Ring games (Cash games)

Are you the sort of poker player who likes to sit in a game for a long time and grind out your wins, using your skills to keep your losses to a minimum while you wait for those big poker hands to come along? Or are you the sort of poker player who likes to sit down in a game and be willing to risk everything for a huge payoff, or perhaps nothing, after five hours of hard work? Perhaps a bit of both, depending on your mood? Online poker rooms cater to both tastes. For those of you who prefer to play for long periods of time at set limits, you can play ring (cash) games. If you’re a fan of big action, strong bluffs, and weak winning poker hands, you might be game for the poker tournaments online card rooms offer many times a day.

Playing in Ring Games

When you log on to a poker software and take a seat in a ring game, you can keep playing until you run out of money in your account or you decide to leave. How long you stay is up to you, but there are some aspects of ring games you should keep in mind before you take up residence at a table.

Analyzing Ring Games

It always pays to know whom you’re going up against. After you’ve been playing for a while and have notes on some of the players who play in your games, you should look for soft spots. Take the time to examine the lineups in each game at the limits you’re willing to play and take a seat or get on the waiting list in games where you recognize players you think you can beat. Players leak money in all sorts of interesting ways: calling too much early in poker hands, chasing any flush draw, not recognizing when they’re beat, and habitually calling on the end to see what you have when they have a weak hand. When you play $2–$4 or $3–$6, those extra few small and big bets may not seem like a lot of money individually, but if only one player per hand makes a $2 call they shouldn’t, there will be an extra $90 or so in circulation every hour. It’s your job to take advantage of their slips while minimizing your own.

When you log on to a poker software, you should take a look at the information provided in the lobby so you can choose a game based on something other than a cool table name. PokerStars, for example, displays the number of players in a game and the average pot size in their game list (shown in Figure 1). You’re looking for a game that has a fairly large average pot, but an average pot size that is significantly larger than in other poker games could mark the presence of a maniac or two who raise at will, making the game that much more expensive to play and increasing the swings you’ll go through. If you’re fine playing at a table with wild action, especially if you’re usually a $5–$10 player and have the bankroll to absorb some short-term setbacks, feel free to snap up that seat. If, on the other hand, you’re uncomfortable playing in pots that are raised on every hand, get on the list for another game and bide your time on the play money and lower limit tables.

Figure 1 The lobby information helps you choose the best games in poker room.

If you get on the waiting list for a game, make sure the game is still good before you take the seat! If the player or players you wanted to play against have moved on, you might want to wait for a better poker game to play in.

Finally, remember that there is more than one good poker room out there. If you can’t find the game you want on one site, try another on RoomReview.net - Texas Holdem Portal.

Good luck.