My cycle with ring games, is it variance or something else?

[mieczkowusc]

The past couple times I have tried to switch to ring games from SNG's, the following happens:

1. I hit a nice steak and go up around 5 buy-ins in a very short period of time, usually around a week.

2. I start having pretty solid consistently profitable sessions where I am in a groove. This usually lasts for another week or so. I am usually averaging between a 1/3-1/2 half of a buy-in in winnings per 1 hour session. I feel as though I am in the zone at this state, and am making good reads.

3. I start running bad and have some losing sessions, I know that this is all part of the game. I do my best to tighten up to avoid these situations, but I get hit with some river junk, running into Aces with Kings, people limp calling with AK against my AQ, etc.

4. The downstreak continues until I get frustrated with ring games and switch back to SNG's.

I am at number 3 right now, but I am absolutely determined to stick it out with ring until I beat it.

FYI, I started a new roll at PS with $50 and am playing $2NL, so it could just be variance at the lower levels. I am still up and at $54, so things aren't going that bad, but I want to make sure that the endless cycle doesn't continue.

Can anyone offer any advice who has been in a similar situation? My gut instinct is to just clamp down and be ultra nitty, go with the 19 hands guideline, and squeek it out for the next two years until I can make some worthwhile profit. Its just tough when I am used to a much more dynamic style with the rising blinds.

Is it really just park and sit until you get the goods?

[kb coolman]

Keep playing your game, and don't tighten up too much. Analyize each session when your done to see if you can spot the mistakes, and let those of us here on the forum give you some feedback.

Lean on Renton's pre-flop strategy to make sure you don't have any positional leaks. Make sure you're raising enough PF to isolate. I'm up and down a lot right now, and I can usually point back to lack of isolation as one of my problems when I'm running bad. At $10NL, that means AT LEAST 4xBB + 1BB per limper. Even more at very loose tables. Sometimes I'll add 2-3xBB per limper and still get action.

Remember, TAG is the way to go, not nitty.

[mieczkowusc]

I'm raising the 4x+1 and am pretty averse to playing out of position unless I've got a pretty strong hand (JJ+, AK or AQs).

Isolation could be the problem, and I tend to run into situations where the Blind calls and everyone else who limped comes in behind, regardless of cards. Its like people have the mentality "well he called, so I should too incase I miss out". Obviously this is good when you have a good hand, but top pair rarely holds up here.

[Parasurama]

The best advice I can give you is play more tables and play more hands. The cycles will get played out much quicker and you'll be better able to see where your real profit comes from and hopefully be able to avoid losing too much on the downswings.