tournament vs. ring game strategy online

[ChuckSty 0]

i have been getting destroyed lately in ring games. basically losing all of my money whenever i play. i used to show a profit probably 4 out of 5 times i played but now i am either taking bad beats or just plain playing my good hands badly and my bad hands even worse. in tourneys however i am playing better than i ever have and have been finishing at the final table in a lot of 100 man plus tourneys. i'm not sure if i'm just playing too aggressive in the ring games or not being patient enough. anyway any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks -t

[ahosang 0]

The criss-cross of formats can knock your play a bit if you don't concentrate BEFORE you play each different format. If your poker game is not ingrained in your brain, what you need to do is focus before each sit-down and think about what your sitting down to do. This same thing happened a little to me in the first few months of playing poker online. The chop and change which is so easy to do on the web meant I was making tourny plays in cash games, and vice versa. Sometimes my tourny game was hot, but I was leaking at the cash tables, other times playing steady and calm at the cash tables, but being blinded out of tournies. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS :!:

[copernicus 0]

since the results depend on a few key hands. Ring games you can only win playing tight/aggressive, betting for value and showing down a high percentage of winners. Tourney play has you in the habit of limping with far too many hands to show a profit.

[ChuckSty 0]

ahosang, i think you for the most part hit it on the head. in tourneys i make lots of continuation bets and win pots that way as well as by putting pressure on people when i can. i think i try to do that sometimes when i'm playing the ring games and i just crush myself, trying to buy a pot after my a k didn't catch anything on the flop when someone is playing with a pocket pair. all kinds of stuff really but i guess i think it all comes down to not just waiting for those great hands to come in the cash games. or not great but ones like you said will win at a showdown. anyway that's it. thanks and i'll see you at a table sometime; hopefully a tourney. -t