Am I backwards?

[bombusan]

I can almost always come in the money on Sng tourneys, between $5-$20 buy ins. On multi-tables, I've come in 2nd once, but am very close to top 20 more often than not. However, when I sit to play a regular game, I'm always losing money. WTF? I've tried playing tighter, looser, passive, aggressive, and I almost never make a dime. . .it's gotten to the point that I'm happy to break even.
I guess one question is, should I be working on my regular game? Or should I focus more on improving my tourney play? Does one really help the other, or are they completely seperate? Thanks!

[JimSardonic]

I'd suppose it depends what you want to focus on...

Personally, I'd work on my ring game abilities -- simply because that's a type of game in which you can always walk away with extra cash. Tournaments are hit or miss -- whereas ring games allow you to choose when you want to leave... up big, or down.

[Potowame]

Sounds like the blinds have a lot to do with your problem. In a Tnry. the higher the blinds go the more holes in players game appear and the Manic limpers have no clue what to do but go all in with any pp or AJ - AK from any position. And it sounds Like you have a Tight aggressive style, and loosen up in later rounds, which is good.
In a ring game you may try to change gears more from tight to loose. The problem with ring games is a catch 22, the manics never go away, until they run out of money. You are going to be fighting any suited cards, K4 making two pair ect. all night, so try to adjust to that.

Just my experience. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[MLG]

Ring games and tournaments are two very very different games which require different skill sets. If you are instinctively good at one it is only natural to think that you will be good at the other and this is simply not the case. If you want to get better at ring games (which isn't a necessity you always have the option of just sticking to tournaments) then I would start keeping careful track of how you are losing your money. For example, what kind of hands are you holding, (A-Q, A-J, K-Q, and some others are hands that usually play very aggresively in tournament play as the blinds climb, and very very cautiously if at all in NL ring games) what position you are in (when I switch over from a tourney to a ring game I have an irresistable urge to steal blinds with weakish hands, a bad bad bad idea in NL play) and things of that nature. Keeping track of these losses will help you find holes in your game that need plugging.