I play at Full Tilt poker and I play .05 .10 ring game. Lately I have been losing money. I don't know why. I think it might be that I go into the tables with only 2 dollars and other players that have 10 dollars or more can easily bully me out of hands. Also if I invest my money in one hand for only .50 and I lose my stack is very low and the bigger stacks tend to put me all in more. The big stacks also don't find .5o a lot so even if they don't have a great hand they will raise that much. That being one 4th of my chip stack I feel like can only play with great hands. Do you think I should play with more money in the ring games? Or play sit n gos so everyone starts with the same amount of chips?
There are two strategies in the replies, but not a solid explanation.
Buying in 'short' or 'shortstacking' is intentionally buying in with less than 80-100BB's, betting hard and fast, win or lose. Lose and you jump back in with a small buy-in and try again. Win and you leave the table, re-joining another table with a small (short)stack and leaving your profit in the cashier.
If you have a limited BR, then you should drop down in levels. The new micro limits are fine, but buy in with a decent 80-100BB and you won't be bullied around. The reason you see other players with the $10 is exactly what you observed. They can bully you and cannot be bullied themselves.
Ring vs SnG's ?? Quite different games. At any ring stakes, winning hands return at least double what you bet, more if there are more than 2 in the hand. SnG's vary with # of entries. If you are good at marathon survival and steady chip accumulation, then MTT's might be better for you. But if you don't make the top level of payouts, the return can be very small with a SnG returning a 20-30 cent or so profit on a $1.25 buy-in.
If you want to stay with ring games, step down in levels and buy in with a bigger stack.