In all games of poker, the ante or the
blinds create and start the action and the pot . The blinds ? in all games
that use a dealer button ? designate the first bet. The big blind is opening
the bet for a designated amount and each player, in turn, must call that
amount, fold , or call and raise the same amount. No one can check during
this round.
In games using a dealer button, when a new game begins, a draw or deal is
done to determine who will receive the dealer button. The dealer button
rotates, clockwise, after each hand to the next live player at the table. A
live player is one seated at the table with chips. A stack of chips may be
present at the table without a player seated.
Each player must take the blind to enter into the game. If a player sits out
during their Blind, the player must post both blinds to re-enter the game or
return in the big blind position.
Each player is dealt two cards down, beginning with the small blind. The
first round of betting forces a player to 1) fold, 2) call the amount of the
big blind, 3) or raise. In Texas Holdem, a raise must be the size of the
bet, unless the raising player is going all-in. When the action returns to
the blinds, the blinds have the option of calling, checking, or raising the
bet. The only time a player can raise their own bet is when they are in one
of the ?blind' positions.
After this Texas Holdem Poker game betting round is complete, three cards
are placed face up on the table (commonly called the 'flop'), and the first
player in front of the button begins the action. (This player is known as
being Under the Gun or UTG). Each player, in turn, has the option of
checking if the bet is checked to them, calling if there is a bet to them,
or raising if there is a bet to them, or folding when it is their turn to
act. If a player checks and there is a bet, the player that checked has the
option of 'check-raising' when the action returns to them.
After the 'flop' betting action is complete, a 4th card is turned face up on
the table (commonly called 4th Street or the Turn), and the betting action
commences again. If there is a bet, the big bet is mandatory at this stage
of the hand, (in $2 - $4 limit, the Flop bet limit is $2 and all raises are
in $2 increments, on the Turn the bet limit is $4 and all raises are in $4
increments).
This should be the stage of the tournament where you do the most
limping/calling of raises/playing of marginal/speculative hands. Why? Well
because the cost relative to the percentage of your stack. For example, 8-7s
for a 3x BB raise in the first couple of levels will usually be a small
percentage of your stack. In the later levels, it'll be a much larger
percentage. You should be looking for as many opportunities to see flops and
pick up pots as you can at this stage.
you can't afford to sit back and wait. Many people will advocate moving all
in with any ace first to act, and there are certainly times to do so (I'm
much more likely to move in with an ace in later positions than I am
earlier), but generally you want to move in with a hand that you know if
called has "outs" - the best hands to do so with are connected cards ten and
under and pairs. Obviously, you're still going to move in with your big
aces, your K-Q suited type of hands, etc; but if push comes to shove, don't
be afraid to move all in with 8-7s. You aren't in the position to be folding
your way into victory so quite simply you're just going to have to take some
chances to maintain your stack (meaning you should be doing this at least
once per orbit in order to maintain your stack until you do hit that premium
hand)- much like the middle stages of the tournament, you want to play
positionally strong poker and avoid coin-flip confrontations with stacks
that are bigger than yours and embrace coin-flip confrontations with stacks
that are <50% the size of yours. Use the gap concept in the right spots.
Generally speaking, you should only be coming into pots at this stage for a
raise.
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