A round of Texas Hold’em consists of a minimum of one and a maximum of four betting rounds. A hand ends when all players but one have folded. Or the fourth (final) Texas Holdem betting round completes with multiple players still in the hand – whichever comes first. Your minimum raise is equal to the amount of the previous bet. In this hand your minimum raise is $10 ($10 + $10 for a total bet of $20). Your maximum raise is the amount of the pot. To do this, add up the pot + the bet + your call ($15 + $10 + $10 = $35).

No Limit Betting – No limit Texas Holdem is the most popular version played today. There is no limit to how much someone can bet. And at any time a player can push their entire stack in middle, going “all in.” Note – For the pot and no limit betting formats, raises must be the minimum of the current bet to call. So it doesn't matter which betting round you are on, the first bet must be at least the minimum bet, and each raise thereafter must at least equal the previous bet. So if it's a $2 minimum game, the initial bet on every round must be at least $2. If a player opens the betting round for, say, $10, then the next raise must be at least $10.

One of the more confusing aspects of Texas Hold’em for beginners is how betting works during the game. Depending on the structure of the game you’re playing in, the rules for betting can be very different, and sometimes rather confusing. Here’s a quick guide to Texas Hold’em Betting that should help you understand exactly what’s going on.

Texas Hold’em Betting: General Rules

In Texas Hold’em, betting begins to the left of the dealer button and moves around the table clockwise. At the beginning of a hand, two players must make forced bets, called blinds, in the two seats directly to the left of the button. At any time, players have the option to call the current bet, raise the current bet, or fold their hand. If no bets have been made yet in a round, players also have the option of passing their turn by checking.

Each Texas Hold’em betting structure also has its own betting rules.

Texas Hold’em Betting: Limit Texas Hold’em

In Limit Texas Hold’em, betting is structured so that all bets on a given round are of the same size. In the vast majority of cases, a smaller bet is required in the first two rounds of betting, with a larger bet required on the turn and river.

Generally, a Limit Texas Hold’em game will be named based on the size of these bets. For instance, a $2/$4 Limit Texas Hold’em game will have $2 bets and raises early in the hand, and $4 bets and raises later in the hand. The large blind is usually the size of the smaller bet (in this case, $2), and the small blind will be about half the size of the large blind (again, in this case, $1).

Texas Hold’em Betting: No Limit Texas Hold’em

In No Limit Texas Hold’em, betting limits are mostly eliminated. When players bet or raise, they now have the option of betting as much of the money they have in front of them as they like. The only restriction is that any bet must be at least the size of the big blind, and any raise must be at least as large as the raise that proceeded it.

Most No Limit Texas Hold’em games will be named after the size of the blinds being used. A $1/$2 No Limit game will have a $2 big blind, and a $1 small blind. Each bet will need to be at least $2. If a player raises that bet to $6, that is a raise of $4; if another player wishes to raise again, they will need to make the bet at least $10 ($6 plus the $4 size of the previous raise).

Texas Hold’em Betting: Pot Limit Texas Hold’em

Pot Limit Texas Hold’em betting is slightly more complex than in the above examples. While players may raise more than they can in Limit games, they do not have complete freedom as in No Limit games. Instead, players are limited by raising the amount of the current pot size.

Calculating the pot size for these games can sometimes seem complicated. The pot is considered to be the total of the chips already in the pot on previous rounds, bets made on the current round of betting, and the amount the current player would need to call before making a raise.

For instance, imagine a pot that already has $50 in it. A player then opens the betting on a new round with a $20 bet. If the next player wishes to raise, the pot size is:

$50 for the previous rounds’ bets
$20 for the current round’s bet
$20 for what the next player would have to call to stay in the hand.

This means that the current pot is considered $90, and the player may raise an additional $90 beyond that. Thus, the player may put up to $110 into the pot — $20 to call, and another $90 to raise.

As with No Limit Hold’em games, the games are usually named based on the size of the blinds; a $1/$2 Pot Limit Hold’em game will have a small blind of $1 and a large blind of $2.

