Ring Game Vs. Tournament Poker Play
November 28th, 2009 
admin 
Poker game
If you play poker, then you should know the many differences between ring games and a poker tournament. This pertains to live games as well as online poker games. If you don’t know the key differences, then you might be doing a disservice to yourself. That said, you can learn more about the differences here, as they will be covered below.
In a tournament, you buy-in for an established amount of money and receive the same amount of chips as everyone else. The blinds usually go up between every 15 and 30 minutes, which is to push the action and make sure people don’t just sit around waiting for monsters all night. A tournament usually pays out the top 3 to 10 places, depending on the size of the tournament.
In a cash game (or ring game), the blinds always remain the same. There is often a maximum buy-in so you can push the table around and a minimum buy-in so you don’t take up a seat that can provide more action. If you get felted in a cash game, you can always re-buy.
A tournament is a completely different form of poker game than a cash game as far as strategy is concerned. In a tournament, the blinds will often force your action. This means you must make a play somewhere along the line. There often comes a time when playing a poker tournament where you will get involved in a huge pot. Regardless of whether you have a made hand or not, you absolutely must attack. You simply can’t let an opportunity like that slip away. As the blinds get bigger, you will being to lose chips and be forced to get involved in races. It’s better to represent strength and pull off a monster bluff than to rely on coin flips.
With a tournament, determine your strategy early and stick to it. Either wait for bigger blinds to attack while watching others get eliminated or attack early to take advantage of others’ patience so you can build a nice chip stack. It’s recommended that you bet big on all nut draws. This can often get you in the money in a tournament.
There’s a little less luck involved in a ring game. The blinds never change and force your action. You must pick your spots, as well as the people you want to go up against. Choose wisely.
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