for some reason i can't figure out how to play normal limit cash games. let me explain:

i consider myself to not be bad at tourneys. ive been playing 6.50 (9 ppl) SNG's for about half a year now and i've made over $1,000. When there are local 20-30 man tourney's ($20 buyin w/ rebuy for the first hour, $20 is a lot to us), in my area, i always seem to place top 6, and ive won 1st in 3 of them of about the 10-12 they've held. yet, for some reason, when i goto the casino to play limit $3-$6 9 people tables, i always seem to lose. i still play the same hands (premium hands), and i play according to position and stuff, but i can't seem to profit off limit cash games. is there anything different i should do? i really dont know if i should play more hands or not. it seems like people always chase and everyone plays every hand. i tried moving up to no limit but it's the same thing at my casino, just old rich people that don't mind chasing any draw they have. any and all advice is very appreciated. thanks guys

I used to just play sit-n-gos on pokerstars, but after a run of bad cards i found that it was neither fun or profitable for me. So now ive been playin a lot of .25/.50 nl and have been doing real good for myself. I think the difference between ring games and trnys is that in ring games you need to be willing to try and steal pots. And in trny you cant really do that to many times because one bad beat and your out.

Originally Posted by Marm

First off, your talking Limit vs No limit. Secondly You're talking Tourny and ring. This is comparing Apples and Volvos.

yeah i know im comparing apples and volvos or whatever, but the only reason why i stated my experience in NL tourny's is because i wanted to show that i know how to play poker and im some other noob trying to learn how to play. i just wanted some advice on limit hold ring games basically.

pointless post, but I prefer volvos

Originally Posted by Marm

First off, your talking Limit vs No limit. Secondly You're talking Tourny and ring. This is comparing Apples and Volvos.

Ahh I'm busy right now... To be continued....

Originally Posted by nambomb

yeah i know im comparing apples and volvos or whatever, but the only reason why i stated my experience in NL tourny's is because i wanted to show that i know how to play poker and im some other noob trying to learn how to play. i just wanted some advice on limit hold ring games basically.

You don't know how to play "poker" you know how to play NL SnGs. There are many different forms of poker that take different skills.

Loose limit is about maximizing your equity and value, and pushing profitable situations and avoiding unprofitable ones.

Try reading Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, then prepare for a serious learning curve.

I bled money like a stuck pig the first few months after reading it, in-fact, I thought about putting a hit out on Ed.

Beavis beat me to it, but "small stakes hold'em" is a great book. Best poker book I've read as far as being able to apply the concepts presented to actual play. I use alot of the concepts presented, but ratchet up the aggressiveness level a bit.
I'm the exact opposite of you, I suck at SnG and do well at low limit, especially live. Small stakes hold'em helped me to understand the different challenges that low limit hold'em presents and develop strategies to couteract the chasing you see.
The basic concept I use is playing very aggressively in the pots I get involved in, this never changes. I vary my tightness and looseness based on the players and table. And almost never slowplay, unless you flop quad A or something that there is no hope to get a caller with a bet on the flop. It just isn't profitable to slowplay in low limit because 99% of the time you would have gotten a caller anyway.
People play all sorts of crap to the river, and yes sometimes they will win it, but if you pound them every time they will pay dearly because you will still win a majority of pots against crappy players playing bad cards. Playing straightforward aggressive poker is the best way.

One other specific point after thinking about this: It is my contention that position is alot less important in the typical low limit loose-passive game. In no limit it is absolutely critical, as we all know. Cards that are unplayable in first position can profitably be bet and win pots preflop on the button.

This is much less true in low limit. One aspect of position is that you don't know if you will be re-raised. In live low limit, MOST players won't reraise period. If they think they are beat they won't, if they only suspect they have the best hand they are scared and won;t, and then when they are unbeatable they think they will slowplay it! This is why it is much easier to be aggressive, you don't have to fear reraises much. It allows you to take charge of the hand in early position and actually get people to lay stuff down on the turn and river.

It is true that you don't really know where you are at because people play crap and good cards the same, and this is frustrating. So when you lose to a miricle card on the river to someone playing crap it is irritating. But you need to keep aggresive with good hands, because others will always play passively. It is funny how many times I have gone to showdown in early position betting and just getting called all the way, and the winner will show some ridiculously monster hand like aces full of kings. But OVERALL it's OK, because when I get these hands the pot is 2-3x bigger! This is how you make up for the hands you lose to someone chasing.