Ring game

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Ring games, also called cash games or live action games, are poker games played with "real" chips and money on the line, usually with no predetermined end time. In contrast, a poker tournament is played with tournament chips (worth nothing outside the tournament) with a definite end condition (usually, only one player left).

Players may freely buy into or cash out of a ring game between hands.^[1] However, it is normally prohibited for a player to remove a portion of his or her chips from the table. This is known as "going south" or "ratholing".^[2] For example, if a player buys in for $100, then wins $100 (for a total stack of $200), the player may not remove the original $100 buy-in while remaining seated. He would have to forfeit his seat, possibly wait to rejoin the game, and buy in again for $100. Similarly, ring games are played for table stakes. If, in the middle of a hand, a hand in which a player is still involved, a player attempts to put additional money onto the table (from his/her wallet), he may not do so until the conclusion of the current hand.

Tournaments and ring games have different basic strategies.^[3] One difference between tournaments and cash games is that the blind/ante structure of tournaments increases periodically over the course of the tournament, whereas the blind/ante structure of cash games remains constant. Another difference between the tournaments and cash games is that a tournament sticks with a predeterminded style of poker, and cash game players, depending on house rules, may have the option of playing other types of card games. Some online cash games offer a variety of choices limited only by the game software.

Other differences between ring games and tournament poker are that, in ring games sometimes straddles and chops are allowed. A live straddle is a dark bet of two big blinds by the player first to act, who is then entitled to bet again if the bet is not raised. A chop is an agreement between the players in the blinds to retract their blind bets if no one else has bet. A chop prevents the casino from taking a rake from the pot.

In "no limit" poker ring games, some cardrooms have a maximum buy-in for ring games that prevents players from buying a chip stack size advantage. In limit poker games, there is seldom a maximum buy-in because betting limits on each hand already limit the advantage of having a larger chip stack.

In a casino, a rake is usually taken from a pot if a flop is shown and the pot reaches certain dollar values.^[4] Some games take a time rake instead of a pot rake. In these games players pay a seat charge every half hour.

An example of a ring game is broadcast on the United States television network GSN as High Stakes Poker.