Viva Macau Poker - Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em has emerged as the most popular poker game in world. The popularity of big events such as the World Series has influenced people that now make it their pastime and play it at online poker rooms such as Viva Macau.

You can think about Texas Hold'em in three different forms based on the games betting limit:

Limit Texas Hold'em: In this game there is a specified betting limit for each round of betting and for each hand.

Pot Limit Texas Hold'em: In this variation the maximum bet is limited to what is in the pot.

No Limit Texas Hold'em: There is no limit to the bet. A player can bet all of their chips at any time.

Basic Play

1. Blind Bets
2. Deal - each player is dealt 2 cards
3. First betting round
4. The Flop - the first three community cards are dealt
5. Second betting round
6. The Turn - the fourth community card is dealt
7. Third betting round
8. The River - the final community card is dealt
9. Final betting round
10. Showdown

Texas Hold'em - Dealer Button

Texas Hold'em tables use a small disc, called the "dealer button", to indicate the dealer of each hand. Viva Macau obviously takes care of dealing the cards, but it is also important to track the dealer because the two players to the left of the dealer are required to bet and the player third to the left is the first to act in the first betting round.

At a new table the first player seated gets the dealer button. At the end of each hand the dealer button moves clockwise to the next player. This ensures that each player has the chance of playing early or late and that every player gets a chance to post the "blind bets".

Single Table Tournaments determine which player receives the dealer button first by dealing each player a single card. The player dealt the highest value card goes first. If two or more players have the same value card then they are ranked according to suit - high to low - spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs).

Texas Hold'em - Blind Bets

The two players to the left of the dealer are required to place bets, known as the blinds, before the cards are dealt. We call them 'blind' bets because they are placed before any of the players have even seen their cards. These bets trigger the action in a hand as there is now something in the pot for the players to win. The player to the immediate left of the dealer will place the small blind bet equivalent to half the full bet for that round. The player to his left will place a full bet for that round, called the big blind.

When a player sits down at an active table, they will be required to post the equivalent of the big blind. Also, to prevent "blinds" abuse, players are required to post the small blind and the big blind upon re-entry (returning from sitting out) to the game if both blinds are missed (only the big blind amount is posted as a live bet and the remainder is added directly to the pot). All players have the option of sitting out and waiting for the button to rotate to their position before starting to play.

The mandatory posting of the blind is in place to ensure fairness to all players; preventing players from constantly switching seats to gain a positional advantage, or from entering games in a late position and then leaving before they are required to post the big blind.

Texas Hold'em - First Betting Round

Two cards are dealt face down to each player. These are known as the hole, or pocket, cards. Once these cards are dealt, the betting action starts with the player to the left of the big blind.

In the first round of Texas Hold'em the available actions are bet, fold or raise. These options are available depending on the action taken by the previous player. Each poker player always has the option to fold. The first player to act has the option to bet, fold or raise. Subsequent players have the option of calling or raising. To "call" is to bet the same as the previous player. To raise is to match the previous bet and increase the bet.

In Limit Hold'em the bets in the first betting round are set at the lower limit of the stakes structure, so in a $10/$20 game the value of a bet is $10 while the raise is $20 (a raise includes a call of the previous bet plus an additional bet).

If no players have raised when the action comes back to the big blind, he may check, which is to refrain from betting. The big blind is the only player who may check and remain in the game in the first betting round.

Texas Hold'em - The Second Betting Round

Once all players have folded, called or checked (in the case of the big blind) three community cards are dealt face-up on the board. This is known as the flop and they are available to all players that are still in the game.

The first player to the left of the dealer button that is still in the game is the first to act (bet, raise, check or fold). Once a bet has been made, remaining players will only have the option to call, raise or fold. Like the first round, the second round also limits the bets and raises to the lower limit of the stakes structure.

Texas Hold'em - The Third Betting Round

When the betting action is completed for the flop round, a fouth community card, called the turn, is dealt face up on the board.

Once again, the first player to the left of the dealer button that is still in the hand begins the betting (bet, check or fold). However, this time the bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stakes structure. Each subsequent player can then call, check, raise or fold (a player can only check if no bet has been made).

Texas Hold'em - The Final Betting Round

When betting action is completed for the turn round, the fifth and final community, called the river, is dealt face up on the table. Betting begins with the active player immediately left the button and the same poker rules apply as they do in the fourth card explained above.

Texas Hold'em - The Showdown

Any remaining players at the final of the bets will now display their two cards and the player who has the best Poker Hand wins.

Players can use a combination of their own cards and the community cards (2 player cards + 3 community cards or 1 player card + 4 community cards) or all 5 community cards (called playing the board).

If two or more players have the same hand then the pot is split equally between them.

Texas Hold'em - Betting Exceptions

In Limit Texas Hold'em a maximum of four bets are allowed per player in a betting round - (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise and (4) cap. In No Limit and Pot Limit Texas Hold'em the number of times a player can raise is not limited. However, a player can never raise themselves (if a player raises and then all the remaining players call or fold, then the player who raised would not get an option to raise because they were the last to raise).

A player is declared All-In if they do not have enough chips to call. This player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of their final bet.

All further bets by other players go to a "side pot" which any All-In players are excluded from.

 

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