Early play in tournament is somewhat similar to ring play. While you've defined your potential loss with your buy-in amounts, your cash loss at ring is incremental-and that is a big difference. A hand you might gamble a bit with in tournament can be an easy fold at ring. Your real-money stack defines how people are going to play against you. And that applies in reverse. You need to know the other guy's stack as fully as you understand your stack. Implied odds are a much stronger factor in NL ring play. In position, you can play a weaker hand with concealed drawing potential. But it makes little sense to play it against a very short stack where your payoff is limited-which change the risk/reward dramatically.
In tournament situations - position + hand - strength=action.
Often in ring situations - position^2 + hand - strength=action.
This is because one real-money decision can make or break your entire session. Having position is insurance. And being able to fold hands that you might continue with in tournament play is a bigger factor. While everyone remarks that you can reload at ring, it remains a poor alternative to having a profitable session - especially if you are donking off a nice stack that you'd worked hard to accumulate. A good player can sense weakness in players ahead of him and act accordingly. Good position blocks such reads.
Evaluate your competition by the hands you feel they might have laid down or medium-strong hands they've called a big bet with. The secret to ring is as much the hands someone will lay down as the top hands they draw. If you cannot lay down better hands than top-pair with top-kicker to a big bet, then that sucker straight or bottom two are going to be even greater trouble. They can be hands to push, and they can be hands to fold, to a stack killing raise with a dangerous board. Tournament play affects your bankroll at the buy-in; that is not the case in ring play. And, if you play above your bankroll at ring, losses are magnified.
You must vary your game in either discipline. In ring, not changing can be deadly. Playing against a strictly-tight-aggressive is lucrative and enhanced by implied odds when he has a good stack and you are holding hands you'd happily fold if he was playing a short stack.
A lot of tournament play is pre-flop strategy. Ring is post-flop play. Blinds don't change the strategy in ring. A lot of hands will get played based only on pot odds. Consider how many players are in a hand. That two-off to the straight may be a legitimate call and great pre-flop hands become an even easier lay down. A tournament player might assume that 2-off to make the straight isn't a viable calling hand but it can be a great implied odds hand in limped pots. The key to success in ring is post-flop play.
The only slow play at ring that makes sense, is to conceal the absolute nuts and even then a weak bet might still apply. Slow play at ring makes for poorer pots/wins. Great hands are too infrequent to check against all but the most hyper-aggressive players.
While Poker Betting Strategy is written on tournament play, a lot of the article applies to ring. Each bet lost with a winning hand has a much bigger impact. And all momentary lapses are magnified. And bets not realized are often the difference in a session's profits. Learn to at least make value bets when you think you may have the best hand. Lead out with good hand.
In online play where you have a big stack and are playing to gain experience and are against all small stacks, WALK! Not because you are protecting your winnings-even if you are. You walk because the risk/reward advantages have moved to the other guys-everyone at the table can double up on you and your winnings are now limited. Later on you will have fun playing with a stack that covers the table but often it is part of the next skill set one is working toward. If you feel ready, decide how much of your winning you will risk and stick to it.
At an online site you can move to another table and return to the standard risk/reward. Brick and Mortar situations are different-know their rules. If nothing else you can maximize a nice Vegas win and your continuing odds and comfort level by moving across the street or using that free buffet ticket. Regulars in high limit games need to respect the other seated players and walking or leaving a game is treated differently than the limit we are discussing. Leave any time you feel you don't have the best of it and/or are happy with your win/loss.
I haven't said you can't bluff or call a raiser with a loose reputation. Some of this has sounded like I want you to play OSHA style poker-safe, safe, safe. NOT! You still play the table and use the image you've established; do what you always should do and make it selective. NL and variance go hand-in-hand just don't add poor risk/reward to the mix. Loose-aggressive can work better at ring-providing it comes with post flop skills. Calling stations will still make those runner-runner suck outs but people with a strong post-flop game will school them. A mostly tight-aggressive can play a very limited number of hands with a very profitable result and lower variance. Make your game suit your inclinations but keep reality in the picture with your betting and base it on the table type. Find the tables that suit your style.
Final Note: As your game progresses, you can send this article to the round file. When you reach that better than OK level, you will automatically understand and adjust to the situation. Just don't rush ahead of your play and experience. The info here is strictly limited to the game described. It isn't something that is well covered by the books. I have seen (and done) the run up, then down, that goes with learning and I have watched others do it. For many it is a rush and they gamble more and then give it back by thinking big stack tournament play-here ring is definitely a different skill set.
Limited buy-in NL games are a fairly recent phenomenon. Very few casinos provided these games in earlier days. Good players based their buy-in on what they saw and their bankroll. Limited buy-in changes the dynamics.
P.S. If I ever post on limit games, ask me where I'm playing and run-don't walk-to my table. And get your scaler and fillet knife ready for the fish is in the house. Playing tournament and ring at NL is easier to do than Limit-we can use our betting to change pot odds. Pot odds are limit's raison de etre. I tip my hat to those who can play both.
-------------------------------------------
[1] Cash game play where the maximum amount of buy-in allowed is defined by the house. Limits on buy-in establish a different set of playing rules. This is not an article for unlimited buy-in games.