# Betting

Betting is what makes poker a game of skill and gives it strategic depth. You want to bet and raise to increase the size of pots you feel you can win, fold when you think you are likely to lose, and bluff if you think all your remaining opponents will fold and give you the pot right there.

This section describes how the betting rules work in Texas Hold'em.

### Pre-flop betting

The pre-flop round is special. It starts with two "blind bets", or the blinds, so named because they are made before the cards are even dealt.

The person to the immediate left of the dealer posts a small blind, and the person on his left posts the big blind. The small blind is typically half the size of the big blind. The cards are dealt, and then each the person to the immediate left of the big blind has the option to call the amount of the big blind, raise and increase the bet size, or fold. After that person acts then play proceeds clockwise, with each player either calling the current bet size, raising it, or folding.

The amount you can raise depends on whether you are playing fixed limit (also called just limit) or no limit poker. In fixed limit you must raise exactly the same amount of as the big blind, in no limit you can raise that amount or greater up to your entire stack (which is called going all-in). There is an additional rule in no limit that you cannot raise less than the previous raise. So if someone raises $100 and you want to raise, you must raise at least $100.

Betting continues until everyone has either called the bet, or folded. If your bet is called you don't have the option to raise it again, except for the special case that the big blind can raise his initial blind bet if it is just called. After betting is finished play proceeds to the next round.

In fixed limit there is an additional rule called a cap. This means that after it has been raised a number of times (typically four) raising is no longer allowed and you can only call or fold.

### On the flop betting

Betting starts with the first person to the left of the dealer who still in the hand (ie not folded). Betting on the flop is like pre-flop betting, except there are no blind bets. So the current bet size starts at zero and the first player has the option to check, which is to not bet anything but stay in the hand. Following players can also check, or can bet in which case people after them must call, raise, or fold, just as in the pre-flop case.

### River and turn betting

The mechanics of betting on the turn and river is exactly the same as the flop. When you are playing fixed limit, the amount that you bet and raise is double on these rounds. So instead of betting and raising in $2 increments (for example) now you bet in $4 increments. In no limit betting there is no change as you can always bet however much you like as long as it is equal to the big blind.

### The dealer

As you may have noticed, play starts in each round with the person to the left of "the dealer". In card rooms and in Poker Academy players don't actually deal the cards, that's handled by an employee or in our case the software. A special marker, called "the button", is passed around the table. The person with the button is the person who would have been dealing if the players were actually dealing the cards and who we mean by "the dealer". After a hand ends the button moves one place to the left.

For more details about betting see our betting page in help.