Tournament vs. Table Games

I have an interesting question for everybody. I'm relatively new to Hold 'Em. I've been playing for about 7 months now. I don't do very well in the table games: over 2-3 hours of playing I'm usually only up half a rack when I'm ahead, but that's only about a third of the time. The rest of the time I usually lose four stacks and then head home. I always buy in for one rack. I usually play 6-12, sometimes 9-18. I can't play 3-6 anymore: I flop trips only to be beat by a straight on the River, my straight loses to a flush on the river, flush to a full house, etc. I am a little concerned that I'm not "betting correctly", i.e. not check-raising enough or not betting enough early on to drive people out, but I have been working on it and not a lot has been changing. A lot of people play bad cards out of position in the low-limit games. It's just how it is and I bring it up only for background. I've read Texas Hold 'Em poker by Warren and both of Sklansky's Hold 'Em books a couple of times each. Very insightful.


My question is this: I have a great track record in tournaments! Why not at the table games?! I discovered Limit Hold 'Em tournaments in June and have played in 8 of them and one No Limit. I've placed in the final table 3 times! I've taken 3rd, 4th, and 9th! Twice I finished in the 'teens and once in the low 30's. The buy-ins were eaither $55 or $88 and the field was 80-90 people. I think this is pretty good. I obviously have enough discipline to win in a tournament, any insights as to why this doesn't carry over to table games? The only thing I can think of is that with the tournament, it's not really my money. Sure it costs the entrance fee, but you get $1000 worth of chips for under $100. It's not like in $6-12 where you're looking at a rack that just cost $200. My short term answer is to play in more tournaments and not in the table games (I play the tables once a week or every other week), but since I want to develop my overall game, I'd appreciate any suggestions.


Thanks!

Usually, if a player loses money at the ring games and wins (or at least does noticeably better) at tournaments, it is because they are a very aggressive player. There are times in tourneys where aggression alone isn't a bad thing, while this is seldom true in the cash games.


Of course, with only 8 tourneys played, your results just aren't useful yet for any kind of meaningful analysis. Luck is still the dominant factor, not skill or playing style.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

I have the exact opposite problem. I have been playing for about 6 months and my tournament results(both limit and nolimit $40-50 buyin, maybe 10-15 tournaments) are poor(final table twice in fields of 40-60), but my live game play(150 hours at 3/6 and 6/12) is great. I keep resolving to improve my tournament results and become more aggressive, but it always fails. I just have a hard time attempting to steal blinds with a hand like T9o. A looser, more aggressive player certainly does these things, but by the time I get around to it, the blinds are so high that people will defend with almost any hand, or my stack is so short I can't effectively scare people.


My one consolation is that I can always find a live game to play and make money(which I pretty much have to do after every tournament I play).


I had stopped playing paradise poker(both live and tournament) because I wasn't convinced that I was doing well enough. I am considering buying in again and sticking with $10 tournaments to hone my skills. Aside from differences between online and casino play, does anyone think that the paradise format will help me improve my overly tight tournament play and become the fearsome loose aggressive player I want to be?