No Limit Hold'em: how to play

The game

No Limit Hold'em is the most played form of poker. Each player gets two private cards, five shared cards are dealt face up in the middle, and the best five-card hand wins the Pot. You can also win without a showdown: if everyone else folds, the pot is yours.

FlopMAX trains the Cash game format. In a cash game:

• Every chip has a fixed value for the whole game. A chip worth 1 is always worth 1.
• The Blinds stay the same all session. They never go up.
• Players can join, leave, or add chips between hands.
• Stacks are measured in big blinds. A buy-in of 100 big blinds is the common standard.

Tournaments use the same hands and betting, but the blinds rise on a clock and you play until you run out of chips. This page covers cash games.

The button and the blinds

A round disk called the BTN marks the player who acts as dealer for the hand. It moves one seat to the left (clockwise) after every hand, so everyone takes a turn.

Before any cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the button post forced bets:

• The SB, directly left of the button, posts half the big blind (usually).
• The BB, next to the left, posts one full big blind.

The blinds make sure there is always something to play for. Without them, everyone could wait for perfect cards.

With only two players (Heads-up), the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, then last on every later street.

Positions

Your seat relative to the button is your Position. At a full nine-handed table, in the order they act before the flop:

1. Under the gun (UTG): first to act before the flop.
2. UTG+1 and UTG+2.
3. LJ (LJ).
4. HJ (HJ).
5. CO (CO), right of the button.
6. Button (BTN).
7. Small blind (SB).
8. Big blind (BB).

With fewer players, drop seats from the front. At six-handed, the first seat to act is the lojack, often still called UTG.

Every name moves with the button. The player who was the cutoff this hand is the button next hand. Acting later is an advantage, because you see what others do before you decide.

The deal

A hand has up to four betting rounds, called streets.

1. Preflop. Each player gets two face-down Hole cards, one at a time, starting left of the button. Betting follows.
2. The Flop. The dealer burns one card face down, then deals three cards face up in the middle. Betting follows.
3. The Turn. Burn one, deal a fourth shared card. Betting follows.
4. The River. Burn one, deal the fifth and last shared card. A final round of betting, then the showdown.

The five shared cards are the Board. Anyone can use them. A full board might look like this: K 9 4 7 2 .

A betting round

When it is your turn, you have these choices:

• Fold: give up your cards and any chips you have put in.
• Check: pass without putting in chips. Only allowed when there is no bet for you to match (preflop, that means only the big blind when nobody has raised).
• Bet: put chips in when nobody has bet yet this round.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: increase the current bet. Everyone else must then call the new amount, raise again, or fold.

Who acts first

Preflop, the player left of the big blind (UTG) acts first and the big blind acts last. The blinds count as bets, so the first players can fold, call the big blind, or raise.

On the flop, turn and river, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first. The button acts last, or, if the button has folded, the player nearest to the button's right who is still in.

When a round ends

A betting round ends when every player still in the hand has either put in the same amount or is all-in, and everyone has had a chance to act. If everyone checks, the round is over.

Preflop, if everyone just calls, the big blind still gets a turn. This is called the option: the big blind can check or raise.

If all players but one fold at any point, the hand ends right away. The last player wins the pot and does not have to show.

No Limit betting rules

No Limit means you can bet any amount up to all the chips in front of you. A few rules shape every bet:

• Minimum bet. A bet must be at least one big blind, unless you are going all-in for less.
• Minimum raise. A raise must add at least as much as the last bet or raise in the same round. Preflop the big blind counts as the bet, so the first raise must be to at least two big blinds. If the blinds are 1 and 2 and a player raises to 6 (an increase of 4), the next raise must be to at least 10. If someone bets 10 on the flop, a raise must be to at least 20.
• Table stakes. Only the chips in front of you when the hand starts can be played. You cannot reach into your pocket mid-hand.

All-in and side pots

You can never be forced out of a hand because you lack chips. If you cannot match a bet, you can go All-in for whatever you have.

An all-in player can only win from each other player as much as they put in. Extra chips from the bigger stacks go into a Side pot that only those players can win.

Example: A has 50 chips, B and C have 200 each. A goes all-in for 50 and both call. The main pot is 150 (50 from each), and all three can win it. If B and C keep betting, those chips form a side pot that only B or C can win.

