Florida Poker Tours - Texas Hold'em No Limit

The Basics of

Poker

Texas Hold'em is a community card poker game with four betting rounds.
Each player is privately dealt an incomplete hand, these pocket cards are placed face down.
Then community cards are cards dealt face up to the center of the table, these are shared by all players.
In total there are seven cards.

First off each player receives their personal two down cards, this is followed by a round of betting. Then three community cards are placed simultaneously on the board, again there is a round of betting. The next two board cards are turned one at a time, with a round of betting after each card.
Now the seven cards are out and four rounds of betting has occurred.
The best five card poker hand - constructed by any mix of the seven cards - wins the pot.
Highest hand wins
Players may use one, both or neither of their hole cards to make their highest hand
Ace plays both high and low for straights
Cards speak

Cards dealt to each player - 2 concealed
Community cards dealt - 5
Number of betting rounds - 4
Limits - Fixed Limit / Pot Limit / No Limit
Blinds or Antes - Blinds or Both

The Table Layout

Texas Hold'em is played on a table with 2 to 10 players. Sometimes you may see 11 players squeezed in on one table in the early rounds of a tournament but the normal maximum is 10 players. The left of where the dealer sits is ALWAYS seat number ONE. When the game first starts everyone draws one card and highest draw has a 'dealer' button placed in front of him.

Notice that the positions are labeled but not the 'seat numbers'. Your seat number NEVER changes unless you move, but your position changes after every move of the button

The Dealer

A person does the physical dealing of the cards and is not one of the players. On the table is a small round disc called the button. This button is placed in front of the person who is the theoretical "dealer" to indicate where the dealing should begin.
The button will say 'D' on it as shown in picture below.

After every hand, the button moves clockwise as if each player at the table were getting a turn to deal.

The Blinds

Always moving clockwise, the player to the immediate left of the dealer (left of the dealer button) is called the small blind. This player places 1/2 of the structured bet in front of him or her. To the small blind's left is the big blind. This player places one full structured bet in front of him or her.

In our example of No Limit Texas Hold'em, the small blind will post 5. That is 1/2 of the structured bet. The big blind will post 10. That 10 will constitute one full bet.

The small and big blinds are compulsory bets. These two players are in actuality betting their first bet "in the blind." The motive for forcing these players to bet in the blind is to create action. Creating action gets money in the pot. This way no one can play for free (without folding) during the first round of betting.

When the next new hand is played the small blind then moves around to the player who was the big blind in the last hand, and the big blind moves to the player to his left. This movement of the small and big blinds continues throughout the game.

The Pocket or Hole Cards

No Limit Texas Hold'em uses all 52 cards in the deck. The dealer begins the deal with the small blind. There will be 2 unique cards called Pocket or Hole cards dealt face down to each player. The hole or pocket cards are exclusive to each player. Each player will view these cards and no other player will see the other players 2 cards.

Betting Round 1 Pre-Flop

After the pocket or hole cards are dealt, the first round of betting begins. There are several actions a player who is involved in the hand can take.

The player may CALL the bet by matching the amount of the first bet (the amount of the big blind.) In the example, that would be 10.

The player may RAISE the bet by matching the amount of the first bet and adding an equal amount to it thereby making it 2 bets, or bet his entire stack in no limit hold'em. He may RAISE the bet any amount in between the original bet and all the chips he has.

Finally, the player may FOLD. When a player folds, the action taken is one of passing and the player will not enter the hand by placing any money in the pot. This player will place his cards face down in front of him and the dealer will take them and place them in the discard pile.

The first person to start the betting in the first round of Texas Hold'em is the player to the left of the big blind. As stated before, the big blind has already made one complete bet.

The first round of betting is complete after every player at the table has acted and placed the same amount in the pot or folded.

The small blind must add the other half of the structured blind in order to call the big blind bet or must call what raises have been made to stay in the hand. The small blind has the option to raise during this time. Otherwise, the small blind must fold.

The big blind will have to call any raises made and has the option at this time to make a raise.

In our example:
Seats 3 and 4 fold.
Seat 5 calls 10.
Seat 6 folds.
Seat 7 raises 25.
Seat 8, 9, and 10 fold.
The small blind folds.
The big blind calls the raise of 25 and uses his option to re-raise 25.
Seat 5 calls the 50 in raises and seat 7 calls the 25 raise.

During the first round of betting, the big blind will have the OPTION to raise. As the action moves around the table and comes back to the big blind, the dealer will ask if they would like to exercise their option to raise. If they do, they may raise. If they do not, they will just check. In a way, they are raising themselves. This OPTION only happens during the first round.

