Rules «Texas Holdem»

Game rules

Two players sitting to the left of the dealer bet both blindly (before cards deal). A player sitting to the left of the dealer bets a Small Blind. And the player sitting next to him bets a Big Blind. As a rule, small and big blinds are related as 1/2, 1/3 depending on the stakes value. The big blind stake is equal to the bottom game limit and the small blind stake is equal to the half of the big blind.

After that the dealer deals two face down cards to each player.

For simplicity of understanding the game will be divided into 5 stages:

1. Preflop - players are betting basing on their two cards. Stakes are done clockwise and the first betting player is the one who sits to the left of the big blind. Each player has the right:
   • To fold - cards without doing stakes;
   • To call – the stake needs to be not less then the big blind;
   • To check – not to bet but to stay in the game. It is possible if a player in the current betting round did already a stake equal to the last stake done before him;
   • To raise - if one of players decided to raise then form that moment for all players wishing to continue the game, the size of this raise is a checkpoint for the following game stage. Players need to call or to re-raise or fold.
   
   All players act like this before the blinds. If the small blind decided to play then he simply calls (equalize his blind up to the big blind). Big blind automatically passes to the following game stage if there was no raise. Otherwise, the player on a big blind needs to call (equalize his blind up to the raise) or fold.
   Betting is going on until all remained in the game players equalize their stakes. Betting is usually goes on not more than three rounds. Last action has a player who bet a big blind.


2. Flop - after equalizing the stakes go to the pot and three cards are dealt face-up on the board. These three cards are available to all players still in the hand. The betting options are similar to pre-flop – a player sitting to the left from the big blind starts. All actions are similar to pre-flop round. Betting round is repeated, stakes are equalized, pot is formed.


3. Turn - one more card is dealt face-up on the board. All actions are similar to pre-flop round.


4. River - last card is dealt face-up on the board. All actions are similar to the previous rounds.


5. Showdown - those players who passed all previous stages show their cards and compare their combinations. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. If all players folded then the last left player wins.

Versions

There are three versions of «Texas Holdem» differing with stake limits:

1. Limit Poker - there is a certain limit of stakes in every betting round. This limit is specified in the game name (0,5/1€, 1/2€, etc.).
2. No-limit poker - players can bet any available money at any betting round.
   
   Stakes structure for No-limit Holdem:
   Minimum raise - amount must be at least not less than the previous bet in the same round.
   
   For example, if the first player bet 100 then the next player can raise on 100 as a minimum (i.e. to bet 200).
   Maximum raise - is limited only by the quantity of player’s chips.


3. Pot-Limit poker - the stake limit shouldn’t be bigger then the pot. When raising the equalising stake (call) is summed up to the money in the pot.
   
   For example: the pot is 100€ and the player «A» bet 100€; the player «B» can bet maximum 400€ (100€ – to equalize the player’s «A» stake and to raise up to the sum of the pot – 300€).
   
   Stakes structure for Pot-limit Holdem:
   Minimum raise - amount must be at least not less than the previous bet in the same round.
   Maximum raise - it is limited by the size of the current pot which is summed up in the following way: the sum in the pot (it is either the main pot or the side pot if someone bet all his chips (All-in)), plus all bets at the table, plus those chips which the player needs to use for the call for the current bet before to raise it.
   
   For example, if the current pot is 200 and the first player in the round bet 150, the following player called 150, the third player can bet maximum 800. The sum 800 is summed up from the call 150 and raise 650. Maximum raise 650 is a pot 200 + 150 of the first players + 150 of the second player + call 150 by the third player.

Cards ranking can be seen on a page «Poker hands».

In Pot-Limit and No-Limit games, the player who left the table with a sum that excess of the amount at the time of boarding, can sit at the same table or with the same amount (at the time of leaving the table), or an hour later with a smaller amount.