Official No Limit Texas Hold Em Rules
Texas Hold 'Em is the world's most popular poker game, and No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em is the ultimate form of the game. This is the version you see played in the World Series of Poker and many celebrity games. Like other poker games, No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em is not a game of chance, but a game of skill and nerves. A good no-limit player must be able to bluff and call bluffs effectively.
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A Quick Review
Anyone preparing to play should already be well-acquainted with the game in its standard “structured betting” format. But in case you're a little rusty on the basic rules of the game, here's a quick refresher.
No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em is played with one deck of 52 cards. Each player is dealt two cards facedown; after you see your cards, you decide whether to bet or fold. This is one of the great things about No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em – if you don't have good cards, you don't usually have to bet anything. If you like what you have, you make an opening bet. Then three more upcards are dealt in the middle of the table; these are called “the flop” and they are community cards which anyone can use in combination with their hole cards. A round of betting follows the flop, and then the dealer lays a fourth card face-up on the table – this is another community card called the “turn” card. Another round of betting commences, after which the deal shows the final community card: the “river.” After the last round of betting, if there are two or more players still vying for the pot, everyone turns over their hole cards in a showdown to determine who has the best 5-card poker hand.
This should all sound very similar to normal Texas Hold 'Em, and it is. The only real difference is in the betting, and the style of play that encourages. Remember, structured betting has minimum and maximum bets, and a betting cap.
For example, if you are in a “$3-$6 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em ” game, the first two betting rounds will be $3 bets, and after that the bet will go up to $6. Usually a bet and three raises are allowed in each round, to ensure that people don't get too crazy at the table.
If I bet $3 in the first round, you raise me $3, another player re-raises $3, and I re-raise $3 again, the dealer will then declare that we are “capped” at $12.
In no-limit, there is a minimum bet, but no maximum. That means if I have $1000 worth of chips in front of me, and you have only $500, I can push in $500 and force you to go “all-in” on one hand, or fold and let me take an easy win. This is where a lot of bluffing develops, and why no-limit is not for the faint of heart.
One note on winning hands; for a single pair, a “kicker” is your highest single card, and may be the only thing that lets you win. Say you have the following hand: Q-Q-A-4-7 and another player shows this hand: K-6-Q-Q-9 – both of you have a pair of Queens , but your Ace kicker will beat his King for the win.
Kicker's work on identical two-pair hands also; and for all other hands, just remember that a flush with high cards (like J-9-2-4-7 of spades) will beat a flush with low cards; (3-4-8-9-2 of spades.) Same applies for straights and full houses. A full house of 5-5-5-2-2 beats a full house of 2-2-5-5-5.
That should be a good reminder of what we're looking for and how the game is played, now let's talk about where to find a no-limit game and what type to play in.
Types of No Limit
Tournament No Limit
There are 2 types of no-limit games; tournaments and cash games. The difference is, in a tournament, you “buy in” to a game with real money, say, $50. The casino is going to give you 1000-5000 dollars worth of “play” chips. These are only good at the poker table and have no cash value. The payoff comes only if you win the tournament, or place in the top spots – usually 1-3 or 1-10. Let's say there were 90 players in our tournament. That's $4500.00 in cash that gets split up by the winning 3 players – maybe $3000 first place, $1000 second place, $500 third place. Not bad for a $50 buy-in, if we win.
Some tournaments offer the chance to rebuy extra chips in early rounds and may also include an add-on. A rebuy is purchasing additional chips during the first couple rounds of a tournament. However you may only rebuy when your chip count is less than what it was when you started. An add-on is purchasing more chips at a set point during the tournament and is available to everyone. Add-ons and rebuys add money to the prize pool.
The beginners rule for picking a tournament? Look for one that pays out a lot of spots; a 1st – 10th place payout will be less per prize, but better odds of winning something. Also look for tournaments scheduled late or early in the day when there may not be as many players.
One difficult thing for most people to get used to in no-limit is the style of play. One reason is that the blinds keep going up, usually every ½ hour. So the blinds may start out at $5 for the small blind and $10 for the big blind, but eventually go up. A $1000 stack of chips looks a lot smaller when the big blind is $100 or $200. This means we might have to take more risks, especially later in the game, because we can't afford to sit around all night waiting for a great set of hole cards.
Summary
Well, now you know the basics of No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em poker, and you have the keys to the winning strategy:
• Play only tournament no-limit games until you are very experienced
• Pick a tournament with a small field and lots of paid places (ie, 1 st -10 th )
• Bet more made hands, less draw hands.
• Use the 4-times-big-blind rule to size your bets.
• Play tight early, looser later on.
• Use re-buys strategically
Finally, remember to always read the board, watch how your opponents are betting, and don't hesitate to fold as soon as you determine that you don't have the best hand in the game. Now, it's time to rustle up a buy-in, put on your poker face, and make a fortune. Good luck, partner!
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