The betting will continue until everyone in the pot has bet the same amount. That means that whenever there is a raise all the players still in the pot must call it, raise it or fold their hand. For example, if seat 5 raises then all the players behind him that want to stay in the pot will have to call the new amount or fold or re-raise.

After every player at the table has acted and placed the same amount in the pot or folded the first round of betting is complete.

Betting Round 2 The Flop

To begin the second round of betting the dealer will burn the top card by placing it in the discard pile (without showing it) and then place three cards in the middle of the table.

These 3 cards are known as the flop. These are the first 3 of 5 community cards (cards accessible to all players to use with their hole cards) to be dealt face up in the middle of the table. These 3 cards may be used by all the players in the game by combining them with the two unique cards held in their own hand to form the best possible hand.

The second round of betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer (the person with button.)
This player may CHECK, which is deferring the first action to the next player or choose to bet.
This player may bet the minimum amount of the big blind (10) or he may choose to bet his entire stack (All-In) or any amount in between.

In the example:
The big blind bets 25.
Seat 5 calls 25 and raises 75.
Seat 7 calls 100 and re-raises 100.
The big blind calls 175.
Once the betting is complete, each player will have placed 200 in the pot.

The second round of betting is complete after every player at the table has acted and placed the same amount in the pot or folded.

Betting Round 3 The Turn

To begin the third round of betting the dealer will burn the top card by placing it in the discard pile (without showing it) and place a 4th card in the middle of the table next to the flop.

This card is known as the turn or 4th street.

The third round of betting will begin again with the player to the left of the dealer.
If this player decides to bet, he may bet the minimum of the big blind (10) or he may choose to bet his entire stack or any amount in between. Just as with the flop, the turn card may be used by all the players in the game by combining them with the two unique cards held in their own hand, to make the best hand out of 5 cards only.

In the example:
The big blind checks.
Seat 5 checks.
Seat 7 bets 200.
The big blind and seat 5 call the 200.
Once the betting is complete, each player will have placed 200 in the pot.

The third round of betting is complete after every player at the table has acted. They will all have either, checked, placed the same amount in the pot, or folded.

Betting Round 4 The River

To begin the fourth round of betting the dealer will burn the top card by placing it in the discard pile (without showing it) and place a 5th card in the middle of the table next to the flop and turn card.

This card is known as the river or 5th street.

This fourth round of betting will begin again with the player to the left of the dealer.
If this player decides to bet, he may bet the minimum of the big blind (10) or he may choose to bet his entire stack or any amount in between. Just as with the flop and the turn, the river card may be used by all the players in the game by combining them with the two unique cards held in their own hand.

In the example:
The big blind checks.
Seat 5 checks.
Seat 7 bets 200.
The big blind raises 300 by moving the remainder of his check stack in. This is called moving all-in.
Seat 5 folds and seat 7 calls 300.
All the remaining players (big blind and seat 7) have placed 500 in the pot.

The fourth round of betting is complete after every player at the table has acted. They will all have either, checked, placed the same amount in the pot, or folded.

The Showdown

Players who have not folded show their hands. The person who placed the first bet is the first to show and show continues to that person's left until all players have shown their cards.

Using the community cards (which remain on the table) and their pocket cards, each player announces their best possible hand (see Poker Hand Rankings for additional information).
A player may use 5 of the 7 cards to make the best hand possible.
It may be the 2 unique cards in his or her hand combined with 3 from the board (table where community cards are located).
Or 1 unique card combined with 4 from the board.
Or the 5 cards on the board (this is called playing the board).

When the best hand possible (for everyone) is made up of just "community cards" (no pocket/hole cards), then the pot is split by everyone still in the game (everyone who hasn't folded).

In the example, the big blind reveals his hole cards to be the Ace and King of Diamonds giving him the nut straight (sometimes called 'broadway').
Seat 7 turns over a pair of tens giving him a set of tens.
The dealer shoves the pot to the big blind because he won.

Interesting to note that when a player holds a pair in his hand and makes three of a kind, it is called a set.
When a player holds one card and two of the same are on the board, the player has trips.
Seat 7 had the option to muck his cards as he had a losing hand (prevent others from seeing his cards).

All cards are returned to the dealer. The cards are shuffled and/or scrambled in preparation for the next hand. The dealer button is moved one position clockwise, indicating the new dealers position. The blinds are also moved one position clockwise and the blind bets are posted and a new hand begins.