Texas Hold’em Betting: Spread Limit Texas Hold’em

While it’s a less common variant, you may sometimes find Spread Limit Texas Hold’em games available. These games allow players to bet or raise anywhere in a given range of allowable bets. For instance, a $1-$5 Spread Limit Texas Hold’em game would allow bets anywhere from $1 to $5. As with other games, normal betting rules still exist; specifically, a raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise (in other words, if one player raises $5, the next cannot raise $1).

Texas Holdem Betting Strategy

Betting is the crux of poker. The game of Texas Hold’em consists of a series of bets based on the perceived strength of your cards – without betting, it would simply be a game of who got dealt the best hand and players would just wait to have the best possible hand before wagering money.

Many players totally misunderstand the art of betting – too often on forums, I’ve heard players say they bet “to see where I’m at” or “because he checked”. Let’s be clear: your bet should be one of two things; a value bet or a bluff.

Value Bet

A value bet is, quite simply, betting your hand for value. This means you believe your opponent will call with a worse hand. When you raise AK before the flop, it’s a value bet. If you bet 88 on a 824 board, it’s a value bet. It’s quite simple – if you think that your opponent’s range of hands is worse than your holding, bet for value and hope for a call.

Bluff

A bluff is the opposite of a value bet – you think your opponent’s range of hands is stronger than your hand, however you don’t think it is strong enough to call a bet. So, you bet.

If, for example, you have Ah-Qh on a low board with two hearts, you have a strong hand and bet for value. The turn and river blank and your opponent checks to you. If you think he has a middle pair that won’t call a third bet, bet and take down the pot.

Semi-Bluff

A semi-bluff is a bet that right now is likely to be behind your opponents range, but has the chance to improve on later streets. The 2 most common types of semi bluffs are with large draws such as a flush draw that has 9 outs and an open ended straight draw that has 8 outs (learn how to count outs here).

Take the example above of having Ah-Qh on a board of 9h-4h-2c. You have only ace high but your nut flush draw and two overcards give you a good chance to win the pot – in fact, against JJ on that board you are a 55/45 favourite!

Therefore a semi-bluff is a bet made as a bluff, such as with ace high and a flush draw, that aims to fold out a better hand but has numerous outs if called. This way even if a better hand does call your bluff, you can still take the pot with a good turn or river card.

When to Value Bet; When to Bluff?

This question simply boils down to how to read your opponents’ hand. A detailed article on this would far exceed a reasonable word count, so I’ll attempt to surmise succinctly as I have done in the previous beginner articles.

Firstly, you don’t put your opponent on a hand – you put him on a range of hands. If someone raises before the flop then bets the flop and turn of a 9-8-2 board they don’t automatically have KK or 22 or 98. To narrow down an opponent’s range, let’s use an example hand. A decent, tight-aggressive player raises under the gun. You call on the button; your cards are irrelevant but say you have 77. Both blinds fold. Now, before the flop is dealt, ask what is his range? Knowing what you know about this player (that’s he’s a pretty good TAG) you can confidently give him an estimated range of AA-22 and AK-AJ.

The flop is something unconnected and dry, such as 9c-5d-2d. Your opponent bets and you call, knowing he will continuation bet his entire range. The turn is the 5c and your opponent bets again – now his range has narrowed.

He is unlikely to have 99, 55 or 22 as many players will check this hand and allow you to bluff off your chips into their monster.

He also probably doesn’t have any pair less than 99, nor is he likely to have AK-AJ unless he holds the nut flush draw. His range therefore has narrowed to TT+, AdKd, AdQd and AdJd.

This is a very simple example about how you can narrow down someone’s range of hands over a few rounds of betting.

You’re new to poker online, and you’re not sure what stakes you should play for. Should you play the free games with the play money chips first, in order to learn how the game controls work? Should you start by playing for small stakes and then move up in stakes? And if so, then how low should you go? Should you try the micro stakes games?

This page tries to answer all these questions, but no one answer will be the same for every poker player.

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Starting Off with the Play Money Games

All online cardrooms have an option to play for real money or play money. These play money games are aimed to players with no bankroll at all. But if you’re completely new to playing on the Internet, these play money games are the perfect way to get started.

