How to Play No Limit Texas Hold'em

No-Limit Texas Holdem has taken the world by storm over recent years and is now the single most popular poker game. This article gives the rules of no-limit Texas Holdem in a step-by-step manner – taking you from the setup before the cards are dealt to the ‘showdown’ of hands at the end.

Structure and Blinds

Before the cards are dealt one player is designated as the dealer. A button (known as the ‘dealer button’) is placed by this player which will move clockwise around the table as each hand is dealt. The position of the dealer button dictates the order of betting throughout the hand.

No Limit Holdem uses 2 forced bets before the cards are dealt to make the initial pot. These are known as the ‘Blinds’. The player to the left of the dealer pays a ‘small blind’ and the next player left a ‘big blind’. The blinds vary in size from game to game with the big blind being twice the size of the small blind. 1/50th to 1/100th of the starting chip stacks is a common size.

Betting Rounds

Next each player is dealt 2 cards face down, these are known as a player’s ‘hole cards’. A round of betting then commences with the player to the left of the big blind starting the action. The maximum bet in No-Limit Holdem is all of the chips a player has on the table, no more can be bought during a hand.

The smallest bet or raise is the size of the big blind. Once there is a bet each subsequent player can decide whether to raise, call the bet by matching the amount or to fold their hand. If there is a raise the betting is considered opened once more and each player will have a chance to respond to that raise.

After betting is concluded the first 3 of a total of 5 ‘community cards’ are dealt face-up in the middle of the table. At showdown players will use a combination of their own cards and the community cards to make a hand. The first three cards dealt are known as ‘The flop’.

After the flop a second round of betting begins, this time started by the player to the immediate left of the dealer button. Again each player in the hand will have an opportunity to respond to the bet. Players may choose not to bet this is known as ‘checking’ and will pass the betting action to the next player – if every player checks then the next card is dealt without any extra money being put into the pot.

Next a single community card is dealt, known as ‘The Turn’ this is followed by another round of betting as above. The 5th and last community card – called the ‘river’ – is then dealt with the last round of betting following this.

The Showdown

Once the last bets are completed players still involved must show their hole cards so that the winner of the hand can be determined. The winning hand must comprise of 5 cards as a combination of the community cards and a players hole cards. Both hole cards, just one or even no hole cards may make the best possible poker hand for an individual player.

If a player runs out of chips before the end of the hand that player is said to be ‘all-in’. In this case the chips in the pot to which the all-in player contributed are set aside and any other players will start a new pot for further betting.

If you're looking to play fixed limit Hold'em, check out this article on how to play fixed limit Hold'em.

Ready to Play?

Now that you know the rules of the game, you should try out playing for play money online to really get a feel for the game. If you want to play, read our best site for no limit Hold'em page to discover the top poker sites for play money No Limit Hold'em.

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