Betting in Texas Hold'em

Blinds are used in Texas Hold'em. That means that the two players that are sitting to the left of the dealer each put money into the pot before the dealer deals the cards. These bets are called the small blind and the big blind. The big blind is twice as large as the small blind. The dealer changes for each hand. A "dealer button" shows who is the dealer and is moved one step clockwise after each hand. In a casino it is usually an employee that deals the cards (however a "dealer button" is also used here since it would be unfair if the same player had to start the betting in all hands).

Big and small blind. The dealer is sitting by the dealer button.

The size of the blinds varies from table to table and in tournaments the blinds are usually increased the further you go in the tournament. At times something called "Ante" is used in tours. This is a bet that all players around the table have to pay before each hand is dealt.

The reason blinds are used is to get more action in the game since many players otherwise would fold their cards until they got the perfect cards to keep. You can imagine how long it would take to play if all the players folded before the first bets.

There are three different types of betting in Texas Hold'em. These are:

1. Fixed limit Texas Hold'em - (also known as Limit Hold'em) there is a pre-determined limit to how much you are allowed to bet.
2. No-Limit Texas Hold'em - (also known as No-Limit Hold'em) you are allowed to bet any amount.
3. Pot Limit Texas Hold'em - the maximum size of the bet is the same as the amount currently in the pot.

No matter which type of game you play the approach to betting is the same.

The person who bets first (i.e. is "under the gun") can choose to either raise or check. To check means that you do not raise and you can do that unless there is someone else who already have raised. Then all players can check (unless someone else already raised), call, raise or fold. Usually there are two or three rounds of bets per betting round.