Ring Game or SnG

BluEsiNsOuL · #1 07-02-2005, 10:07 PM

Currently I am a micro-limit ring game player. I can see that as I become better, I will play in higher limit cash game and try to maintain a good winrate. That's where the money come from. As I am reading through the forum I also learned that there are also these pros who play SnGs and do very well. How does that compare to ring games? What are the pros and cons?

DarkForceRising · #2 07-03-2005, 12:08 AM

I imagine it depends on where your talents lie. Although I am a ring game player, anecdotally, I have found SNG's to contain less variance. Many SNG players seem to agree with this. SNG's are more interesting- that is for sure. However, I can't 4-table them competently so I prefer to stick with the regular games.

Check out the 1-table tournament forum for more qualified responses than mine.

BluEsiNsOuL · #3 07-03-2005, 03:30 AM

Thanks a lot.

Isura · #4 07-03-2005, 10:15 AM

[ QUOTE ]
However, I can't 4-table them competently so I prefer to stick with the regular games.

[/ QUOTE ]

Once you learn the basic skills, SNGs are MUCH easier to multitable at the lower limits than ring games. 4-6 tables of SNGs is relaxing for me, 3 tables of 6-max ring is mayhem.

chisness · #5 07-03-2005, 11:46 AM

true, multitabling sngs is much easier

Sidekick · #6 07-03-2005, 01:52 PM

I used to do ring games and now I do SNGs almost exclusively.

Limit ring games and NL SNGs use a different skillset IMO. I have known people who can do both, some that can do one but not the other. It just depends on the person.

I personally switched from ring to SNGs to try and lower variance and because SNGs are more interesting to me. However, IMO SNGs are more difficult to do well. Some would argue this, but limit ring games are much more standard in how they play while SNGs (and all tournaments really) have a number of other factors that don't come into play in ring games (e.g. blinds, stack size, etc.).

I don't think either is better, but I think some people are more suited to one over the other. I would recommend playing some SNGs and see which you like better.

BluEsiNsOuL · #7 07-03-2005, 05:31 PM

Thanks for your reply! Actually when I started this thread I didn't even realize that most SnG games are NL. Guess I will wait a while before I give it a shot.

wkoch · #8 07-03-2005, 09:31 PM

I play mostly SNG's (low limits $2+.20 etc) and find them to be very beatable. If you are thinking about trying this I would also recomend that you check out the single table forum and search for posts from AleoMagus. He has a lot of great info and even has a great formulatic approach to get you started that is very effective. Can't find the link right now or would post it.

Good luck

DarkForceRising · #9 07-04-2005, 12:05 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your reply! Actually when I started this thread I didn't even realize that most SnG games are NL. Guess I will wait a while before I give it a shot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't be intimidated by the NL factor. In the lower limit SNG's you can often times just let people hang themselves and limp into the money. Limit tourneys demand that you catch some cards.

Interesting thread. I've played a fair amount of SNG's with good success but just for fun. Now you guys got me wanting to try 4-tabling them again.

I know that it is difficult to quantify but what is the generally agreed upon hourly ROR, say, playing 5 22's per hour?

pzhon · #10 07-04-2005, 12:32 AM

[ QUOTE ]

I know that it is difficult to quantify but what is the generally agreed upon hourly ROR, say, playing 5 22's per hour?

[/ QUOTE ]
ROR usually means risk of ruin. You might mean ROI, return on investment.

The ROI in the 22s varies from structure to structure, and also from player to player. At Party, you start with 800 chips, and the blinds increase relatively rapidly. Few people report a ROI over 30% ($6.60 profit, or $33/hour), and many report a much lower win rate. It could be that it is possible for a player to win significantly more even in Party's rapid structure, but anyone with those skills usually either moves up or starts to multitable enough to push the ROI down.

Note that it takes hundreds of SNGs to get an accurate estimate of your ROI. The SD is about 1.7 buy-ins, so the 95% confidence interval is roughly results +- 340%/squareroot(# tournaments).

My ROI is higher at other sites with slower structures, e.g., PokerRoom, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars, and Bodog.