“To everything there is a season...
A time to seek, and a time to lose
A time to keep,
and a time 3️⃣ to throw away...”
-- Ecclesiastes
Even 2300 years ago, Ecclesiastes knew
there was "a time to Hold'em, and a time to fold'em." 3️⃣ But there is another poker lesson
to get from reading Ecclesiastes.
An incredibly silly controversy that rages in poker
circles is 3️⃣ the issue of tournament versus ring game play. I couldn’t care less about
who is "best" in poker. I’m only 3️⃣ concerned with getting the money -- playing winning
poker, in whatever your circumstances.
Tournaments are different than ring games. They
require 3️⃣ different strategies. Some players who win in one lose in the other because
they don’t see and adapt to the 3️⃣ differences. A very successful ring game player once
told me he plays Stud8 exactly the same in a tournament as 3️⃣ in a ring game. If ever
there was a game that should be played differently in the two forms, it 3️⃣ is Stud8. (See
Tournament Seven Card Stud High Low) But he played them the same -- and won big in 3️⃣ the
ring games and stunk in tournaments. This inability to adapt is what keeps a lot of
winning ring game 3️⃣ players from winning in tournaments.
One bedrock principle of winning
ring game play is that you need to be properly bankrolled. 3️⃣ If you have the bankroll,
correct play will win out in the long run (barring super-extreme bad luck). But nobody
3️⃣ is ever adequately bankrolled in a tournament. You should not play like you do have an
adequate bankroll. You have 3️⃣ to adjust. Adapt, or die.
At the same time, some winning
tournament players lose in ring games... often because they can’t 3️⃣ stand to lose a pot.
In the critical stages of tournaments, you have to win a high percentage of your 3️⃣ pots.
You have to try really, really hard to win many of the pots you are in. But in ring
3️⃣ games, the ability to sensibly surrender pots is a great skill.
Ring game poker versus
tournament poker is the difference between 3️⃣ dedication and inspiration. Ring game play
values steadiness, repetition, an even keel, consistently making the mathematically
correct play, showing up 3️⃣ day after day and playing better than your opponents.
Tournaments value "seizing the day." The ability to inspirationally find a 3️⃣ successful
play in critical situations is far more valuable in a tournament. The General you want
running your army during 3️⃣ peacetime will not necessarily be the best General in the heat
of battle. The best movie director of a love 3️⃣ scene may not be the best to blow up Mars.
Different skills are required.
To think that a person who excels 3️⃣ in one arena is
"better" than a person who excels in another is hopelessly missing the point of the
game. 3️⃣ Who is "better": Michael Johnson (a sprinter) or Lasse Viren (a distance runner)?
Is winning a gold medal in the 3️⃣ 100-yard dash "better" (or worse) than winning a gold
medal in the marathon? The whole notion is just nonsense.
Truly outstanding 3️⃣ players
will adapt to whatever circumstance they play in. Great players can win tournaments and
win in ring game play 3️⃣ by understanding the differences and adapting.
The majority of
successful tournament players are successful ring game players who put in more 3️⃣ hours at
ring games than tournaments (though less time in ring games than professional ring game
players.) Many players who 3️⃣ play primarily in ring games are very successful when they
do play tournaments. The idea is to play good, play 3️⃣ correctly, any time you play poker.
But sometimes the correct play will be very different depending on whether you are 3️⃣ in a
tournament or in a ring game.
Winners in ring games win most days. Winners in
tournaments lose 75% (or 3️⃣ so) of the time. A definite tournament skill that many ring
game players simply can't master is the ability to 3️⃣ lose most days. They can't see the
long run of tournaments, so they avoid them. But there is just as 3️⃣ much of a long run in
tournament poker as there is in ring game poker. It merely takes different
psychological 3️⃣ attitudes to excel at each. There is no reason that one person cannot
succeed at both. You just have to 3️⃣ see the differences, understand and accept the
different ways money comes in, and then play correctly in the different situations.
The
3️⃣ secret to winning tournaments and at ring games is simple: play good. Just don't always
play the same. To everything 3️⃣ there is a season.
More on ring games versus tournaments
and switching gears
