Texas Holdem 1 2 No Limit Rules

Texas Holdem 1 2 No Limit Rules Average ratng: 4,7/5 3867 reviews

Limit Texas Holdem Betting Rules
Texas Holdem 1 2 No Limit Rules Printable

A Limit Texas Hold'em game played at $2/$4 limits generally means the blinds are $1/$2. Limit games are played with a 'small bet' and a 'big bet', with the big blind usually equal to the small bet. You're UTG+1 in a 9-Max $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em cash game. You get dealt Pocket JJ and raise the table standard of 2.5xBB. It gets folded around to the Button who calls. Both Blinds fold. The flop comes down Ad-6h-2s. Now, the Ace is a scare card, but you feel that the BTN player would have 3-bet with a strong Ace, and would have tossed a weak one. In a game of no-limit Texas hold'em, the minimum opening raise must be at least twice the big blind, and the maximum raise can be all of the chips a player has in his or her stack (an 'all-in'. Playing marginal hands out of position. Unless you are a solid post flop player, you risk getting into.

NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts

One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. Despite this difficulty, our coaches believe that following some general guidelines and adjusting from these is a better solution than having no guidelines at all. Given that well over half of your profitability in NL Hold’em is based on hand selection alone, we have developed these charts to help you better determine whether to play or fold.

There are no perfect No-Limit starting hand charts. That is because there are many factors that affect your decision, and charts cannot account for all of them. Some of these include:

The size of your opponent's stacks.
How loose or tight, passive or aggressive, your opponents are.
Where these opponents are located at the table – for example, does an aggressive player still have to act after you?
Your image at the table – for example, how tight or tricky you are perceived.

That being said, these charts will serve you well in most typical low-stakes No-Limit cash games, such as games with blinds of $1/$2, and home games. These games typically have several loose players at the table, and good opportunities for winning big pots with suited connectors and pocket pairs. With practice, you will be able to be a consistently winning player with these charts as a starting point. As you improve, you'll find yourself making adjustments to these charts based on the factors listed above, and more.

AGAIN: These charts are a good starting point for beginners. Specifically, Chart #1 recommends a significant amount of limping. This is great in loose, passive games but less often seen in tougher games. You’ll find other training material on Advanced Poker Training that may recommend a more aggressive approach for more experienced players.

Note: It would be a serious mistake to apply these hand charts before reading the Frequent Asked Questions first.

CHART #1 ‐ LOOSE, PASSIVE GAME (OFTEN 4-5 LIMPERS PER HAND)
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET

Raise Always
Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
Call always
Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

CHART #2 ‐ TIGHTER GAME (FEWER LIMPERS) OR MORE AGGRESSIVE GAME
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET

Raise Always
Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
Call (or Raise) from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

CHART #3 ‐ THERE HAS BEEN A SINGLE RAISE
(3‐5 TIMES THE BIG BLIND) BEFORE YOU

Re‐Raise Always
Call from Early Position, otherwise re‐raise
Call always
Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

For the hands in yellow, what do you mean when you say to play these hands if the conditions are right? The hands in yellow are speculative hands. They should always be folded from Early Position. From other positions, they can be profitable given the right conditions. Some of the questions to ask yourself:

Are there other players who have called so far (the more, the better)?
Are the players who have called playing poorly after the flop? Will they pay me off if I hit something?
Is there an aggressive player still to act behind me (you might get raised and have to fold)?
If there has been a raise and no other callers, what chance do I have of using my position after the flop to win the hand even if I don't improve (Chart #3 only)?

Why does Chart #2 say to sometimes raise with the hands in yellow, but Chart #1 does not? We have different goals in mind. Using Chart #1, we want to call to encourage additional players to enter the pot. These hands will be immensely profitable when our loose, passive opponents enter the hand, and get trapped when we flop a set, or make a well-disguised straight. When using Chart #2, however, we want to size up the opponents still to act. If they are tight, we can raise. Sometimes, we'll pick up the blinds. Other times, our pre-flop aggression will allow us to take down the pot on the flop.

What's the difference between AKs and AKo? AKs means an Ace and King of the same suit. AKo means an Ace and King of different suits.

What are early, middle, and late position? Early Position is generally the first 2 (in a nine player game) or 3 (in a ten player game) positions after the blinds. Late Position is the “cutoff” position (to the right of the dealer), and dealer button positions. Middle Position is everything in between.

How much should I raise? As a general rule, raise 3 to 4 times the big blind, plus 1 extra big blind for every player who has called before you. So if there are 2 callers already, raise between 5 and 6 times the big blind.

What if someone raises after I call? Whether you call the raise depends on how much money the raiser has for you to win, how many other players are involved, and what type of hand you have. As a general rule, if you have a pocket pair, lean towards calling. If there are a lot of other players (and therefore a big pot), lean towards calling. In general, fold suited connectors from early position. Fold hands like KQ that don't play well against a raiser.

How do I play from the blinds? From the small blind, play the same hands you would play from late position, plus a few more. But don't call with junk hands like T5o, just because it is “cheap”. From the big blind, if there is a raise to you, play like you would if you had already called from early position.

The chart says to fold KQo to a raise. Really? Yes, this hand performs very poorly against typical raising hands. Against AK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ, you are a big underdog. Other typical raising hands like JJ, TT, 99, AJs, are slightly ahead of you as well. The only time you might call or re-raise is from late position, if the opener was in middle or late position, indicating they might have a wider range of hands.

