All poker games revolve around betting, and it's important to understand how betting rules work before getting into the game, 🏧 no matter what poker variation you're playing.
Many poker variations use the same betting structure and table positions. Texas Hold'em, Pot-Limit 🏧 Omaha, and many limit poker games all use a system involving the small blind, big blind, and dealer button, with 🏧 all other table positions relative to those three spots.
The small blind is always seated to the left of the dealer 🏧 button, and the big blind to the left of the small blind.
Betting Order
In games that use a blinds system, the 🏧 first round of betting usually starts with the player to the left of the big blind. After that player acts, 🏧 the action moves clockwise around the table, until all players have the chance to act.
Some games use a system of 🏧 antes (a forced bet put in by every player at the table) and a bring-in. The bring-in system usually designates 🏧 the player with the weakest face up card as the first player to act. After that, the action moves clockwise 🏧 around the table.
Virtually all poker games allow the active player to choose from four different betting actions when they're the 🏧 bettor:
The Actions
Call (matching the amount of the previous bet or raise). Raise (increase the amount of the current open bet 🏧 or raise, which any subsequent players must at least match to stay in. Raising when a player in front of 🏧 you has already raised is known as a re-raise). Fold (pushing their cards into the middle and surrendering any chance 🏧 to win the hand). Check (pass the action to the next player without betting anything. Checking can only be used 🏧 when there's no open bet or raise in front of you.
Blinds and Antes
Just about all poker games use some kind 🏧 of forced bet, which automatically puts money in the main pot before each hand. Texas Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and many 🏧 other poker variations use a small blind and big blind as the forced bets.
Let's say you're playing online poker and 🏧 see a cash game listed as aR$1/$2 NLHE game. TheR$1/$2 listing means the game usesR$1 as the small blind amount 🏧 andR$2 as the amount of the big blind.
In most poker games, the minimum bet allowed at any given time is 🏧 equivalent to the amount of the big blind.
Antes are sometimes included in games that use blinds, but some games are 🏧 ante-only. Antes generally function as small forced bets that go in from every player, or sometimes only the big blind 🏧 player.
For more on how forced bets work, click on the "Game Structure" tab above.
Note: Are you here just to learn 🏧 how to play poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick 🏧 poker strategy tips if you want to come out on top.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play 🏧 poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips 🏧 if you want to come out on top.
Buy-ins and Poker Chips
In poker cash games, players buy-in with cash and get 🏧 an equivalent amount of poker chips to use as currency in the poker game. Cash game chips do carry cash 🏧 value inside a casino.
Tournament chips, on the other hand, have no cash value. A tournament buy-in allots a pre-determined amount 🏧 of tournament chips, and the tournament ends when one player collects all of the chips in play.
Hole Cards and Community 🏧 Cards
The world's most popular poker games task players with making the best five-card poker hand using a combination of hole 🏧 cards and community cards.
Hole cards stay concealed throughout the hand, only visible to the player holding them. Community cards are 🏧 dealt to the board face up and can be used by all players.
The only time hole cards are exposed is 🏧 at showdown, when players turn their cards face up to determine which player has the best hand.
Main Pot and Side 🏧 Pots
Blinds and antes go into the main pot before a hand begins. Every time an active player bets, those chips 🏧 go in the middle and increase the size of the pot.
The main pot can only increase if participating players still 🏧 have more chips they can put in the pot. When three or more players are in a hand, and at 🏧 least one player is all-in, the remaining players then start competing for the side pot.
If an all-in player can't put 🏧 chips in the side pot, they can't win that pot, even if they hold the best hand at showdown. Whichever 🏧 player has the best hand out of the remaining players wins the side pot.
No-Limit Hold'em Example Hand
Let's take a look 🏧 at an example from a nine-handedR$1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em cash game. TheR$1/$2 notation means the small blind must post a forced 🏧 bet ofR$1 before each hand, and the big blind must put inR$2.
The under-the-gun player is the first player to act, 🏧 and can either call (match the amount of the big blind), raise (increase the amount of the active bet), or 🏧 fold (push his/her hole cards to the middle and forfeit the hand).
After the under-the-gun player acts, the action moves clockwise 🏧 around the table, with each player getting the same opportunity to call, raise, or fold. The player in the big 🏧 blind is last to act unless further action needs to close behind the big blind.
For example, let's say the under-the-gun 🏧 player raises toR$6 in our theoreticalR$1/$2 game. The action then moves one player to the left, and that player has 🏧 the option of either calling (matching theR$6 bet), raising (increasing the amount of the bet), or folding.
