There are many different forms of Poker Texas Hold'em. They divide into three broad categories of betting structure: limit, pot limit, and no limit. I'll describe the two most common: limit and no limit. Let me begin with some elements and definitions that are common to all forms of the game. There are four rounds of betting in Hold'em
poker online w88 :
Pre-flop: the round of betting when each player has two hole cards only.
Flop: the round of betting when each player has two hole cards and there are three exposed common cards.
Turn: the round of betting when each player has two hole cards and there are four exposed common cards.
River: the final round of betting when each player has two hole cards and there are four exposed common cards.
Pre-flop Betting
keno w88Dealer, small blind, big blindThe betting begins in all forms of Hold'em with what are known as "blinds" or "blind bets". A blind bet is a bet that must be made without a player knowing his hole cards -- when he is blind so to speak. Typically, in the modern form of Hold'em, there are two blind bet types:
Small blind
Large blind (or "Big blind")
The large blind is usually double the small blind.
The small blind is made, or "posted" as it is called in Hold'em, by the player sitting to the immediate left of the dealer. The large blind is posted by the player to the left of the small blind -- two to the left of the dealer. The "dealer," in a casino, where there is a non-playing employee who deals every game, is designated by a plastic or wooden disc called "the button" that circulates clockwise around the table after each hand. This is done to make sure that each player takes their turn at being the small and large blind. Otherwise, the poor guy who sat to the immediate left of the house employee dealing the cards would have to post a bet without looking on every hand -- which would be a terrible disadvantage.
Who Bets First in Texas Hold'em?
w88 casinoEach player to the left of the large blind places the first bet - They have a choice of making one of three betting actions:
They may call, fold or raise. They may call the bet by placing in the pot an amount equal to the large blind. They may fold, declining to call the bet, and ending their play of the hand, no longer competing for the money in the pot. Or they may raise, increasing the bet for all subsequent players -- usually by an amount of no less than the large blind. Please note that if no player raises the large blind, they may raise his own blind bet. This is what is known as "last action" pre flop. It is an exception to the general rule that a player cannot raise themselves.
So, for example, if we were playing a five person game of Poker Texas Hold'em with a $1 small blind and a $2 large blind, the action might go like this (imagine these players from top to bottom are sitting clockwise around the table).