What makes me capable at sit`n go, but suck at cash games?

Question

When I play hold`em, I can win some money at sit`n go`s only to blast it all, at the cash games later. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Maybe it is because with tournaments you have already invested your money, as well as everyone else.  It most likely helps relax to know that you can just play and enjoy it rather then knowing in cash, one bad pot can sink you and affect your style of play at any point.  I guess this would only be the case if you are like me and you can't afford to buy in to anything more then a 2-4 c**p shoot!

Answer 2

Maybe you should experiment with different cash games.  For example, I prefer NLHE for SnGs and MTTs, while I prefer limit hold 'em for cash games.  Maybe you aren't playing tight enough or aggressive enough at the cash tables.

Answer 3

Well you're saying "blast it" so it's a good bet you're throwing too much out there and people are picking you off.  People tend to play looser in SNG's where cash games tend to be tighter site for site.  There are some sites where the SNG action is loose and juicy and the players play badly but if you sit down at a cash table it's like playing with a bunch of 80 year old men only playing the top hands and if you're not well you're the fish at that table.  

If you want to play both then first of all you're going to have to be more selective about the cash games you're playing in.  This is true for everybody regardless and there's too many cash tables - NL and limit both - that are too tight to even consider sitting down at.  

Next you're going to have to figure out how you're losing at the cash games and adjust.  They are not the same animal at all and it sounds like you are doing pretty well at SNG's but have to LEARN to be successful in cash games.  This means you need to back off the level for now until you can play well enough at the levels you want to be at so you're not donating your SNG winnings.  

On the other hand you could and maybe even should stick to SNG's.  If you've found something that works versus something that isn't then maybe that's the best move for you, and maybe dabble in some cash games on the side for now if you really want to do that and go from there.  

King Cobra Poker

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Answer 4

Different skill sets.  Maybe you know about bubble play, when to shove and fold, like you need in SnG.  Those skills don't translate to the cash games.

Answer 5

Tourneys you have blinds that raise as time goes by forcing you to get aggresive at the end. So you probably sit around and do little until forced, by then some of the players are gone.  

My guess is you are playing too tight. My guess is you may make the money in SnGs but seldom win without a major suckout when you are nearly blinded out.

Cash games have a fixed blind and a rake is pulled. If you sit around and only play premium hands everyone will see you are tight and fold to you aggression thus cutting your winnings on those hands. You have to play a mixture of ways on a table where people have a chance to study your play.

They call it changing speeds.

On a low limit ring game I will see the flop for the blind (minimum) on about anything from late position.

In a tourney, I don't even play quality cards unless they are late position, early in the tourney. Playing too fast too early is the best way to get chopped by the donkeys drawing to c**p there is.

Answer 6

the strategies are completely different. in cash games, you are sitting back, waiting to cash in on your big hands. in tourney's, the money has to keep coming in ahead of the blinds.

I tried this experiment the other day: If i waited for a monster hand in a turbo game, how many hands could I wait? The answer is about 40. Then, I tried to check how many hands I needed to win to finish top 7 in a 45 player sng: the answer is around 4 double ups. However, in the sng's I've won, the stats are something like this:

120 hands played

10 hands won at showdown (usually with a 90% or higher win rate)

20 hands won without showdown.

Therefore, the key to tournament poker is forcing people to fold while you hold garbage (which I'm sure you are familiar with if you are successful) while in cash games, you are looking only for monster hands without the extra income from forcing people to fold.

if you are good at one, you should stick to it.