In this case, our 🏧 active player folds, and the next three players also fold. This brings the action to the player in the cutoff 🏧 position, one seat to the right of the button. The cutoff player decides to call, and the action moves to 🏧 the button, who folds.
The small blind, one position to the left of the dealer, also folds, forfeiting theirR$1 forced bet. 🏧 The big blind, already withR$2 in the pot, can choose to call, puttingR$4 more in the pot to match theR$6 🏧 raise. The big blind can also raise, increasing the amount of the bet, or fold, sending hisR$2 forced bet into 🏧 the pot.
In our example, the big blind calls, and the first round of betting is complete. Three players (in the 🏧 under-the-gun, cutoff, and big blind positions) all putR$6 in the pot, and the total pot isR$17 when the small blind's 🏧 forfeitedR$1 is added.
Postflop Betting Rounds
In any round of betting after the flop, the small blind gets to act first if 🏧 they're still in the hand. If not, the first player to the left that's still active gets to make the 🏧 first bet.
The dealer puts out the first three of five face up community cards, known as the "flop". After the 🏧 flop, the small blind, or first still-active player to the left, can either check or bet.
In our example, the big 🏧 blind player is first to act. Let's say this player checks, which passes the action to the under-the-gun player. This 🏧 player decides to betR$10.
The cutoff player calls theR$10 bet, and the big blind re-raises toR$40. The under-the-gun player now has 🏧 the option to put an additionalR$30 in the pot to call the previous bet, re-raise to a larger amount, or 🏧 fold. The under-the-gun player folds.
The action now moves to the cutoff, who makes the call. If the cutoff folds, the 🏧 hand is over, and the big blind wins without the hand going to a showdown.
The main pot is nowR$107, and 🏧 the dealer puts out a fourth community card face up, known as the turn. The big blind player betsR$60, and 🏧 the cutoff calls.
The dealer then puts out the final community card, known as the river, and the final betting round 🏧 takes place. The main pot is nowR$227, and the big blind checks. The cutoff also checks, and the two players 🏧 move to the showdown.
The player with the best hand wins according to standard poker hand rankings. The act of all 🏧 remaining players showing their hole cards is known as the showdown.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play 🏧 poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips 🏧 if you want to come out on top.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play poker...or do you 🏧 want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips if you want 🏧 to come out on top.
No-Limit vs Pot-Limit vs Limit
What exactly does the "No-Limit" part of No-Limit Texas Hold'em mean? The 🏧 world's most popular poker game uses a no-limit betting structure, meaning at any time a player can bet all of 🏧 his/her chips.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em stands as just one of many games in the world of poker, however. Not all games 🏧 use no-limit betting rules.
Pot-Limit Omaha, aka PLO, takes its place as the second-most popular poker game in the world. Games 🏧 like 7 Card Stud, Limit Hold'em, and Razz, use limit betting rules.
Let's dive into the differences among no-limit, pot-limit, and 🏧 limit betting structures in poker.
No-Limit Betting Rules
The term "no-limit" seems simple enough. In any no-limit poker game, players can bet 🏧 all of their chips at any time.
Most no-limit games use a system of blinds and a button, and for more 🏧 on that system check out the "Blinds, button, and antes" tab above.
For example, let's say we're observing a no-limit hold'em 🏧 cash game, played atR$1/$2 stakes. In this example game, six players are seated at the table, each withR$200 in chips.
The 🏧 small blind postsR$1, and the big blindR$2. The cards are dealt, and the player directly to the left of the 🏧 big blind starts the preflop betting round.
In a no-limit game, this player can bet any amount, up to all of 🏧 his/her chips. If this player wagers the wholeR$200, this is known as going all-in.
At any time during a hand, any 🏧 player can go all-in. Note that the maximum amount for an all-in equals the amount of chips in front of 🏧 a player when the hand starts.
WithR$200 in front of you, going all-in means bettingR$200. You can't, for instance, take anotherR$200 🏧 out of your wallet and try to make your all-in bet bigger.
The no-limit betting structure leads to some of the 🏧 most dramatic situations you'll see at a poker table. In the late stages of the World Series of Poker Main 🏧 Event, for example, a player going all-in is putting their tournament life on the line, with millions of dollars at 🏧 stake.
The following clip illustrates just how quickly the pot can escalate in games with a no-limit betting structure. Watch as 🏧 Tom Dwan and Paul Phua get all of the money in preflop, withR$2.35 million going in the middle:
Note: Are you 🏧 here just to learn how to play poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this free 🏧 guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips if you want to come out on top.
Note: Are you here just to 🏧 learn how to play poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 🏧 quick poker strategy tips if you want to come out on top.
