Poker Betting

Poker is not just simply a game of chance. There are as many ways to play the game as you could ever imagine. You can play conservative, aggressive, bluffing, straight, or a mixture of styles. Then when betting is added to this classic game you include a whole new range of skills such as psychology and people skills.

So, how does poker betting work?

This section we will cover a few of your basic poker bets as well as terms so you can follow a hand of poker.

In most poker games, you must ante an amount to start the pot. The exact amount will vary according to the game or even the dealer. This ante is made to be included in the next hand and must be put into the pot in order to have cards dealt to you. Some hands all players will ante a specific amount while in other there are specific players required to make a blind ante.

Betting is clockwise and players will have a chance to add to the ante increasing the pot. If there is no amount added to the initial bet and you are square you can ‘check’ thus passing the ‘raise’ option to the next person or you can ‘up the ante’ yourself. Strategies will differ from person to person and to be a successful poker player you should learn how your opponents are betting. This skill will develop the more you play and one should stay in beginner rooms online or start with players of your same skill level until you are comfortable with the procedure.

After the ante most games will have several betting rounds which the players will bet, again clockwise, increasing the pot. After the final betting round the player with the highest poker hand which hasn't folded will win the pot.

During a typical game in a betting round you will have four basic choices. You can bet, call, raise or fold.

An initial bet is an option made by the first player to left of the dealer. You can, if desired, bet an amount within the betting limits of that particular poker game. This amount goes straight into the pot.

If you are not the first play with an option to make a bet and one has been made before your turn you may call, raise of fold. When you call a previously made bet you match the total amount of what has been bet before you. For example, if a player ahead of you bet a dollar, you could call and put a dollar into the pot. However if another player raised the initial bet you would have to bet an amount equal to the initial raise plus the previous raises. For example if the first player bet a dollar and the next play raised another dollar by calling the bet you would have to place two dollars in the pot to stay in the hand.

Another option when it is your turn and there is a previous bet made is to raise. When you raise you are matching the bet already made by another player/s and then adding an additional amount. The amount of this raise is entirely up to you but must be within the limits of the game called or the limit of the table. For example, if a player bet one dollar, you could call the bet and raise it another dollar thus making the next person’s total two dollars to call.

The final option is to fold. When you choose to fold you are dropping out of the current hand and throw down your cards. All monies previously put into the pot is surrendered and you are out of the hand and will receive no further cards until the next hand when the process starts all over again.

When betting in poker there are three basic types of games which will determine the maximum and minimum bets allowed during an initial bet as well as raises. These are the Limit Game, a Pot Limit game, and the much celebrated albeit risky No Limit game. Many a fortune has been won and lost in a game of No Limits poker.

Limit poker games are when games have betting limits which are fixed each round. For example $5/$10 indicate that the initial bets and raises are $5, while the later bets and raises are $10.

In a Pot Limit poker game the maximum amount a player can bet or raise is equal to the current size of the pot when it is that player’s turn. This can turn out to be an expensive game but no match for the No Limits poker game.

In No Limit poker there is simply no maximum amount on the bet or raise a player can make except of course what he does not have on the table.

Determining when and how much to bet is a large part of the skill and strategy in poker. To help make poker betting determinations if you are not counting on pure luck you will need to understand the odds of getting a particular poker hand.

So what exactly are the odds of getting various hands? Take a look at our page on poker odds.

You might also want to check out the bluffing guide