First of all, there are five main rounds in the game of Texas Hold'em: • pre-flop • Flop • Turn • River • Showdown
Also, there are five decisions a player can make during a Texas Hold'em round: • Bet - Place the initial number of chips on the table. • Call - Call the bet with the bet of the player who made a move before you. • Raise - Bet more chips than the player who moved before you. • Refuse to play - You reveal your cards to the dealer and do not continue the game with this set of cards. • Check (Check) - Refrain from deciding for the time being; you can decide later during the round.
Dealer Button and Blinds
At a new table, the game begins by dealing one card to each player. The player with the highest card is given the dealer button. Each subsequent game starts with the player being passed the dealer button, moving clockwise in each game. Cards are dealt clockwise, starting with the player seated next to the dealer. In the online space, the tables are constantly active, so by the time you join the game, the position of the dealer will most likely already be established. The dealer button is the theoretical designation of the dealer. The person can actually deal cards in a live game, but the house (program) deals cards in most casinos, specifically online.
Before the flop, the Blinds are posted to create the main pot. Blinds are posted by two players sitting to the dealer's left. The player who sits next to the button places a bet in the Small Blind. It represents half of the table's lowest limit. In our 20/40 example, this would be ₽20. The player to the left of the one mentioned above posts the Big Blind. This amount equals the minimum limit (in our example, it is ₽40). These mandatory bets ensure the existence of the pot to which the game will go. They are named Small and Big (small and big) because of their comparative size. They are called Blinds (blind bets) because players make them before receiving cards without seeing their combinations.
Free Blinds
If for any reason, you miss your turn of placing the Small Blind or Big Blind - without leaving the table (in poker, this gesture is called "sit out"), after returning to the table, you must place a penalty bet: For missing the Small Blind - you must pay a fine in the amount of the Big Blind. For the player who posts the Big Blind at the specified time, this amount is added. For missing the Big Blind - or both the Small Blind and the Big Blind - you must pay the penalty for the amount of the Big Blind and another one for the amount of the Small Blind. This small amount goes directly to the pot (betted chips/money) and does not count as the player's bet in the game. This is called "Dead Bet".
Pre-flop
Each player receives two face-down cards (also known as hole cards or pocket cards). The player to the left of the Big Blind position makes the first move. In this round, they have three options. They can call the bet, raise or refuse - skip the move. If they refuse to play, as already indicated, they fold, and the turn passes to the next player to their left. If they call, they must call their bet with the amount of forced Big Blinds (in our example, 20/40, it's ₽20). If they decide to raise the bet in a fixed limit game, they can raise it by another ₽20, but not more than ₽40.
In a fixed-limit game, a maximum of 1 bet and three raises are allowed per round. Raises have their names: • Raise • Reraise • Cap
In our example, in a 20/40 game, during the Flop, the initial bet is ₽20, the Raise will be another ₽20, which means that the player bet ₽40, the Reraise will be ₽60, and Cap (fourth rate increase) another ₽20, which will be ₽80 in total. After the Cap, no further raise is allowed during this round. Remember, bets and raises on the Turn and River will go to the highest limit (we'll get to that later). The raise sequence looks as follows: bet, raise, 3bet (reraise), cap.
Let's get back to the game. The turn proceeds around the circle in a clockwise direction, and each player calls, raises, or folds as they see fit until the turn reaches the player in the Small Blind position. Let's assume everyone is equal. In our 20/40 game, this would mean that each player added ₽20 to the pot. Now it's the turn of the Small Blind. Remember, this player has already bet the amount of half the minimum limit (₽10 in our example). For this reason, if a player decides to call, they must bet only ₽10 per pot (to reach a total of ₽20, that is, the minimum Blind). Of course, the player has the right to increase (up to ₽40) or refuse.
Now the turn goes to the player with the Big Blind. This player has already bet ₽20 in the pot. Theoretically, the pre-flop is over because all players have put in the same amount, while the player with the Big Blind is the only player who has not been able to make a decision based on their cards, so they have the right to do it just now. They can raise (up to ₽40), refuse, or check. As a rule, the player cannot check because there is money on the table, but in this case, the player in the Big Blind position can check by continuing to play without raising the bets.
