Top Ring Game Strategy Tips
Unlike tournament chips which can only be used inside the applicable tournament, ring game chips can be used to play ring games at any time. Unlike tournament poker, you can enter ring games whenever you want, and there’s no end time or condition.
| Sit down & play when you want | Involves a time commitment |
| Requires more skill on average | Requires less skill on average |
| Involves less variance | Involves big variance |
| Consistent game-play and payouts | Only final tables give big payouts |
| Tables to suit all budgets | Continual escalation of blinds |
- Beginner: If you’re starting out – try out our micro and low stakes, fixed-limit, full-ring tables, which will give you a feel for the game, and give you more experience with less risk in a less aggressive environment.
- Intermediate: For the intermediate player – play our 6-max ring games; play more hands, play style is typically more aggressive and full of action!
- Advanced: For the advanced player – SHOW ME THE TABLES!
CHOOSE FROM TEXAS HOLD’EM & OMAHA POKER
There are two main differences between Hold’em and Omaha. In Hold’em, each player is dealt two hole cards before the flop and in Omaha, each player is dealt four cards.
In Hold’em, you can use any combination of hole and community cards, whereas in Omaha you must use two hole cards. No more, no less.
Because of these differences, there are other variations between Hold’em and Omaha, such as the betting structure and making hands, but knowing how to play both games will improve your overall ability at poker. Because with all poker games there is one truth – the more you play, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you get. It’s that simple.
With a hand as good as mine, who needs anything else?
8 Reasons to Play Ring Game
There are practical, game-play tips, which will keep you from crashing and burning, which fall under a technical aspect of poker. There is a multitude of information available online to assess every move in every situation. Experience and learning will be your greatest ally in these circumstances. Other tips don’t concern themselves with what you should do next in a given situation but relate to your overall poker game play.
1. Start small and play tight
In ring games the objective is to leave with a bigger bank roll. However, you can end up losing your bankroll fast if you don’t first play tight and assess the style of play at the table. Start off tight and adjust your game according to the players and their style.
Make sure you’re comfortable with the differences between online and live play, both in terms of style and look and feel. Become familiar with the aspects unique to online poker and take your time to understand how they influence game play and your abilities.
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Look at things like the betting features, the layout, the offers and the number of hands per hour, which is much higher than you’d expect to see in a live poker game.
Why not start by playing a single table? One of the benefits of online poker is the possibility to play multiple tables at once, but until you’re experienced with the technical aspects of doing this and able to win, stick to one table at a time and progress from there.
2. Don’t show if you don’t have to
If you’re new to poker, don’t show your hand unless you have to. If you show and you were bluffing, and if you do that frequently enough, other players will see what you bet and what you had when you bluffed, and they’ll learn how you operate, and they can use that against you in the future.
3. Be disciplined – play within your roll
You may be a good or even great in-person, live poker player, but online poker play is quicker and you’re playing against the rest of the world; it’s easy to burn through your bankroll.
In order to make chips online, you have to play within your roll. Stick to having less than 5% of your bankroll in play on one table at a time. If you never have to worry about going broke from losing a specific game, you’re less likely to.
If you’re a recreational player, keep 20 buy-ins at a minimum for whatever stake you play. For example, if you play GC 0.10/GC 0.25 games online with a buy-in of GC 25, you should have a minimum bankroll of GC 500 to be able to play this stake.
Having a full bankroll will allow you to bring your best game to the table and take certain chances you might not otherwise. For example, perhaps you might want to make a call when you think an opponent is bluffing. But, if you’re afraid you could be wrong and lose your chips, you might second-guess yourself and make a tight fold instead.
Conversely, if you’re playing at stakes above what you can really afford, you might not continue up aggression (with bets and raises) when you should because you’re worried about losing too many chips. It’s a question of playing the games for which you have the bankroll that allows you to play the game you’re in and win.
Remember you’re playing with poker chips, not dollar bills. It’s easy to see ‘the chips’ when you’re playing, but that association only adds more pressure when you’re playing. Don’t allow your ego to be influenced by the chips and play the game at hand. If you’re checking your online poker bankroll frequently, and it’s becoming the source of your positive or negative mindset, your play will be affected and it’s a short path to ruin.
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4. Know your numbers
This applies to the important numbers in the game – AA, KK, QQ, etc. – probabilities and calculating risks. They’re the practical, in-the-game numbers, which you will know if you’re a keen poker player. However, if you’re spending almost any time and chips on poker, it’s also important to analyze your game play, and understand where and how you’re winning and making chips. Without this information, you’ll try to remember it, and for most of us, our memories are average at best. If the only number you track is your total roll, you won’t know if a specific limit is a financial black hole for you. For example, if you make GC 20/hour playing a GC 5/GC 10 game but lose GC 10 an hour playing GC 10/GC 20, as long as you played more hours of GC 5/GC 10, at the end of the month you will have ended up on top. But because you see the month as being in the black, you will continue to play GC 10/GC 20, not realizing how many chips it’s costing you to do so.
Track the following information about your poker sessions:
- Date Hours Limit Total Total spent playing.
- Buy-in amount (including all cap-ups and rebuys) redemption amount.
This information will allow you to see your profits/losses, hourly rate, BB/hour ratio, yearly trends (what months are more or less profitable) and on average how many buy-ins deep you go in for. Many online poker sites track some of this information for you, so check before you start doubling up on your efforts.5. Take care of yourself
Avoid ruining your own game by making sure you look after your physical needs. You need to eat and keep hydrated. As you become hungry or thirsty, your focus will wander and you’ll make mistakes and lose.
It’s easy to become exhausted, sometimes without realizing until it’s too late. By then you’ve lost chips and you’re not sure why. Make sure you get sufficient rest and time away from your screen.
Play when you you’re feeling good. Don’t let external factors influence how you play or your betting style, because this can lead to costly mistakes. This goes for playing while under the influence of drugs and alcohol too.
Be sure to recognize the signs of tilt and stop playing immediately. If you’ve had a bad run, made some poor choices, these can trigger tilt. Each person is different. However, when you feel or notice any of the signs of tilt in your game, it’s time to end the session. Nothing will kill your bankroll like tilt. It’s impossible to avoid tilt altogether, because we’re human, but learning to recognize your own patterns and signs will safeguard you from even more stress in the future.
6. Focus on your own game
Mental distraction is one of the worst traps to fall into with poker. You’re not winning, you see the other person on top and you think you have to get back at them for taking your chips. It’s all noise which detracts from your game play. Focus on what you know, how your game is going and be prepared to leave if you’re not feeling mentally robust.
7. Remember, it’s all just one lifetime poker session
Poker is a long game, even when it feels like a short game. Every session of poker you play is part of one long poker session, over the course of your poker life. If you measure your success on a single session, you are missing the overall view, and no one cares if you won big the last 10 games or if you’ve never won big. Consider your long-term goals.
Losing is part of winning. Use defeat to inspire, push and educate you to win. You can always learn from your mistakes and failures. It will happen, sometimes even when it feels like you’ve got it all worked out.
8. And finally, enjoy it
If you don’t appreciate the ups and the downs of poker, then maybe you should consider why you’re playing. Poker doesn’t take long to learn but can take a lifetime to master. That’s part of the enjoyment for many players; sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down, but accepting both is crucial to long-term success.
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Since 2016, Global Poker has been providing players with the opportunity to play its online poker games and participate in sweepstakes to win prizes redeemable for real prizes. Global Poker, the first of its kind in the US, is fully regulated, compliant and all poker play is legal. Find out more at www.vgw.co.
