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Pot Limit Texas Holdem Poker Rules

Whether you are playing pot limit, limit or no limit Holdem, the rules of Texas Holdem apply. As in any game of Holdem, all players are dealt 2 hole cards face down. These are the cards that are for your eyes only. At this point you will have some idea whether you want to play the hand based on the value of the 2 cards. Once everyone has their 2 cards everyone will have to decide whether they want to match the blinds, raise the pot or fold. A dealer button will be placed left of the dealer and this will indicate who will be on the big and small blind. These are automatic bets that have to be made regardless of the strength of a players hand. They exist to ensure that there is always some money in the pot. If blinds were not used, players would sit there and wait for the nuts (two aces - aka bullets).

So players must decide if they want to stay in the pot. If they do they need to match the value of the big blind. If they do not they can simply fold and are not obliged to put any chips in the pot. As the game is pot limit there is a betting cap on what you can bet. Unlike no limit holdem you cannot commit your whole stack to the pot. As the name suggests you can only ever bet the value of the pot. If there is $400 in the pot (including bets), you can bet $400. Remember that the pot includes all bets that have been made in the hand.

Once the initial bets have been made, the dealer will then deal the flop. These are 3 cards which are dealt in the middle of the table and visible to all. They are also known as 'community cards' as all players share these cards in combination with the two hole cards in their hand to make the best possible poker hand. Following the flop being dealt there is another round of betting starting with the next live player immediately left of the big blind. Again the same principle is followed in that to stay in the hand you must match any bet and can only raise to the value of the pot.

Once all betting is complete another community card is dealt. This is called the turn card and is the fourth card dealt face up on the table. There is now a third betting round with the player left of the big blind acting first (of first player going clockwise who is still in the hand).

Following this round of betting a fifth and final community card is dealt followed by one final round of betting. There will now be 5 community cards - the idea is to use the five community cards along with the 2 cards in your hand to make the best 5 card poker hand. You do not have to use the 2 cards in your hand - you can choose to use one or none and use the 5 community cards on the board.

Pot Limit Holdem Betting Structure

Here is an illustrated summary of the order of play.

All players are dealt 2 Hole cards (pre flop) + Round of Betting

The Flop (3rd community Card) + Round of Betting

The Turn (4th community card) + Round of Betting

The River (5th community card) + Final Round of Betting

SHOWDOWN (Players show their cards)