It's important to remember that if you have a choice, it's always better to check than to fold. You still stay in the game, and you can get cards that will help you improve the combination. If the player in the Big Blind raises, the game continues circlewise until all players have called or folded their cards. After all of these and all standard rounds are completed, the game continues until all players have contributed the same number of chips to the pot or have folded their cards. So in this example, our Big Blind player checks.
At this point, the pre-flop ends, and all the chips are collected and placed in the middle of the table.
Flop
The dealer places three cards on the table, face up. They are called common cards, and according to the name, they are shared by all the table players to complete their combinations. After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer button makes the first move. As a rule, this is the player in the position of the Small Blind, but if they refuse, the turn passes to the next player. This player can check or place a bet. The turn continues around the circle until each player can check, call (if a bet was made or raise), raise, or refuse. If a bet or raise has been made, each player must call, raise, or refuse. Players often choose to check during a round; in this case, the money is added to the pot, and the round ends.
As before, the round is considered completed after all the players call (or refuse) and bet the same amount.
Turn
The dealer deals the fourth community card, face up. Players again, starting with the player to the dealer's left, make decisions on the game: check, make a bet or refuse. However, in this round and the next one, players bet and raise at the highest limit of the table. ₽40, in our example. The action continues as before until all players have bet the same amount or have folded. Again, the entire amount of this round goes to the center of the table.
River
The dealer deals the fifth and last card on the table, face up. Now, each player has seven cards (their two hole cards in hand and five community cards) from which they can create their best combination of five cards. Again, the player to the dealer's left makes the first move, and the turn continues around the circle as before.
Important note: In this or any other round, if a player makes a bet (or raises) and all other players refuse, the game ends, and that player automatically becomes the winner and receives the entire amount of the pot.
Showdown
After the River, players compare their cards to determine the winner. The player with the highest combination wins the pot, and if two or more players have the same combinations, the pot is divided equally among them, and any remaining chip goes to the winning player to the dealer's left.
Players reveal cards according to a certain system. If, during the betting, all the players made a check request, then the player, after the button, opens the cards first and then all in turn in a clockwise direction. In any other trade development, the one who made the last increasing bet (bet, raise, reraise) is opened first, and then, clockwise, everyone who called it. They reveal their cards if the player on the left can beat the combination. However, if their combination is lower, they're not obliged to open their cards and can just fold. After all the players have turned up (or folded), the highest hand wins the pot.
What happens next?
After the Showdown, the cards are returned to the dealer. The winning player collects their chips, and the dealer button moves clockwise to the next player. This action, as already described, distributes the positions of the dealer, Small Blind and Big Blind; thus, all players at the table have the opportunity to play in all possible positions.
There are two common varieties of pot: pot limit and no limit.
In Texas Hold 'em, unlike Omaha, the game is more often played without limits.
Pot Limit
It's a limited game. Players can place any bet between the current table limit (lower limit on pre-flop and upper limit on turn and river) and the maximum pot and table amount.
For example, let's say we join a 20/40 game on the flop. There are ₽200 in the pot, and the player from the position of the small Blind made a bet of ₽20. The next player will also have to bet ₽20 to call (support the bet). The total pot becomes ₽240 (₽200 (pot) + 20 (player 1's bet) + 20 (your call)). In this case, you can raise (raise) up to ₽240.
Let's say you made a raise of ₽160. Now there are ₽400 in the bank. The next player must at least call (support the bet, the term "Call") ₽180. This would mean that there is now ₽580 in the pot (200 (pot) + 20 (1st player's bet) +180 (your bet and raise) + 180 (next player's call). They can make any raise between the table limit (below or higher, in our example, ₽20 or ₽40) and ₽580.
As you can see, the size of the pot increases exponentially, and due to this, this type of poker is more like a no-limit game than a fixed-limit game.
No Limit
Everything is quite simple here. As the name implies, in the no-limit game, players can bet within the limit of the round and the total amount of their chips (chips). Betting all chips in any poker game is called all-in. Buying more chips during a poker game is prohibited. If a player runs out of chips during a betting round and other players can still bet, then after the round, the pot is split from the point the player went all-in. All subsequent bets that players will make are stored in a separate "extra pot". During the showdown, the first player fights for the pot in which he has invested money, and all other players compete for both pots, and the player who won the "extra pot" is determined.
Sometimes there are several "additional banks"; in this case, the same rules are applied; players compete for the pot in which they have invested money.