strategy differences - SNG vs Ring

Hello

I started out playing poker 1 year ago, yet I havent played in any ring games yet. I went straight for the SNGs and have stuck with them since.

However I would like some change of play and try the ring games.
What should I keep in mind when adopting for ring? When playing SNGs i stick to Harringtons strategy. So a tight agressive strategy. That will do well in ring games i suppose. But I guess there a big difference in blind stealing. No point really in ring games is it?
But starting hand requirements and so on are the same?

Best reg
Anarchoi

You're playing deep stack poker in ring and short stack poker in SnGs. In deepstack NLHE, sets are king and in shortstack NLHE, big pairs are king. Don't get married to overpairs as you will find yourself being stacked a lot. You're also getting much better implied odds so if you can see a flop with suited connectors, do so. Otherwise, good luck.

In ring, you have to play the cards more and opponents less (at lower levels at least. You have to keep pot odds to the front of your mind and base all your decisions on them. You can't just make ultra-aggressive bets in the hope people will sacrifice small edges for survival; people should and do play these small edges as they can just reload if they get stacked.

You have to remember that unless you are playing shorthanded (which I wouldn't necessarily recommend for when you first start, although as an SNG player you probably have advantages here), you will mostly be playing 8-9 others, so you'll have to resist the temptation to steal and bully which you *will* feel.

Finally, you have to constantly remind yourself that, by and large, people's bets are HONEST - much more so than in SNGs. Obviously there are lots of slowplays, bluffs and semi-bluffs going on, but they are a definite minority. If someone bets, or even more, if someone raises, the odds are they have some sort of hand. Take heed.

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Originally Posted by biondino

In ring, you have to play the cards more and opponents less (at lower levels at least. You have to keep pot odds to the front of your mind and base all your decisions on them. You can't just make ultra-aggressive bets in the hope people will sacrifice small edges for survival; people should and do play these small edges as they can just reload if they get stacked.

You have to remember that unless you are playing shorthanded (which I wouldn't necessarily recommend for when you first start, although as an SNG player you probably have advantages here), you will mostly be playing 8-9 others, so you'll have to resist the temptation to steal and bully which you *will* feel.

Finally, you have to constantly remind yourself that, by and large, people's bets are HONEST - much more so than in SNGs. Obviously there are lots of slowplays, bluffs and semi-bluffs going on, but they are a definite minority. If someone bets, or even more, if someone raises, the odds are they have some sort of hand. Take heed.

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Excellent post and mirrors my experience exactly.

By people betting real money their lines are much more believeable and clearer to you they have something. As Biondino put it. I like to laugh at people who call people down and lose like 15-10 bucks by calling ( Ace high) . Im like .. what you didnt believe them? Unless someone gives me a reason not believe them ... I take the safe route. SNG's I would just push and fire up another if i lost.

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Originally Posted by KingLizard

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Originally Posted by biondino

In ring, you have to play the cards more and opponents less (at lower levels at least. You have to keep pot odds to the front of your mind and base all your decisions on them. You can't just make ultra-aggressive bets in the hope people will sacrifice small edges for survival; people should and do play these small edges as they can just reload if they get stacked.

You have to remember that unless you are playing shorthanded (which I wouldn't necessarily recommend for when you first start, although as an SNG player you probably have advantages here), you will mostly be playing 8-9 others, so you'll have to resist the temptation to steal and bully which you *will* feel.

Finally, you have to constantly remind yourself that, by and large, people's bets are HONEST - much more so than in SNGs. Obviously there are lots of slowplays, bluffs and semi-bluffs going on, but they are a definite minority. If someone bets, or even more, if someone raises, the odds are they have some sort of hand. Take heed.

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Excellent post and mirrors my experience exactly.

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Great summary Biondino. that's exactly what I found when I switched from mainly SnGs/MTTs to ring.

if u switch from sng's to cash games you are going to have to learn how to play some poker after the flop. especially on the turn and river.

I'm being half sarcastic and half serious.

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if u switch from sng's to cash games you are going to have to learn how to play some poker after the flop. especially on the turn and river.

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I made the switch a couple of months ago, and I think this statement is much closer to fully serious than half-serious...

yeah I was going to say I was closer to about 2/3 serious, but in the early stages of sng's there's actual post-flop play.

What's a flop???????????????????