why do I do better in tournaments than ring games?

[JimN]

Can anyone make any guesses why I seem to do better playing no-limit tournaments than low-limit ring games, both online and when I was briefly in Vegas? I think that other relative beginners have exeperienced the same phenomenon. And I don't believe it's because I have any innate talent for tournaments.

[JaxWild]

I don't know the answer. But, it probably has something to do with the same reason I suck at the driving range and do good on the course. Then again, golf isn't a lot of luck like poker.

[Zito]

I do much better in tourney play too. In a tourney, you already put in the money and you need to play your cards to maximum potential. I believe the actual money on the table makes me play different...

1. I bet pre-flop less.
2. I play less hands... more harm can be done to my wallet in a pot hand than any one hand in a tourney.
3. If I get ahead, I use my leverage...in a pot game anyone can just rebankroll next hand. Could be Donald Trump playing online against me and likes to see rivers.
4. ALL-IN is a powerfull tool.
5. If you don't get cards, you can still hide out until the last few players. I took 2nd once by using the auto post/fold.

The bottom line is that in a tourney, your free to play your best game with no further negative consequences.

Golf is all luck. Those trees are totally in random spots.

[sully2112]

I play alot of ring games but very few tourneys. I do better at ring games than tourneys maybe because I seem to tighten up more during tourneys to try and stay longer and last to the last table. This strategy hasn't worked yet. I usually finish 40-80 out of 100-300 or so. I usually play limit ring games and do pretty well but in a limit tourney I seem to lag far behind the leaders a short time after the start and then never really catch up. I then try to catch them by lossening up my play and I think that hurts me in the long run. In no limit tourneys I tend to play tight and am not comfortable using the "all in" feature much. The ideas in the previous post seem worthwhile to try and maybe I'll improve.

Not to let the cat out of the bag but you might want to try Pacific Poker for ring games. I think you'll enjoy it. Play tight and bet when you got'em.

If you go to Pacific, say howdy. I'm necromancer1.

Good Luck,

[sully2112]

I'm sully2112 at Pacific.

[Devedander]

Tourneys do play much differently than rings. For one only the top 3 players make money, everyone else is out, whereas in a ring lots of people can make money at the same time.

Also tourneys make you adjust your play as you go, forced blind increases mean you have to play more hands eventually. At a 3/6 table you can just fold away blinds and the damage it does never gets bigger, but in a tourney, if you have 200 and the blinds move from 50/100 to 100/200 you just go in some big trouble.

Tourneys for me are all about waiting out the idiots so I don't get suckered into bad loose betting, then cranking up the pressure when it counts.

I will often play 1 hand out of every other blind until half the table is gone, then I will start playing more, and when I am in the money you will see me raising k7o just cuz I have a king. And it works reasonably well.

Just remember that a ring strategy usually won't work in a tourney, and vice versa. The main difference being that in one you have unlimited time and your strategy only has to balance out over time to not loose. In a tourney you have limited time (decided by how many blinds you can cover) so your strategy has to win you more, and more often.

Overall I win at both reasonably often, but I like tourneys because they limit my losses, too many times at a ring table I get suckered in to a huge bet on a draw and regret doing it. In a tourney it hurts a little less.[/list]

[JimN]

Very interesting replies. I think that, unconsciously, I have been doing some of the things recited by everyone. Thanks all.

[TheMrLegendary]

There are many players out there that can play any kind of poker, anywhere for any kind of stakes, or be in a tourny or cash game, and still clean house. Look at this year's 2nd place finisher at the WSOP Finale Sammy Farha, he prefers Omaha to Holdem, and much prefers Cash games to Tournys, but 2nd place out of 830+ players! Come On Sammy!

Though from the players I have talked to and many pros that I have observed, they have 1 or 2 kinds of poker they are dominate at, unless your like Layne Flack or Chris Ferguson or Doyle Brunson, though these people are much more the exception than the rule.

Cash game specialists can successfuly make the transition to dominate tourny careers.

Personally, I have found that I cant stand Omaha, and probably never will be able to stomach it. 7 and 5 stud are great games to coffee house with and have a good ole time. Games that involved high hand and low hand splits i cant stand, again for some reason i cant put words on. I much prefer games near holdem for example the all popular crazy pineapple. Some nights I feel that game and I were made for each other!

I do enjoy the occassional cash game of limit holdem with blinds like 3-6 or 5-10 but I prefer No-Limit, I get to press people and get a better feel for my opps. hand and much more, i could write a book on it

Though, I MOST enjoy a No-Limit Holdem tourny. The experience cant be beaten, and sometimes i feel i cant either. Its a much different feel from any stake level of NLH cash table play.

I feel so many players are worried abotu tournys, like 10 players enter and only 3 get paid and usually 3rd isnt worth the time it takes to get comfortable. Why not just sit at a cash table and hammer it out with some fishies. If you get into a tourny and you run into a ringer, it gets painful and you just wish you had the stand up button and move somewhere else, for more fish dinners. In tournys you are stuck if the table isnt going to be a profit for you.

In short I have seen some of the best tourny players i know, get eaten at cash tables and honestly more often i see a cash table expert get thrown around in a tournament.

So just find the type of poker that works for you. Then find the right stake range, and then finally, tourny or not. Then just have a good time, but dotn forget to smell the roses and find me on a pineapple table or goto paradise poker for some 5 card draw!!!

May the aces follow each and everyone!

Drew"Mr. Legendary"

[golddog]

I find that I do better in tournaments than ring games as well. I think a lot of what's mentioned applies, but one other thing:

I play poker to relax. Drink a few beers, BS with the guys, etc. In ring games, pot odds seem so much more important; if you're not really paying attention, you can get scalped.

Seems like in tournaments, because you can skew the pot odds, it's actually easier for me--one less thing to track.

And, of course, if you're at least occassionally agressive, it's a lot easier to scare off someone with a 10x blind bet than 2x.