Tournament vs Ring Games: What’s the Difference in Poker Rules for Beginners?

Do you prefer tournaments or ring games? Tournaments are full of all-ins and fast-paced action, while ring games let you play deep-stacked poker and think through every street. Each format has its own appeal. In this article, we’ll clearly explain the key differences in rules and strategy so you can enjoy both tournament poker and cash games even more.

1. What Are Tournaments and Ring Games?

Tournaments

A tournament is a battle-royale style poker format where players get eliminated as soon as they lose all of their chips. Even if you were the chip leader a moment ago, one lost all-in can knock you out immediately. As the tournament progresses, the blinds increase, so you often end up playing with a short stack except in the early stages. In addition, most tournaments include an “ante,” a forced contribution separate from the blinds, which encourages you to play more hands.

Ring Games / Cash Games

This is poker where the goal is simply to increase the chips (money) in front of you. Unlike tournaments, the blinds do not go up over time, so you can play deep-stacked and take your time. In many cash games, the casino also takes a “rake” from the pot. “Ring game” and “cash game” originally mean the same thing, but in Japan, “ring game” often refers specifically to games that do not involve real-money wagering.

For more on “ante” and “rake,” check out these articles:
https://pokerqz.com/blog/ante
https://pokerqz.com/blog/rake

2. Difference 1: Stack Depth

The size of your stack (how many big blinds you have) is arguably the most important difference between tournaments and ring games. In tournaments, blinds keep rising, so you’ll often play with a short stack outside the early levels. Let’s look at what changes when stacks get shallow.

2.1. All-ins Become Extremely Powerful

When stacks get shallow, your stack becomes relatively small compared to the pot. As a result, unlike deep-stack play, you need to go all-in much more often. If you fear elimination too much and hesitate to shove, you’ll miss profitable spots. Look for chances to apply pressure and get your chips in. Once you drop below 20bb, you should play with the possibility of open-shoving preflop in mind.

2.2 Hand Values Change

With a short stack, even if you make a big hand, you can’t win that many chips. That’s why speculative hands that rely on making strong but low-frequency hands, such as 9h 8h, lose value. Since preflop all-ins happen more often, hands that are harder to play postflop but have relatively high preflop equity, such as small pocket pairs like 5s 5d and ace-x hands like Ah 4c, become much more valuable.

3. Difference 2: The Value of Chips

In a ring game, the size of your stack directly represents its value. A 1,000-chip stack is worth exactly twice as much as a 500-chip stack. In tournaments, however, that’s not always true. Even if you double your stack, your expected prize value does not necessarily double.

Here’s an example.

You are playing a tournament where the top 5 players win a seat to a major event (a “satellite tournament”), and there are 10 players left.

The stacks are:

• Chip leader: 10,000
• You: 5,000
• The remaining 8 players: 1,000 each

.

In this tournament, 1st place and 5th place have exactly the same value. You just need to finish in the top 5. In other words, your stack’s value is determined by your “probability of finishing in the top 5.” The chip leader has twice as many chips as you, but do they really have twice the probability of finishing in the top 5? Of course not. Both the chip leader and you are very likely to finish in the top 5, probably well over 90%.

This is why, in tournaments, you must play to maximize prize value, not just to accumulate chips. In this example, if the chip leader shoves on you, you should often fold even As Ad. As you get closer to the money or a seat, shift your focus away from building a bigger stack and toward maximizing the prizes you can realistically secure.

Conclusion

In this article, we explained the differences in goals and strategy between tournaments and ring games/cash games. In summary:

• In tournaments, stacks get shallow, so all-ins become a key weapon
• In tournaments, your goal is not simply to win more chips, but to maximize the prizes you can earn

Many beginners in tournaments fold too much because they fear busting, and they slowly bleed chips to the blinds and antes. Have the courage to go all-in when the spot is right.

If you’ve only played one format, use these ideas to try the other. You might discover a whole new side of poker that you enjoy.