'Ring Games' are simply poker games played for cash. This is the most common way to play poker. Each player at the table 'buys in' (exchanges their money for cash) and then players compete for each other's chips each hand. Players can leave the table at any time and are free to rebuy when necessary. In a poker room, the house takes a 'rake' or a percentage, of each pot. This rake is how the house profits from cash games and is usually 10% up to $3.

Beginners' Tip: Poker games are nearly always 'table stakes'. This means that at any given time, players may not remove money from the table if they are to remain in the game. Players may add on, but not remove, chips. Typically, if you leave a game, you may not sit back down at the same table with fewer chips than you left with until a certain amount of time has passed. Some poker rooms allow for a player to stand up and then return to the table with a lower amount of chips than they left with, but this is generally considered a breach of poker etiquette and will earn players the scorn of others.


Single Table Tournaments (STTs) are another way to play poker. In a STT, players buy in for a set amount, which goes to the prize pool. They also pay a small 'entry fee', which the house keeps. The number of players is limited to just one table. Players receive a set amount of chips for their buy in, and play until one player has all the chips. Blinds increase gradually over time. The payouts for STTs can vary. They can be winner take all, or pay two or more players a percentage of the prize pool.


Multi Table Tournaments (MTTs) are extremely popular. Players pay a set amount, receive a certain amount of chips, and play until one player has all the chips. There is not usually a limit on the number of players in a MTT and they can have enormous fields consisting of thousands of players. Blinds gradually increase over a given time interval as the tournament progresses. Payouts depend on the particular tournament and can pay one or more players. A standard payout for an MTT is about 10% of the field.


Both MTTs and STTs can be played as a 'Sit and Go' tournament. 'Sit and go' (SNG) tournaments are unscheduled and begin whenever enough players have joined.

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Other common tournament types for both MTTs and STTs include:

Turbos: Blinds increase at a much quicker rate than normal, accelerating the tournament's pace.


Satellites: Players compete in a tournament for a seat in another tournament with a larger buy in. As many seats as possible are given out and the remaining prize pool is paid as cash. For example, if 50 players pay $50 each to enter a satellite to a tournament with a $200 buy in, there will be a $2500 prize pool. Twelve players will receive a seat to the $200 tournament and one player will receive the remaining $100 as a cash prize. Satellites are also often played as winner-take-all STTs.


Rebuys / Add-ons: Players can rebuy back into the tournament when they bust out, typically for the first hour of the tournament. Rebuys can be unlimited or restricted to a certain amount. An add on allows players to add a specified amount of chips on to their stack for an additional amount of money.


Shootout: A shootout is an MTT that is played as a series of STTs. Players begin at one table, and play until there is one player remaining. When all tables in have one player left, they are condensed and players once again play down to one player per table. Play continues like this until one player has all the chips.