Fixed Limit Poker Betting Rules

In limit poker, any betting structure in which the amount of the bet on each particular round is pre-set. Live Events 2 PokerStars WCOOP 2020 2020 WPT World Online Championships. Fixed limit games typically limit the amount of legal raises. Generally, players tap out at three raises, which after they are required to only call or fold. Spread limit poker is very similar to fixed limit poker. However, rather than having fixed amount players can bet, players can bet in a range (between a minimum and a maximum bet).

1. In limit Hold'em, the betting amounts are pre-determined and limited to a fixed sum. So, for example, a game could be played with a $2.00 limit. This would mean that all bets (with the exception of.
2. In some games – known as fixed limit or pot limit – players are permitted to bet only a very specific amount, determined by the pre-arranged level of the game. But “no limit” means that there are no betting restrictions: no matter how many chips you have in front of you during a no limit game, you are allowed to bet them all whenever it.
3. Limit was THE way to play Hold’em until the poker boom took off in the early to mid 2000s. Even until 2005, Limit Hold’em (abbreviated as LHE) was the cash game of choice because bad players don’t lose quickly and the game is lightning fast with big pots brewing.

Texas Hold'em is the most widely played poker variation in the world, particularly thanks to its simple setup and play.

This article explains all the rules and concepts you'll need to get started playing it.

Hold'em is almost exclusively played with three different betting structures:

• Limit
• No-Limit
• Pot Limit

This article focuses on the Limit version of the game. Its full name is 'Fixed Limit,' and it's called that because the betting limits are fixed. At any given time you can only bet in the single governing limit set for that street.

The simplest way to explain how the game works is to run you through a sample hand.

How to Play Limit Holdem

The very first thing you have to do is decide on the stakes in which you're about to play. If you're playing a tournament the stakes will start very small and gradually increase; if you're playing a cash game, the stakes will stay constant.

For this example, let's say you're playing a $2/$4 cash game. This means that in this game the lower fixed limit is $2 while the higher fixed limit is $4.

Hold'em poker functions with a rotating dealer. This means regardless of who's actually dealing the cards, the dealer in the game is the player with the plastic 'Dealer' button in front of them.

After the hand concludes the dealer button is moved to the player to the left of the current dealer, and so on.

If this is the very first hand you can choose who starts as the dealer in any fashion you would like. The most common way is to deal every player one card face up. The high card starts as the dealer.

Putting Out the Blinds

Once you have a dealer the player to the left of the dealer must put the small blind out. The small blind is a forced bet equal to half of the smaller limit.

In our $2/$4 game the small blind would put out $1. (If you're playing a limit in which half would not be an even-dollar amount, such as $5/$10, the small blind is typically rounded down, making it $2.)

The player to the left of the small blind must place the big blind. The big blind is equal to the full amount of the smaller limit; in our example here the big blind will be $2.

Limit Hold'em - The Deal

The cards are dealt clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the button (the small blind) and ending with the player who is acting as dealer (the button).

Each player receives two hole cards, which for now remain face down on the table.

The First Round of Betting

After the last card is dealt the action starts with the player seated to the left of the big blind. This player has the option to call (match the amount of the big blind, or the smaller limit), fold (throw away their cards) or raise.

A raise in limit poker is always equal to the total of the previous bet, plus the addition of the current governing limit.

In this scenario, the player chooses to raise. This means they put in a total of $4 ($2 to call the current bet of the big blind and $2 to raise the amount of the smaller limit).

The action now continues clockwise around the table with each player acting on the same options: call, fold or raise.

When the action meets the small blind the amount of money they've already put into the pot is counted toward the total of their call or raise.

If they choose to fold, that money is lost to the pot.

The big blind has the same option as the small blind here. If no player would have raised, the big blind would have been the only player with a different set of options.

Since (assuming no raise was made) the current bet was $2, which the big blind had already bet before the deal, they had the option to check (continue to the next street without putting any more chips into play) or to raise.

In poker, a betting round ends when every player has had the option to play, and every player has the same amount of chips bet (or has folded).

(Note: There is an additional rule on raising. In Limit Hold'em there is a 'cap,' meaning there can only be one bet and three raises in any single betting round [unless there are only two players remaining in the hand]. This means once there has been a bet and three raises, no player is allowed to raise any further; they can only call or fold.)

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The Flop

Once the first round of betting is complete the dealer deals the flop. To do so, they place one card face down on the table (this card is known as the 'burn card'), followed by three cards face up. Each player looks at the flop and uses it to evaluate the strength of their current holdings.