Someone who has played poker online before might do well to skip these games, as they might encourage you to create bad habits, like calling when you should fold. When there’s no money on the line, poker players tend to make all kinds of bone-headed decisions.

On the other hand, if you’re a complete neophyte, you SHOULD start with these free games in order to learn the controls. It’s way better to lose fake money when you accidentally push the raise icon instead of the fold icon than it is to lose real money.

It won’t take long to get familiar with the controls and how they work, and as soon as you’ve done so, you should move up to real money games. That’s because money is the whole point of poker, online or live. Without money on the line, you might as well be playing solitaire.

What Stakes Should You Play

If you’re from the United States, you should start off with the lowest stakes you’re comfortable with. The legal situation in the USA and the difficulty transferring money to and from Internet cardrooms creates a situation where you should literally only play with money you won’t miss. If the website at which you’re playing shuts down or is unable to make payouts, you won’t be in a situation where you can’t pay your bills.

On the other hand, if you’re from a more enlightened country, you needn’t limit yourself to super low stakes, although you still shouldn’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose. Your bankroll should be a separate stack of money that’s only used for that purpose. Gambling with the rent money is always a bad idea.

The size of your bankroll should determine what stakes you should play. You need a large enough bankroll that the vagaries of luck and statistical deviation don’t bankrupt you before your long-term expectation kicks in. (Of course, if you’re a losing player, you’ll need an infinite bankroll to avoid going broke, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.)

Texas Holdem Minimum Bet

The most commonly agreed bankroll requirements for Texas holdem player are as follows:

If you’re playing no limit, you need a large enough bankroll to accommodate 20 buy-ins.

If you’re playing limit, you need a large enough bankroll to cover 300 big blinds.

If you’re a sit and go specialist, you need a large enough bankroll to cover 40 buy-ins.

Suppose you have $300 in your bankroll. This means you could afford to play for the following stakes:

• You could play in no limit game with a buy-in of $15 or less.
• You could play in limit games with blinds of $0.50/$1.00.
• You could play in sit n goes with buy-ins of $7.50 or less.

Should you ever play at lower or higher stakes than those? The answer depends on your goals and your situation.

If you’re losing consistently at these stakes, you should probably go down a step and play for lower stakes until you’re confident you can beat the game at that level. You should be keeping detailed records of your play, as well as studying books and/or training videos in order to improve.

Texas Holdem Minimum Raise

If you’re winning consistently at these stakes, it’s okay to “take a shot” at the higher stakes, especially in terms of a tournament that’s outside your normal buy-in. For example, it wouldn’t be outrageous for a sit and go specialist to take a shot at a tournament with an $11 buy in if she’s feeling lucky. She just needs to be prepared to go back down in stakes right away if she loses.

What If My Bankroll Is Really Small?

If your bankroll is less than $100, you’ll really need to focus on beating those microstakes games. For example, if you only have $50, you will most likely need to stick to the $0.01/$0.02 no limit games. You might be able to handle $0.05/$0.10 or $0.10/$0.20 limit games. The biggest sit n go tournament you could afford would only have a buy-in of $1.10.

You needn’t feel ashamed of playing for low stakes. Everyone has to start somewhere. Even Chris Ferguson, for grins, has played for microstakes to see how long it would take him to turn $0 into $10,000. He started by playing nothing but freeroll tournaments, then he used the winnings from those to move up.

You do need to understand that the texture of the game changes based on what stakes you’re playing. The level of play and the style of play that wins in a no limit game at the $0.01/$0.02 level won’t win at the $1.00/$2.00 level. You’ll need to focus on continual improvement of your game.

Conclusion

Texas Hold'em Minimum Betting Rules

Small stakes holdem online is appropriate for a lot of different kinds of players, especially those from the United States. These stakes are most appropriate for those with small bankrolls or concerns about their ability to cash out their winnings. Players need to focus on constantly improving their game as they play for higher stakes, because what wins at the microstakes tables often loses at the higher stakes tables.

Texas Hold'em Minimum Bet

Finally, purely recreational players who don’t care if they win or lose can play for any stakes they like.