Jan 02 2009
No-Limit Texas Hold’em in a Nutshell
No limit Texas Holdem (NLHE) is often referred to as the ‘cadillac of the game.’ Favored by millions across the world, this poker variant has been immortalized by the World Series of Poker Main Event, the World Poker Tour and more. As is commonly said about NLHE, “it takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.”
Let’s spend that minute learning, shall we?
No-Limit Texas Hold’em is a community game. This means that players share common cards from the ‘board’. Each player (you need at least two to play the game and most ‘tables’ have no more than nine players at a time) is dealt two cards in the hole. The hole cards are not to be shown or shared with anyone.
Around the table, there are two required bets per hand, a small and a big blind. Although you can raise your bet amount to the entire amount of your chip stack at any time during the hand, mandatory bets must be made. Common limits for NLHE include $1/$2, $2/4 and so forth and so on.
Once the dealer passes out the cards and the blinds have posted their cash, play begins. The action goes around the table so that each player can decide whether to play by betting the blind, raising or folding. A folded hand is considered dead, meaning the player can’t decide to come back into the hand later no matter how good the board looks.
After the first betting round is complete, the dealer puts down three cards (and burns or tosses two). This is called the flop.
Players decide whether to check, raise or fold depending upon what the board looks like. If all players fold and only one remains, he or she wins the pot at this point and no further action is required. A new hand will be ready to be dealt. (Note: this can sometimes happen before the flop is dealt as well as on the two remaining ’streets’.)
Then, the turn (or fourth street) is dealt. This is just another card…and can change the impact of the hand significantly. At this point, you may want to bet to protect a solid hand or fold to possible higher hands than yours.
The same goes for the river. This is the final card that the dealer will dole out. (S)he will also burn a card after the turn and river so don’t be alarmed.
At this point, if there hasn’t been already, a showdown will occur. The winning hand takes the pot.