From now until the end of the hand, every betting round starts with the player closest to the dealer button. This means action starts in the small blind and moves clockwise around the table.

If there is no live player in the small blind, action starts on the next player still in the hand, following the clockwise flow around the table.

The betting in this second betting round is identical to that in the first, with one small exception. The first player to act now has the choice to check (there is no bet, so calling no bet is called 'checking') or to bet (they can bet the lower limit of $2). If they check, the next player is faced with the very same options.

As soon as someone bets, the players' available options become to call, raise or fold. As soon as everyone has acted and everyone has the same amount of money bet, the betting round is over.

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The Turn and River

Dealing the turn is similar to the flop, as the dealer deals one card face down, followed by one card face up. This card is followed by the third betting round.

The turn and river play the very same as did the flop, with only one difference. The betting limit on the final two betting rounds uses the higher limit, making each bet and raise cost $4.

Once the third betting round is completed the river is dealt exactly as the turn was. After the river is dealt the fourth, and final, betting round is run. Upon completion of this betting round, the remaining players in the hand enter the showdown.

The showdown is simple - each player shows their hand, and the best hand wins the pot.

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INTRODUCTION TO POKER BETTING VARIATIONS

The game of Poker comes in many variations, from Texas Hold ‘Em to Seven Card Stud, and many international variations. But, the games themselves can have different types of betting involved in the play. Poker games can be fixed limit, no limit, or pot limit. Below are explanations of these forms of betting. For simplicity’s sake, these explanations assume we are playing a game of Hold ‘Em where the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. To review the rules of Texas Hold ‘Em, click here.

FIXED LIMIT

Fixed limit games have fixed stakes that determine how much, or the range, in which people can bet. Following the conditions of a Hold ‘Em game described above, the player who is “under the gun” or the player to the left of the big blind, has 3 possible options.

• They can call the big blind ($2), this is also called a small bet.
• They may raise. However, since it is a fixed limit game, they can only raise $2 (for a $4 bet).
• They may fold and wait for the next hand.

Therefore, players may raise in increments of $2 or the big blind. This changes on the turn and on the river, players can then bet twice the big blind, or bet in $4 increments. These are called big bets. Players may bet or call $4 and raise in $4 increments. In the instructions for fixed limit games on this website, we clearly define for each poker game when big bets can begin.

Fixed limit games typically limit the amount of legal raises. Generally, players tap out at three raises, which after they are required to only call or fold.

Spread limit poker is very similar to fixed limit poker. However, rather than having fixed amount players can bet, players can bet in a range (between a minimum and a maximum bet).

POT LIMIT

In Pot Limit poker games the amount players can bet is dependent on the pot size. As the pot grows larger, so do the bets. Following our game paradigm as before, let’s examine how this would play out in a Hold ‘Em game. (Reminder these stipulations are applicable to many poker games, although some are traditionally played with certain betting variations).

The player to the left of the big blind has the same options as in Fixed limit; they may call, raise, or fold. However, the amount a player can raise has changed. A call would be placing a $2, equal to the big blind. If a player wishes to raise, they may raise up to $7. This is determined as follows: the small blind is $1, the big blind is $2, and to call is also $2, for a total of $5. So, a $7 is the $2 call plus the $5 raise.

Let’s examine another situation. There is $31 in the pot. The player to the left of the big blind can bet anywhere from $2 to $31. However, if they wish to raise, the minimum amount to raise is equal to the previous bet and the maximum is $93. So the pot is $62 and the call is $31, so the total bet is $124.

Fixed Limit Poker Betting Rules Against

This can basically be thought of in the following way: if you wish to raise consider the amount needed to call and add that to the size of the pot, then raise the size of the pot, those added together give the total of the bet.

NO LIMIT

No limit is the traditional betting style Hold ‘Em is played with. The name of this variation says everything- there are no betting limits, just on the size of the blinds. Using out Hold ‘Em paradigm, the small blind and big blinds are fixed at $1 and $2, respectively. However, players may raise the minimum big blind size. However, this raise’s maximum is fixed at a number of chips in front of that player. If there was a bet previous to them, the minimum amount they may raise is the size of the bet directly before them. So, if a player bets $40, the next player may raise at least $80 ($40 call + $40 raise). This is similar to pot limit, however, the pot size has no limit since there is no limit on the amount players may raise.

REFERENCES:

Fixed Limit Poker Betting Rules Card Game

http://www.pokerology.com/lessons/betting-variations/

http://www.pokerjunkie.com/fixed-limit-pot-limit-and-no-limit-poker