I was told to fold AJo from Early Position, why do you say to call with it? Folding AJo is not a bad idea in many games. We included it because, at low stakes tables (even tight or aggressive ones), the players are often playing badly enough after the flop that it can be profitable. We used data from millions of hands of low-limit poker to analyze this. The same could be said for KQo, ATs, and KJs – you can make a small profit in the long run at most low-stakes games, but folding would be perfectly acceptable from early position.

Can I use these charts in a NL Hold'em tournament? The charts would be best applicable to the early stages of a NL tournament, when everyone has a deep stack. In the middle and later stages, they should not be used.

Read all our instructional articles

There are common mistakes that no limit hold’ em poker players commit that cost them money. The list of 10 Common No Limit Hold’ Em mistakes below is not strictly geared towards the beginning poker player. If you find yourself in a downswing, it may not be just variance. Take a look at the list below to be sure you plug up any leaks.

1. Playing marginal hands out of position

Unless you are a solid post flop player, you risk getting into trouble by playing marginal hands out of position. Say you raise KJo under the gun. It folds around to the button who re-raises and you call. Flop comes AK6 rainbow.

The good news is that you hit your hand. Bad news, he may have hit his too, but he likely hit it harder than you. You showed strength raising from early position and he still re-raised pre-flop. Again, unless you are a skilled post-flop player, you stand to lose a lot of money in these situations. See our starting hands chart for an example range of hands that are playable in each table position.

2. Lack of pre-flop aggression

About half the time you put money into the pot, it should be by way of a raise. For instance, if you put money into the pot in 30% of all hands played, then in half of those instances you should be raising.

If you are using PokerTracker, the two metrics you want to look at are VP$IP (voluntarily put money in pot) and PF Raise % (pre-flop raise percentage). Your VP$IP number should be twice your PF Raise %. In the example above, you should see VP$IP=30% and PF Raise % at least 15%.

3. Not charging speculative hands

If you raise QcQsin position pre-flop and are called by the BB. The flop comes 6h4h2d. Flop is checked to you and you make a 1/2 pot continuation bet and get called. The turn is a 9c and it is checked to you again. The worst thing you can do in this spot is to check behind and give your opponent a free card to beat you.

You have a solid holding at this point and are likely ahead of your opponent. You are ahead of everything but a set a 53 (AA/KK as well, but unlikely). You should bet out here. If we assume he is on the flush draw, then he has roughly a 4:1 shot at making the flush with one card to come.

If you make a 1/2 pot sized bet here (say $10 into a $20 pot) then your opponent will be getting 3:1 odds from the pot. He will have to call $10 to win $30. It would be mathematically incorrect for your opponent to call here as his odds of winning is worse than the odds offered by the pot. See “Pot odds and how to calculate them.

Note: If your opponent thinks he can draw more money out of you on the river with his made flush (implied odds), then it makes his call correct. In that case you can bet more, 3/4 pot to compensate.

4. Inconsistent bet sizing

A big mistake that new players make is not keeping their bet sizes consistent. A classic example of this is betting low pocket pairs weaker than high pocket pairs. In order to disguise your hand you should keep your bet sizes consistent, say 3 or 4 times the big blind plus one BB per limper.

If you are at a table where you are raising 4xBB +1BB per limper and you consistently get 5 callers then feel free to increase your opening raise amount. You do not need to be consistent with your bet sizes if you can randomize your varying bet sizes. This will make it difficult for your opponent to know the meaning of your bet.

5. Not mixing up your play

Similar to the last point, if you only raise pre-flop with your premium hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK) then you are giving away too much information. To keep your opponent honest you should open up your range a bit, maybe AA-99 and AK-AJ. And/or add in some suited connectors 98s, 87s, etc. You don’t need to raise these add-in hands consistently, just enough to mix up your play.

In the example above, if you raise only super premium hands against someone who is using PokerTracker you will only see action when he has a premium hand too. He will see your PF Raise % is about 3% and he will know that you are very strong when you raise pre-flop, especially when out of position. He will only engage you when he is strong.

6. Bluffing calling stations

You can’t bluff someone who isn’t going to fold, so stop trying. If you are up against an opponent who rarely folds, don’t try to bluff them with complete air. Your hand needs to have some showdown value if you plan to proceed with aggression. If you are entering pots with solid starting hands, then you are likely to be ahead at showdown most of the time against these opponents.

Limit Texas Holdem Betting Rules

7. Playing big pots with small hands

You should not be building the pot post flop with one pair hands. Say you raise pre-flop in position with JJ and are called. The flop come 963 rainbow and the pre-flop limp/caller bets into you. Proceed with caution. I would call and see what the turn brings. You can re-raise to see if they are bluffing, but if they call I would consider shutting it down. No need to build the pot any further with a one pair hand.

8. Poor bankroll management

In poker, you will experience winning streaks and losing streaks. If you are not properly bankrolled for the table stakes you are playing at, you risk going bust during a prolonged losing streak.

One great way to build your poker bankroll is with a poker room bonus and rakeback.

9. Not reviewing your play

Another big mistake that beginners and intermediate players alike make is not taking the time to review their play. There are tools like PokerTracker that allow you to see tons of detail about your play: how aggressive you are in different positions, do you protect your blinds, do you attempt to steal blinds sufficiently, are you overplaying top pair? This will allow you to learn from your mistakes.

You can also participate in peer review with some poker friends to get a different players perspective. You can send your online hand to us for posting in our hand analysis section and leave it to the wisdom of the community for help. .

10. Slow playing monsters

Don’t limp your premium hands. You can limp them on rare occasion to mix up your play, but as a general rule, raise them up. Say you are under the gun with AA and you limp. You get 4 more limpers and you are going to the flop 5 players deep! Do you like your chances?