Poker Betting Structures
Poker is a betting game. There are several possible betting structures that a player may encounter when playing poker each of which can slightly (or drastically) change the way the game is played.
Fixed Limit | Pot Limit | Spread Limit | No Limit | Kill Games | Double Big Bet on the River | Half Pot-Limit |Fixed Limit Poker Betting Structure
Fixed Limit Poker is a betting structure in which all bet sizes are pre-set and limited to a specific size. A player may not bet below the minimum bet or above the maximum bet. Fixed Limit games are also known as Structured-Limit games or simply Limit-Games
It is easy to spot a limit game and the limits imposed on the betting by looking at its name. In a '2-4 limit-game' the minimum bet is 2 and the maximum bet is 4. With these limits the preflop bets would be 1 and the 2 on the river
Event Minimum Bet Notes Preflop $1 The Small Bet Flop $1 Turn $2 The Big Bet River $2 Pot Limit Poker Betting Structure
Pot-Limit poker games are usually described in terms of the blinds and the maximum buy-in for that game. Therefore a pot-limit Hold'em game with blinds of 2 and 4 will be described as: 'Pot-Limit Hold'em 2/4 (200)'
Pot-Limit poker shares many similarities with No-Limit poker. The minimum bet is determined in the same way as it is in Limit poker (the amount of the big Blind). The maximum bet is determined by the amount of money contained in the pot at the time the bet is placed.
Example:
In a 5/10 pot-limit game (a game with blinds of 5 and 10), the next player may:- Call for 10 (the size of the big blind)
- Raise between 20 (the minimum raise) and 35 the (maximum raise based on the size of the pot)
- The minimum raise permitted is 20 because it be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. In this case the size of the big blind was 10 so this player must raise a minimum of $10 making a total total bet of $20.
- The maximum bet of 35 is determined thus: There is already 15 in the pot (small blind and big blind) This player calls the big blind 10 bet bringing the pot total to 25. The player then raises the size of the pot (10 + 25 = 35).
The stakes in pot-limit poker can raise pretty fast as seen in the table below, even in a game that starts with fairly small blinds.
Round Player Call Min Raise Pot After Call Max Raise Actual Bet Pot Total S-Blind 1 - - - 5 5 B-Blind 2 - - - 10 15 1 3 10 20 25 35 35 70 2 1 35 70 105 140 140 280 2 2 140 280 420 560 560 1120 2 3 560 1120 1680 2240 2240 4480 The Pot-Limit betting structure is popular with Europeans and common in on-line poker games. Pot-Limit poker certainly appears to be less risky to play than No-Limit poker whilst still retaining a lot of the fun. Unless the pot has been building strongly, it is not often that another player can force you all-in.
Spread Limit Poker Betting Structure
Spread limit betting is a combination of both Limit-Poker betting and No-Limit-Poker betting structures. Players may bet any value between the predtermined minimum and maximum bets allowed. Whilst Spread-Limit-Betting is very popular in home games it is a very rare betting system in on-line poker games, and is used only for the low stake seven card stud games in casinos
No Limit Poker Betting Structure
Here's the simple explanation: At any time in the game any player may bet all their chips.
No Limit poker is an intense game, and one in which the turn of a hand could mean winning or losing a fortune. No Limit poker is the betting structure most often seen on TV. Of all the poker betting structures it is no-limit poker that demands the highest level of strategy from players. In No-Limit poker there is always a minimum bet as there is in Limit-Poker. There is however no maximum bet limit in any betting round. As long as you match or exceed the Big Blind, you may bet whatever you like. Betting your whole stack is known as going 'All-In.'
If a situation arises when a player (player 2) does not have enough money at the table to call a bet, (i.e. player 1 bets 100 and player 2 has only 50 at the table), then player 2 may go all-in on their 50. If player 2 wins the hand they will only win 50 from player 1. If player 3 has also bet 100 when player 2 has only 50, then player 2 would win 50 from player 1 and 50 from player 3. The remainder of the money (the side-pot) would be won by either player 1 or player 3, depending on who has the better hand.
The example given illustrates that there in No-Limit poker games there is a clear advantage having more money at the table than the other players. This is why most poker-rooms will limit the amount of chips that any one player can bring to the table. Nevertheless, during the course of a game, a player might gain a significant advantage over competitors by accumulating money through wins large or small.
Event Minimum Bet Notes Preflop 1 The Small Bet Flop 1 Turn 2 The Big Bet River 2
Kill Games Poker Betting Structure
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Double Big Bet on the River Poker Betting Structure
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Half Pot-Limit Poker Betting Structure
A form of bettting that is mainly used for Omaha and Omaha hi-lo is the half-pot limit. In this scenario the maximum allowable bet is, as the name suggests, half of the value of the pot.
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