourneys?

I guess it took a little less than 600 games and 18 months (about 30 games per month sounds right). I first played $1 SnG's, then moved up to $2, and finally to $5, generally 9 or 18 player tourneys.

No one knows how to fold in micro ring games, I'm finding out. My advice is to watch a table for a couple of orbits, to see how they play and watch patterns develop.