What type of poker game is best for you?

At Replay Poker, we’re proud to offer you three types of poker games – Ring games, Sit’N’Go tournaments, and Multi-table tournaments. How can you know which type of game is best suited to your poker style? Check out these valuable insights to help you decide.

Ring games

Available round the clock at most stakes, Ring games are the mainstay of many poker players’ activity. You can take any portion of your available bankroll to the table and leave at any time you like. The only limitations to the amount you can sit down with are the table minimum and maximum, which are tied to the stakes being played and usually correspond to a number of Big Blinds of the stake.

Skills required

Ring games offer the opportunity to play against the same opponent(s) for a lengthy period of time and pick up on their strengths and weaknesses. Game duration can be whatever you choose. Judge the benefits of staying in each game on game quality, your own mood, and time available. Each hand in a ring game is played at the same stake size, with the only difference being the position of the Button and stack sizes due to action in the hands. It’s common for accomplished players to play several ring tables at the same time, even across different stakes or game types. Remember, while each new table might increase your overall hourly win-rate, it eats into the time available for decision making and slightly reduces your win rate at other tables. Ring games can be a reliable way to build a bankroll. The higher stake level you go, the increase will be slower. Beware of tilt and over extending your available balance. Tight bankroll management (BRM) is more important than most players realize and a short period of indiscipline can ruin hundreds of hours of hard work.

Tournaments

Sit and Go tournaments (SnG)

Usually single-table tournaments, but they sometimes have multiple tables, SnG tournaments start when the required number of players register. The chips used in the starting stack of SnGs are Tournament chips and not chips from your bankroll, as in ring games. Once a SnG starts, all the players are committed to stay until they are eliminated or the tournament ends. In a standard SnG, players are randomly seated; start with an identical amount of chips; and play until one of them has all of the chips. The blind size rises steadily throughout a SnG, to ensure the tournament draws to a conclusion in due course. Besides the speed of the blinds increasing, the duration of a SnG depends mainly on the number of entrants. A 9-player SnG may last in excess of an hour but Heads Up events (HUSNG) are usually much faster.

Skills required

Tournaments require the ability to consider stack size and how End Game scenarios in the tournament as a whole may develop. Anticipating blind level changes and evaluating your best strategy are important. The song says “Know when to fold ’em” and often picking the opponent to play against or right moment to commit your chips in a short-handed SnG is more of a factor than the actual cards you have. Playing a good volume of SnG at the same level, you will learn the nuances for that type and be able to calculate when to sit back and wait and when to begin to look for more offensive plays. Replay offers Leaderboards for SnG players. It could be appealing to tailor your games to give yourself as much chance as possible to pick up some extra bonus chips every week or month.

Multi Table Tournaments (MTT)

MTTs are scheduled events listed by start time in the MTT Lobby. Most MTT take at least an hour or even two or more, depending on number of entrants. MTT offer a chance of a relatively big payoff for a small stake but come with high variance. Regular small wins can keep you going until a bigger payday comes along. As in SnG, all players start with the same amount of Tournament chips and play until one plyer has won them all from everyone. However, unlike SnG, there are MTTs where you may re-enter the tournament with a Rebuy when you are knocked out for a period at the start.

Skills required

MTTs are usually for the more studious and patient tournament player, unless you decide that an aggressive rebuy strategy is required in the rebuy events. Blind levels will rise more slowly than in SnG, and you will encounter players you are familiar with less frequently. Each MTT requires a longer period of time to play, and the majority will result in no return and often frustrating near misses, even when you do get a small prize. Judging stack sizes is called for and setting a long term plan to follow given the tournament conditions is important. Each MTT is scheduled for a set start time but identical tournaments do come around on a regular basis several times a day. Check your progress on Leaderboards, since you may need to adjust your play in a particular event if it is the last chance to try and improve (or hold) your position in the standings.