A short all-in does not reopen the betting

If a player goes all-in for less than a full raise, players who already acted and now face only that small increase cannot raise again. They can only call the extra or fold. Players who had not yet acted can still raise as normal.

Example: Blinds 1 and 2. A bets 20 on the flop. B calls 20. C goes all-in for 25, only 5 more. That is less than a full raise (which would be to at least 40), so when the action returns to A and B, each can call the 5 or fold, but not raise.

Under most published rules, several short all-ins that add up to a full raise do reopen the betting. Ask your room if it comes up.

Showdown

If two or more players are left after the river betting, there is a Showdown.

Who shows first

• If there was a bet or raise on the river, the last player to bet or raise shows first.
• If everyone checked the river, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button shows first.
• In many rooms, once a player is all-in and no more betting is possible, all hands still in are turned face up.

After the first hand is shown, the others can show a better hand or give up without showing (muck).

Making your hand

Your hand is the best five cards out of seven: your two hole cards and the five on the board. You can use both hole cards, one, or none. If the board itself is your best five, you are "playing the board."

Cards speak. The hand is read by the cards, not by what a player says. If you misread your hand but table your cards, the dealer reads them correctly.

Split pots

If two hands are exactly equal, they split the pot. If a pot cannot be split evenly, the odd chip usually goes to the first tied player to the left of the button. This is a house rule, so check where you play.

Hand rankings

From strongest to weakest. A hand in a higher row beats every hand below it. See Hand rankings for more detail.

The ace is high or low in a straight. The lowest straight is 5-4-3-2-A: 5 4 3 2 A . A straight cannot wrap around, so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

Breaking ties

• Same type of hand: compare the highest card that matters first. A flush with an ace beats a flush with a king. Aces full of twos beats kings full of queens.
• Same pair or same two pair: the side cards, called kickers, decide. A A K 8 3 beats A A Q 9 7 .
• Only five cards count. A sixth or seventh card never breaks a tie.
• Suits never rank. A spade flush is not better than a heart flush with the same cards.

Etiquette and house rules

These keep the game fair and friendly. Rooms differ, so ask about any rule you are unsure of.

• Act in turn. Wait until it is your turn. Folding or betting early gives others information and can change their decisions.
• No string bets. Put your chips in with one motion, or say the amount first. Going back to your stack for more chips after putting some in is a string bet and is not allowed as a raise.
• The one-chip rule. When facing a bet, putting in a single chip larger than the bet, without saying "raise," is just a call.
• Words are binding. If you say "call," "raise to 30" or "all-in" in turn, you must do it.
• Protect your hand. Keep your cards in front of you, often with a chip on top. If your cards get mixed into the discards, your hand is dead.
• Misdeals. A hand is usually redealt if the first or second card is dealt face up, a player gets the wrong number of cards, or the button was in the wrong spot, as long as there has not yet been substantial betting action. The exact rule is up to the house.
• Time. Take a moment when you need it, but do not hold up the game. Any player can ask for a clock on someone who takes too long.
• One player to a hand. Do not discuss a hand in progress or show your cards to another player who is still in it.

Setting up a home game

A home game is the easiest way to learn. Here is a simple setup for beginners.

Players

Six to nine players is ideal. Two to five works too, but you play more hands with weak cards, since the blinds come around faster.

What you need

• One deck of cards, or two so one can be shuffled while the other is dealt.
• A chip set.
• A dealer button. Any coin or marker works.
• A table with room for everyone's chips.

Chips and starting stacks

Keep the math simple. Play with blinds of 1 and 2 chips, and give everyone 200 chips to start. That is 100 big blinds, the standard cash game depth.

A sample breakdown for each player:

For eight players you need 80 white, 64 red and 48 green, 192 chips in all. Check that your set has at least that many of each color, and keep a few spares for making change.

Dealing

Without a house dealer, the player on the button deals each hand, then passes the deck and the button to the left. Shuffle well, offer a cut to the player on your right, and burn a card before the flop, turn and river.

Agree on house rules first

Settle these before the first hand so nobody argues later:

• String bets and the one-chip rule.
• How long a player can take to act.
• Whether players must show their cards at showdown to win, and whether others can ask to see a mucked hand.
• Whether players can add chips (rebuy) after losing their stack, and how many.
• When the game ends.

Whether playing for money is legal depends on where you live. FlopMAX does not host or organize real-money games. Playing for chips alone is a fine way to learn.