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Many poker rooms have three or more variations
of Texas Hold'em Poker (defined by their betting
limits):
Limit Texas Hold'em (there is a specified betting
limit in each game and on each round of betting)
Pot Limit Texas Hold'em (a player can bet what is
in the pot)
No Limit Texas Hold'em (a player can bet all of
their chips at any time)
Basic Play
The following list is a simple rundown of basic play
when playing Texas Hold'em.
- Blind Bets
- Deal - each player is dealt 2 cards
- First betting round
- The Flop - the first three community cards are
dealt
- Second betting round
- The Turn - the fourth community card is dealt
- Third betting round
- The River - the final community card is dealt
- Final betting round
- Showdown
The Dealer Button
Texas Hold'em uses a small disc called the "dealer
button" to indicate the dealer of each hand. Once a hand
is completed, the dealer button moves clockwise to the
next player. This ensures that each player has the
chance of playing early or late and that every player
gets a chance to post the "blind bets".
Note: During Single Table Tournaments the first
player to get the dealer button is determined through a
high card draw (each player is dealt one card; the
player with the highest value card goes first. If two or
more players have the same value card then they are
ranked according to suit - high to low - spades, hearts,
diamonds, clubs).
The Blind Bets
The player to the left of the dealer button is
required to place the "small blind" (usually equal to
half the lower stake) and the next player to the left is
required to place the "big blind" (equal to the lower
stake limit). Once the blind bets have been made, the
cards are dealt and the next player to the left starts
the first betting round.
Both the small and the big blinds are considered live
bets and therefore the player has the option of
checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting
action comes back around to their position. After the
flop and after each subsequent betting round, the first
active player left of the button is first to act.
When a player sits down at an active table, they will
be required to post the equivalent of the big blind.
Also, to prevent "blinds" abuse, players are required to
post the small blind and the big blind upon re-entry
(returning from sitting out) to the game if both blinds
are missed (only the big blind amount is posted as a
live bet and the remainder is added directly to the
pot). All players have the option of sitting out and
waiting for the button to rotate to their position
before starting to play.
The mandatory posting of the blind is in place to
ensure fairness to all players; preventing players from
constantly switching seats to gain a positional
advantage, or from entering games in a late position and
then leaving before they are required to post the big
blind.
First Betting Round
Starting with the player to the left of the "big
blind", they have the option to bet, raise or fold. All
remaining players can then call, raise or fold. To
"call" is to bet the same as the previous player. If the
first player folds, then the next player will have the
option to bet while the remaining players can call.
The bets in the first betting round are set at the
lower limit of the stakes structure, so in a $10/$20
game the value of a bet is $10 while the raise is $20 (a
raise includes a call of the previous bet plus an
additional bet).
The Second Betting Round
After the flop (when the first 3 community cards have
been dealt), the second betting round begins.
The first player to the left of the dealer button is
the first to act (bet, raise, check or fold). Checking
is to refrain from betting and is only available if no
bet has yet been made in the betting round. Once a bet
has been made, remaining players will only have the
option to call, raise or fold. Like the first round, the
second also limits the bets and raises to the lower
limit of the stakes structure.
The Third Betting Round
The third betting round starts after the Turn (when
the fourth community card has been dealt).
Once again, the player to the left of the dealer
button begins the betting (bet, check or fold). However,
this time the bets and raises are limited to the upper
limit of the stakes structure. Each subsequent player
can then call, check, raise or fold (a player can only
check if no bet has been made).
The Final Betting Round
The final betting round happens after the River card
(the final community card) has been dealt.
The player to the left of the dealer button can bet,
check, raise or fold. Bets and raises are limited to the
upper limit of the stakes structure. Remaining players
can then call, check, raise or fold (a player can only
check if no bet has been made).
The Showdown
Any remaining players will now display their two
cards and the player who has the best hand wins.
Players can use a combination of their own cards and
the community cards (2 player cards + 3 community cards
or 1 player card + 4 community cards) or all 5 community
cards (called playing the board).
If two or more players have the same hand then the
pot is split equally between them.
Betting Exceptions
In Limit Texas Hold'em a maximum of four bets are
allowed per player in a betting round - (1) bet, (2)
raise, (3) re-raise and (4) cap. In No Limit and Pot
Limit Texas Hold'em the number of times a player can
raise is not limited. However, a player can not raise
themselves (if a player raises and then all the
remaining players call or fold, then the player who
raised would not get an option to raise because they
were the last to raise).
A player is declared All-In if they do not have
enough chips to call. This player is eligible for the
portion of the pot to the point of their final bet.
All further bets by other players go to a "side pot"
which any All-In players are excluded from.
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