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BETTING RULES
If there are no bets to you (It is checked to you)
Bet: You can put in one bet into the pot. Now all the players must call that bet by also putting in the same amount of money, or else they must fold.
Check: You can choose not to put in any money into the pot. If no one bets, then the game continues and everyone is still in the hand. If someone else bets, then you have a decision to make...
If there is a bet to you
Fold: You don't put in any more money, but you are out of the hand and cannot win any money. Any money you have put into the pot up to this point is lost.
Call: You put in money equal to the amount bet so far. You stay in the hand. Play continues and the next card is dealt, unless someone else raises. (If there are no more cards, then there is a showdown)
Raise: You put money into the pot equal to the amount bet so far, plus one bet. Now, all the other players must call your raise or fold. They may also reraise you.
Showdown
If there is more than one player left after all the cards have been dealt, and everyone has called on the last round of betting after that card is dealt, then those players showdown their hands. Whoever is holding the best poker hand wins all the money in the pot. If there is a tie, then all tying hands split the pot in equal amounts. The poker room will also take a rake from the pot before it is distributed to the winner or winners. The rake is the house's share and is usually a few cents on the dollar.
Win by default
If everyone except one player folds, then that player gets all the money in the pot, minus the rake. He does not have to show his hand to the other players.
Betting tactics
Reraise: Someone else raises you, but you feel that you have a very strong hand, and you want to make your opponent pay to stay in the hand. Then you can reraise him and force him to put in another bet to stay in. Some poker rooms will let two players reraise each other indefinitely. Others will cap the number of total bets at 4, or some other number. Most online poker rooms cap you at 4 bets in each betting round. (The betting is only capped for limit poker; no-limit and pot-limit games do not have betting caps).
Check-raise: You hold a strong hand, and you are greedy. You want to take more than just one bet from your opponent. So you check, your opponent bets, and you raise him. Now he calls, and if your hand is as good as you think it is, you just won two bets from him. Check-raising is a powerful tool, but it can be dangerous, because your opponent might also check. Then you win no money from him. Or, he might have an even better hand then you, and he might reraise you.
Check-and-call: If you have a decent hand, but you think there is a good chance your opponent might have a better one, you may wish to avoid a raise. In this case, you can check-and-call.
Blinds
If you can fold without putting in money, why doesn't a player just fold all the time until he gets a great hand? This is prevented by forcing each player to pay a "tax" on the hands he plays. This tax comes in the form of blind bets also known as blinds. Each hand, one player at the table puts in a big blind (BB), and the player in front of him puts in a small blind (SB). In most internet games the small blind is half the size of the big blind. The big blind is the size of a small bet in a limit game. The blind bet is paid regardless of whether the player likes his cards or not. The other players must call (or raise) the blind bet or else they must fold. The player in the small blind must make up the difference between the BB and SB in order to stay in the hand. So if the big blind was $2 and the small blind was $1, the player in the small blind would have to pay $1 to stay in the hand.
Position
The blinds rotate each hand. The person to the left of the dealer pays the small blind, and the person to the left of the small blind pays the big blind. In the preflop betting round, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to bet, and the big blind is the last to bet. In all rounds after that, the small blind is the first to bet, and the dealer is last to bet. Position is very important in poker, and here's why: Information is power in poker, and each bet gives away information. If a person bets before you, he gives you information you need to make your bet. On the other hand, he has to make his bet without the information contained in your bet.
Limit poker is just what it sounds like. The bets are limited to a specific size, you cannot make a smaller or larger bet. The size of the limits will be in the name of the poker game. For, example, you might decide to play a $1-2 Limit game. Here's what the sizes of the bets would be:
Preflop: $1 (AKA a small bet)
On the flop: $1
On the turn: $2 (AKA a big bet)
On the river: $2
The above table shows how much one bet would be at any stage of the hand. So before the flop, one bet would be $1. And on the river, one bet would be $2.
Also:
So, how do you bet in poker? Here we will review some of the basic
poker bets. In conjunction with this discussion, take a look at the basic
poker odds and probabilities for hands.
Review the basics of poker hands
as needed.
Poker Bets
In most games, you must ante something
(the amount varies by game), just to get dealt cards. After the ante,
the players will begin to bet into the pot in the middle. At
the end, the highest poker hand (that hasn't folded)
wins the pot. Basically, when betting gets to you
(betting is typically done in clockwise order), you have one
of four choices:
Bet - If you are the first player to bet, you would bet an amount
within the betting limits of that particular poker game. This amount goes into the pot.
Call - When you call, you bet enough to match the total amount of what has been
bet. For example, if a player bet a quarter, you would call and put a
quarter into the pot. If another player raised your bet, you would put an
amount equal to the raise into the pot (if you bet twenty five cents, and
another player then bet seventy five cents, you would owe fifty cents).
Raise - When you raise, you first bet enough to match what
has already been bet by another player (as in calling),
then you 'raise' the bet another amount (the amount is up to you, but
there is typically a limit to raises.) For example,
if a player bet twenty five cents, you might call the twenty five cents and
raise another fifty cents - for a total bet of seventy five cents.
Fold - When you fold, you drop out of the current hand. You lose
any possibility of winning the pot, but you do not have to put any more money into the pot.
Limit / Pot Limit / No Limit
The maximum bets and raises allowed, and the structure of poker betting, is determined by the game
designation as follows:
Fixed Limit poker games are games where the betting limits are structured
by round. For example $10/$20 indicates that the initial bets and raises are
$10, and the later bets and raises are $20.
In Pot Limit poker games, the maximum amount players can raise or bet is equal
to the size of the pot.
In No Limit poker games, there is simply no structure or maximum limit on the
bet or raise (except to the extent that you are limited to betting the amount of
chips you have on the table).
Determining when and how much to bet is a large part of the skill and
strategy of poker. To make poker betting determinations, you need to understand the
odds of getting a particular poker hand. So what exactly are the odds of
getting various hands? Take a look at our page on
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