These days online ring games all seem to be about playing six-max, heads-up or some other game that can be abbreviated to sound cooler. Well, what about the old school full-ring or ‘FR’ – which admittedly sounds less cool but are still the preferred choice of many casual players. Full-ring ten-handed games are still going strong online and may appeal to players who find the relentlessly aggressive six-max games too much. The poker is very different from short-handed games and requires a different skill set if you’re going to be a winning player.
The addition of four extra players compared to a six-max game may not seem like a huge difference. However, there are at least two dramatic effects on the way the game plays. Firstly, the presence of extra players means that statistically it’s almost twice as likely that strong hands will be dealt, which in turn means you must play tighter. The second is that the cost of poker is reduced. All poker starts as a battle for the blinds and antes. In a six-max game you will be in the blinds a third of the time. In a ten-handed game you are only in the blinds a fifth of the time. Players must play more aggressively to win the blinds in six-max. In full-ring games it’s possible to play far more patiently and worry less about the blinds.
Respecting position
As in all hold’em games, position is paramount in full-ring cash games. You must play exceptionally tightly in the first few positions. This is because not only is there a high chance of strong hands entering the pot behind you, but also the threat of having to either face a reraise out of position or play the hand postflop out of position. Many full-ring players don’t adjust enough and lose money from the first three spots. Game conditions obviously vary but as an example, in a tough aggressive game A-Q offsuit should be folded in the first three positions.
You can compensate for this in the later positions by playing a wider range of hands by either reraising or flat-calling in position (depending on your hand and opponents). It’s very important to target the weaker players at your table by making sure you play pots in position with them. Many winning players will have a VPIP (hands they voluntarily play) of around 13-14%, however it’s possible to play more hands in later position and have a looser winning style of up to 20%.
Multi-way pots
When playing full-ring poker you’ll face far more multi-way pots and decisions than in six-max hold’em. You will often find yourself in pots where someone limps in and this triggers a succession of limpers. If you’re in late position this gives you an opportunity to play a pot in position, preferably against weaker players. However, you should be wary of entering too many pots with poor hands or hands that play badly in multi-way situations. That means avoiding hands that have bad reverse implied odds (that is, they will win you a small pot or lose you a big one) like Q-T offsuit and K-8 suited. These should go in the muck. Obviously the opposite is also true and hands like 7-6 suited and small pairs (that tend to flop huge or miss completely) become more desirable.
Your next decision is whether you want to isolate limpers or join the limp-fest. It should be a goal of your full-ring play to target weaker players and get into pots with them, especially if you have position. One of the principal ways of doing this is to raise when they limp preflop. This isolation raise gives you the initiative in the hand and can force out players behind you, narrowing the pot to just you and the fish. This allows you to enter the pot with somewhat weaker holdings, as your disadvantage will be more than countered by having position and playing a bad player. You need to be careful you don’t overdo this, however, particularly in games where players will cold-call raises without recognising your show of aggression. Remember, part of the reason for this play is to isolate the weak player(s), so if your raises aren’t achieving this you shouldn’t be making them!
Blind play
It’s important not to let the fact that there are many players in a pot seduce you into playing hands you shouldn’t from the blinds. Too often players will make up the small blind with a substandard hand, catch a piece of the flop and then end up losing money in a pot they shouldn’t have been involved in. You also need to be careful in the big blind in raised pots, as players in front of you have shown strength. Hands like K-T offsuit can look appealing but will often put you in difficult spots when you hit middle pair or top pair with your side card. Stick to either reraising or folding the majority of the time you are in the blinds and you should get into fewer tough spots.