Long handed play refers to a table with seven or more players. The word full ring game refers to a game with nine, ten, and sometimes eleven, players.

Lower numbers of players at the table is referred to as short handed play and heads up with just two players.

Traditionally, as casinos had limited tables, a large proportion of games were long handed play. For this reason a great deal of poker literature is written about this topic, almost assuming it if not otherwise stated.