| Limit Hold Em| The Basics |
|
Game Set up: In Texas Hold Em the entire game is played within relation to the dealer “button”. That is all action (bets) as well as blinds are determined by this position. If the entire table of players are new and a game is yet to begin, the “button” is positioned by one of two ways. One, the dealer will deal out one card face up to each player and the player with the highest rank card (the Ace of spades is the highest card for this exercise) is awarded with the “button”. Two, the dealer may just position the dealer to his/her left in what is considered to be seat #1 on an unpopulated table. Once play commences the “button” will rotate clockwise one seat along with the other positions on the table after each hand is completed. The two seats to the left of the dealer “button” are the small blind (the first seat to the left) and the big blind (the second seat to the left of button). These seats are forced bets meaning these two players must automatically put a pre-determined amount of chips/money into the pot without seeing his/her hole cards before hand. The small blind typically invests half of the big blind. Pre-Flop, Post Flop, Turn, and River Betting There are a total of four rounds of betting in Texas Holdem that include the Pre-flop round, Post Flop round, and River round of betting for each hand dealt. Pre Flop- Once the button, small, and big blind are established the dealer will deal one card at a time to each player until each player is holding two cards known as their “hole cards“. During pre-flop betting the first seat to the left of the big blind is the first seat with the following options for action; the option to call the big blind (contributing the same amount of chips to the pot as the big blind), raise the pot by putting in at least twice as much as the big blind into the pot, or fold his/her hand by mucking his/her cards to the dealer without investing into the pot at all. This seat is in the position also referred to as the position of being “under the gun”. It is important to note that the maximum amount of raises and re-raises allowed during any one round of betting is 4. Each player to the left has the same options for action one player at a time. Betting out of turn is considered to be displaying bad table manners. Post Flop- After pre-flop betting has been completed the dealer will deal out “the flop” which are three cards face up. The flop and the following cards to be dealt make up what is known as the board. The board which is five cards dealt face up by the dealer makes up the cards (7) upon which each player will try and make the best 5 card hand over one another. During this stage of the hand the 1st player to make action is now the small blind followed by the rest of the players seated to the left still holding their hole cards. The Turn- After the post flop betting has been completed the “turn card” (also referred to as 4th Street) is dealt beside the flop where the board now shows 4 cards. Once again, starting with the player left of the dealer that is still holding cards will the first to post action followed by each player to the left still holding their cards. The River (5th and final card)- Once the turn card betting is complete it is time for the 5th and final card to be dealt that will make up and complete the board or the community cards for betting. The same sequence of betting as the turn commences once the dealer deals the river. Showdown- If there is more than one player left holding his/her hole cards after the river betting is complete there is a showdown where by each player still holding cards must show his/her cards face up to determine the winner. The player that wins the pot is the one that holds the best 5 card hand of the 7 cards available for play from the board that is showing along with the hole cards he/she is holding. The winner may use one, two, or even none of his/her whole cards to be the winner. (Please refer to our hand rank article for more info on determining the winner) There may be a split pot where one or more of the players left have equal ranking hands. In this situation the pot is split amongst the players remaining equally assuming each player has invested the same amount of chips into the pot. If a player has invested more than another player that player will get a refund of the chips for which he/she invested over what the other player did into the pot. |