by 
The Curious Bag
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Piston rings are responsible for keeping the hot gases from your engine's combustion inside the cylinder and for keeping oil from the crank-case from seeping into the cylinder.
Smoking
The primary sign of a blown piston ring is a smoking exhaust, which is caused by engine oil being drawn into the affected cylinder and burned.
Crank-case Pressure
A tell-tale sign of ring failure is excessive crank-case pressure. This is sometimes severe enough to cause the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve to pop out of the valve cover.
Compression
A blown piston ring will result in a loss of static compression on the affected cylinder. This can be verified with a standard compression checker.
Identification
Although the symptoms of a blown head gasket and broken ring are similar, they can be distinguished by checking the fluids. Often, a blown gasket will cause coolant leakage, which will result in coolant loss, water in the oil or oil in the coolant.
Causes
Although rings can sometimes wear and break on their own over time, the primary causes of sudden ring failure are overheating, lack of oil or excessive detonation (engine knock).
Source:
Hotrodders.com: Head Gasket or Piston Rings?
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