Stopping the bleeding

Mildy obsessive compulsive types with addictive tendencies like me have to be careful at this game. Truth be told, I only started playing online for real money about less than 6 months ago, and overall I'm definitely down (like about a rent payment). So...some advice for other noobs:

To hone your chops at playing for real money, start out playing s&g tourney, not ring. That way you're getting in a whole lot of hands in without risking a whole whack of dough. Personally, I like the multi-table $1+.20 and $5+.50 games on PS. The upside is good, and you just have to place 7th or better to at least make back your entry fee (and your entry is all that's at risk). If you avoid joining the all-in fests, which are fairly common early in the game, and play reasonably tight with real hands, then you have a pretty good shot at making final table.

For me, the benefits have been tremendous. My game has vastly improved, I think because I'm no longer playing with "real" money, just tourney chips, which makes me a more aggressive, tight player. Now I'll bluff or semi-bluff in situations where I wouldn't before in ring, even though I probably should have. I also raise more often pre-flop, bet more aggressively to close the door on a winning hand after the flop, and -- yes -- even chase hands when the odds scream for it. In other words, I no longer play like a wimp, and I'm winning as a result. I've been playing on winnings for weeks now, and that feels really good.

If you win more than you lose, consistently over the long term, then you are a successful poker player, and playing s&g tourney seems to be getting me there. I've stopped the bleeding I was initially experiencing in ring, plus I'm having way more fun. This is a game, after all...

good job, you found wat works for you

Good advice, but just for the new players, what works in SnGs doesn't always work in ring. They are very different games.

Agreed, but from a bankroll management POV, s&g is the way to go for noobs like me. I HAVE though found that my live ring play has changed for the better as a result of playing a lot of tourney online...maybe just because of the experience of the sheer number of hands played...

Good advice, but just for the new players, what works in SnGs doesn't always work in ring. They are very different games.

100% correct, those are two completly different games. I think that if you want to excel in ring games you are better off getting your experience at the 0.01/0.02 tables then the Sng's

Interesting approach, but I find the sit n' go's costly. 10 bucks a pop for a decent one at my site. That's five buy-ins at my micro-limit NL tables. I'm triple tabling and getting in a shitload more hands than I would playing a sit n' go, I think.

That said, I'm a loser at whatever game I play, just that I think if you want to get in a lot of hands, I agree with TLR and play the micro-limit tables with far less risk than at the higher limits.

lol I am so OCD sometimes, I love when I start talking to myself

"This fucker keep stealing my blinds we will see him steal this time, ohh bad flop shit Ill call the fucker fuck him bitch aint talking my blind, fucking turn Ill call it fuck this guy, river fuck half my chips are already in, what the fuck did I just do...."

SnGs are definetly better for the crazy OCD types like me that way if we do start to go a bit crazy we are capped on what we can lose.

When I first started playing for real money, I tried the 0.01/0.02 ring and I hated it with a passion. I then tried the $1.20 SnGs and liked them a lot more. I wondered which I should play to improve my game, and here's what Aok told me:

Originally Posted by aokrongly

At this point you have a choice, play what you like or learn to play winning poker. If you want to just play what you like then by all means keep hitting the SnG. If you want to be a long term winner and make good money with poker then you have to master NL ring first. Everything else is kind of based on that foundation.

I didn't follow his advice, I never mastered ring before turning to SnGs, but sometimes I wonder if it would have helped me. Everyone always says to focus on ONE game only (eg. ring OR SnG), but is this always true? I think that suggesting those with a strong ring game will have a better chance of being successful at SnGs is true. They are DEFINITELY different, and they definitely require different skills to win, but if you aren't a decent ring player, how can you hope to be a good SnG player?

That's also interesting Courtiebee. That you hated what I'm actually trying to hone my skills on: the .01/.02 NL tables.

I just find the sit n' go's too depressing when I lose. There's all the excitement of a tourney when I sit down, but when I end up in 5th place or something, I just feel depressed.

Probably too strong a word, but disappointed to say the least. That's it. I'm out. At least in the ring games I can buy in again, and go on and see if I can't win my money back.

I am definitely heavy on the ring games, but only for the last 3700 of 8800 hands have I been focussing on the one limit, as per Aok's advice, and of that 3700 hands only about 1000 are with what I think is a more solid betting strategy.

I'll let you all know if it is going to help me when I next play a tourney.

Tourney's are dangerous 'cause you can really get hooked on them and blow a wad of cash in a short time. Kinda like some drugs I've tried in my more reckless days.

just play 5.50 buy in SnG's on Stars

...or $1 + .20 even. Cheap like borscht and first pays $14 at 45 players. That's where I go after getting my fishy butt kicked in a $5 + .50.

I've been doing really well on the PS 5.50 SnGs. In fact, after making the final table almost every time, and usually making ITM, I just got my first 1st place tonight, so I'm pretty pumped.


I also suck at ring games. I've tried playing at .01/.02, but I just can't win there. I don't know if I suck at ring games, or if the fishies are getting me, or what it is, but I consistently lose there, whereas I can pretty consistently win at SnG tables (100.52 ROI vs. -21.02 BB/100 at ring).

drdeutsch

the PS 5.50's are very very soft right now