If you want to learn how to play poker,these rules and strategy tips will make it easy to understand and help you increase your chances of winning.
In recent years, the rather old game of poker has seen a massive popularity surge, thanks mostly to internet poker rooms and wide television coverage of large professional poker tournaments. While watching these tournaments can certainly give you some insight onto how the game is played, it can still be highly intimidating or just plain confusing to sit down at a table in a casino or even just with a group of friends. Having a clear understanding of the basic betting rules of poker can be just as important as knowing some strategies of the game.
There are three types of betting rules that are standard and can be used with any form of poker. Before you even begin playing a poker game, you should know or should be able to find out what kind of game it is - whether it be limit, pot-limit, or no-limit. There may sometimes be minor variations specific to a type of poker, but the basic principles are the same.
However, a few basics remain true for all poker games. Betting moves in order from the left of the dealer, or in the case of blinds, to the left of the button. A bet made out of turn is considered an illegal bet. Players may only make a bet with the chips that are on the table in front of them, and the amount they can bet is determined by the game's limits. After a bet is made, the other players may fold their cards and get out of the hand, call the bet, raise the original bettor, or sometimes re-raise another bet.
Limit poker means that bets can only be in certain set increments. For example, a $5 limit game means that the first player to bet may only make a bet of $5. The next player, if they want to raise, must raise $5. Players can continue to raise in this manner, but in most limit games, the betting is capped at 3 raises - meaning that after 3 people have raised, and the bet is at $20, a player may only call or fold. Most limit games, however, are listed with not one but two numbers - for example, you might play a 5/10 game of Texas Hold "˜Em. What that means depends on the game, but basically the first round or rounds of betting follow the first limit, and the later rounds use the higher limit.
Pot-limit and no-limit have a specific betting rule in common with each other - when raising in either game, a player's bet must be at least double the previous bet on the table. Therefore, a bet of 1000 could not be raised to 1500; it would have to be at least 2000. If, however, a player with 1500 worth of chips wanted to raise a bet of 1000, they could make the otherwise illegal raise and go "˜all-in'. In no-limit games, that is just about the only limitation to what a player may bet, so long as they don't make a bet smaller than the ante or blind. Furthermore, a player may make an all-in bet any time it is their time to bet - putting all of their chips on the line in the hopes of either pushing the other players out, or getting a caller and possibly doubling their chips.
In pot-limit, bets are limited by the current size of the pot. A bet of $20 can only be made if there is already at least $20 in the pot. Players may choose to just bet the pot, or raise a bet the size of the pot - both of which are common occurrences in pot-limit games. This fact explains why pot-limit games often produce very large pots very quickly.
Entire books have been written on various poker strategies, so of course it is hard to summarize some kind of "˜right' way to play the game. However, the bet is essentially the nuts and bolts of poker strategy, and so a few basic bet-specific tips are warranted. One move which can be so unpleasant that in the past some people have gone so far as to forbid players to use it in their games is the "˜check-raise'. It is performed by slow-playing a hand that is already made against an opponent who has a weaker hand - instead of betting what is probably the winning hand, you specifically check, trying to entice the other player to make a big bet just to get you out of the hand. Once they make such a bet, you raise them, usually by a very large amount if you can. It is rather likely that if they really had nothing worth holding on to, they will fold, and you will take that bet from them. If they do call, you stand a good chance of winning even more from your opponent.
Something to remember in no-limit and pot-limit - if somebody makes a bet at you, and you want to raise them and represent yourself as having a strong hand, make sure you make an appropriate bet. Don't just raise them the minimum you can, or even just above the minimum - make them really think you've got something, if it is in your best interest to do so. The same holds true if you make a bet hoping to make people fold - a small bet usually won't do the trick, because many players will call a small bet just to hope the next card gives them what they need.
It may seem like a lot to take in, especially when you are trying to remember the rules of the games of Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, and Draw poker (just for an example) at the same time, but as long as you know the basic differences between the three betting structures, it should be no problem to move from one game to another without an excess of confusion. And with any luck, you'll win some money while doing it.