Pot-Limit Betting Rules
Pot-Limit Omaha is the second-most played poker 🏧 game in the world. Also known as PLO, this game is one of many poker variants that can be played 🏧 with pot-limit betting rules.
Unlike no-limit poker games, the maximum raise in a pot-limit game is equal to the size of 🏧 the pot. This sounds like a simple concept, but calculating the maximum possible raise with a pot-limit betting structure can 🏧 be tricky.
Betting the pot means placing a bet that's equal to the size of the pot, plus any outstanding bets, 🏧 plus the amount you'd have to put in to call the last outstanding bet.
If you're first to act on any 🏧 postflop street, betting the pot is simply betting the amount already in the pot. There are no bets or calls 🏧 in front of you to calculate. For example, if you're first to act on the flop and there'sR$100 in the 🏧 pot, betting the pot (aka "potting") isR$100.
If the player next to act wants to raise the maximum, they must add 🏧 the amount of the pot before you bet ($100), plus your bet ($100), plus the amount it would take to 🏧 call your bet ($100). This amount comes out toR$300 ($100+$100+$100).
TheR$300 represents the maximum raise this player can put in over 🏧 the top of yourR$100 bet. So in this case, when your opponent "pots", they're bettingR$400 total (theR$300 maximum raise plus 🏧 theR$100 to call your bet).
An easier way to calculate the pot is to calculate the size of the pot before 🏧 the latest bet. Take the latest bet or raise, multiply it by three, and add it to the amount already 🏧 in the pot. This gives you the maximum amount you can bet.
Pot-Limit Hand Example
For example, let's say we're playing aR$1/$2 🏧 PLO cash game. You're under the gun, meaning you're the first to act preflop. The cards are dealt and the 🏧 action is on you; how much can you bet?
We can use the "multiply by three" rule to figure this out. 🏧 The small blind postedR$1, and the big blindR$2. We can treat the big blind'sR$2 as the latest bet, and multiply 🏧 this by three.
This gives usR$6 ($2x3). Add that to what was in the pot before the big blind's bet ($1), 🏧 and we getR$7 as our maximum possible bet from under the gun.
Suppose the action folds around to the player on 🏧 the button, and he/she announces "pot". A "pot" bet in this case would be three times the latest bet, which 🏧 was yourR$7 from under the gun.
Multiply that bet by three ($7x3), and we getR$21. Add theR$3 that was in the 🏧 pot before your under-the-gun bet, and we getR$24 ($21+$3) as the maximum possible bet the button player can make.
Let's take 🏧 a look at a few Pot-Limit Omaha hands, with Upswing Poker founder Doug Polk battling high-stakes nemesis Dan "Jungleman" Cates 🏧 on Live at the Bike:
Limit Betting Rules
Many poker games, like stud variants, are almost always played with limit (aka fixed-limit) 🏧 betting rules. Any poker game can be played with a limit betting structure, however.
A Limit Texas Hold'em game played atR$2/$4 🏧 limits generally means the blinds areR$1/$2. Limit games are played with a "small bet" and a "big bet", with the 🏧 big blind usually equal to the small bet.
Many limit games use a structure where the maximum raise is equal to 🏧 the small bet in the early betting rounds and increases to the big bet amount in later betting rounds. In 🏧 each round, the betting is "capped" after three raises, and subsequent players can only call after that.
Limit Hold'em Hand Example
For 🏧 example, you're playing aR$2/$4 Limit Texas Hold'em game and sit in the under-the-gun position. You're the first to act preflop, 🏧 and you have the option to either call theR$2 big blind or raise to a maximum ofR$4. You choose to 🏧 call.
The player in the cutoff announces "raise", and can raise to a maximum ofR$4 total. The button raises toR$6 (again 🏧 the maximum allowed raise), and the big blind raises toR$8, addingR$6 to theR$2 they've already committed to the pot.
As the 🏧 under-the-gun player, you now have the option to call theR$8 raise, which requires puttingR$6 more in the pot. You can 🏧 also fold, but you can't raise any further.
You decide to call, the cutoff calls, and the button calls. The four 🏧 live players now go to the flop betting round, withR$33 total in the pot.
This same pattern of a maximum bet/raise 🏧 ofR$2, capped atR$8, applies for the flop betting round. For the turn and river betting rounds, the maximum bet/raise goes 🏧 up toR$4, capped atR$16.
Here's a look at a Limit Hold'em hand played on Live at the Bike, atR$20/$40 limits:
No-Limit, Pot-Limit, 🏧 and Limit betting structures require very different strategies across the three varieties. It's crucial to know what betting structure a 🏧 game is using before sitting in to play.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play poker...or do you 🏧 want to know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips if you want 🏧 to come out on top.
