doing good at sngs and bad at ring games.

[KINO2WIN]

Hey guys, i starting this thread cause iam having a big problem with ring games.

Lately iam being playing mostly at sngs (fulltilt, pokerstars) 2 180 players turbo, and i made around 300 dolars in profit, but when i get a little bored of playing sng i start to play at ring games most of the times 2 tables at same time and i dont know whats worng i just cant left a table wining (50 dolars loss in 2 weeks). before i was just playing ring games and it was worst. i dont know what is happening with me at ring tables. i know everybody will say that i should stay at sng tables if i make profit there, but i really want to play more at ring games and improove my game at ring tables too.

any ideas of what to do in my situaction?

[MikeyEl]

There are infinite reasons why you aren't profitable at Cash games, yet continue to be profitable at SnGs. I suffered from the same problem, and still do to a much lesser extent. I was successful at SnG tournaments, but I would almost always lose when I'd play a ring game. I have improved quite a bit, but I still have a long ways to go.

A problem in a person's cash game is commonly referred to as a leak. My biggest leaks were:

1. Cold calling people's raises too much
2. Falling in love with TPTK
3. Making too many Hero Calls (FOLD MORE OFTEN!)
4. Playing out of position too much

[KINO2WIN]

Mickey what do you mean with TPTK?? i dont know what means.

Today per example my first sng i finished in 6th place, then i played like more 6 with no big results. I got a little bored and wanted to try a little bit 00.05 00.010 cash tables.
I got really frustrated with 20 bucks loss in like 15 minutes.
Then i made a little pause and back again to the sng and ended up wining another one.

Iam happy but at same time frustrated thinking about this situation.

[MikeyEl]

TP TK = Top Pair Top Kicker.

[gerhardt]

The short of the long in this situation is that you will, and do get "cooperative" players in ring games.
It's just impossible to pick it up, because there are to many players online.

[MikeyEl]

The short of the long in this situation is that you will, and do get "cooperative" players in ring games.
It's just impossible to pick it up, because there are to many players online.

Put on your tin foil caps!

[C8H10N4O2]

Put on your tin foil caps!

It's on, but I need to know, does my tin foil cap protect me from cooperative players playing sng's?

[MikeyEl]

It's funny you say that because I heard that the guys who lived above me in college would sit 3 strong at STT and profit at an alarming rate. I think that collusion at a STT would be a lot more effective than in a cash game. At least in an online format.

[mrdick2u]

I have the opposite problem. Do well in cash games and horrible at MTT's. (I play mainly on UB). In cash games, you have to play much tighter. The blinds don't increase, so you aren't as much in a hurry. You have to view your BR as capital. The more you lose, the harder it is to make back. So, marginal calls and coin flips aren't your friend. I would play fewer hands and keep the pot smaller until you hit. Work from this basic and build from there. When in doubt, fold.

A lot of people will disagree with that last line, but, you have to start someplace!

[travz21]

I have the opposite problem. Do well in cash games and horrible at MTT's. (I play mainly on UB). In cash games, you have to play much tighter. The blinds don't increase, so you aren't as much in a hurry. You have to view your BR as capital. The more you lose, the harder it is to make back. So, marginal calls and coin flips aren't your friend. I would play fewer hands and keep the pot smaller until you hit. Work from this basic and build from there. When in doubt, fold.

A lot of people will disagree with that last line, but, you have to start someplace!

You're right...marginal calls and coinflips are much better in MTT's.

[hockeyguy]

There are infinite reasons why you aren't profitable at Cash games, yet continue to be profitable at SnGs. I suffered from the same problem, and still do to a much lesser extent. I was successful at SnG tournaments, but I would almost always lose when I'd play a ring game. I have improved quite a bit, but I still have a long ways to go.

A problem in a person's cash game is commonly referred to as a leak. My biggest leaks were:

1. Cold calling people's raises too much
2. Falling in love with TPTK
3. Making too many Hero Calls (FOLD MORE OFTEN!)
4. Playing out of position too much

The list is certainly a recipe for bad results in ring game

I would just add the the typical style of aggression that is effective at sng's. i.e. serial blind stealing and raises/pushes with marginal hands can easily be exloited in cash games

Are you losing with marginal hands, overplaying non premium hands/ drawsor getting sucked out on when you are ahead?

[Junkie1989]

Guess I'll drop my limited 2c here...

As a successful SnG player you know that you must change your play up based on the blinds and remaining players in the tournament, however in a cash game you are stuck at the same stakes no matter what, this means that generally your opponents are going to be playing a more standard array of hands compared to say the final 5 in a large sng/tournament. This also allows you to play the player a little more in my opinion, which means most likely one of your weaker points is gaging your opponents (no easy feat, especially online). My suggestion is to move down in stakes until you find a comfortable amount and start trying to read your opponents. And above all patience is key, since the blinds aren't going up theres really no rush to increase your stack, theres no way to "win" a cash game. You basically want to sit on your hands until you do the following 3 things:

1. Have a combination of a decent hand and decent position
2. Have (hopefully accurately) gaged most of your opponents
3. Built a table image that you can use to outplay your opponents

[freerollbird]

Picking your seat in a cash game is also very important from what I have been reading. You would not want to sit behind a deep stacked aggressive player if you could avoid it. They will steal u blind at any sign of weakness. And maybe just watch some cash games play out without joining. And you do have the option of watching a table before you jump in. So pick your seat position and may do a little better. Freerollbird