best online poker sites<\/a> for cash games and tournaments.<\/p>\nLimit Poker<\/h3>\n
Limit was formerly the most popular poker game in most casinos in the United States and still has a very big cash game following, especially at lower stakes with the older generation. In Limit poker, you\u2019re only allowed to bet or raise the amount of the game limits anytime the action gets to you.<\/p>\n
For example, in a $20\/$40 limit game, the small blind is $10 and the big blind is $20. The first player can decide to fold, bet $20, or raise to $40. The next player can then either fold, match your bet, or raise another $20. There\u2019s a cap on the betting in each round, with only one big bet and three raises permitted for the entire table.<\/p>\n
On the flop, players may check and the first person to bet must put out a $20 wager. Again, players are limited to one bet and three raises. The same rules apply for the turn and river, with players allowed to go all in if the betting eclipses the amount they have left in their stack.<\/p>\n
No-Limit Poker<\/h3>\n
No-limit poker is now the gold standard as its popularity has skyrocketed over the past two decades, enjoying a huge boom after Chris Moneymaker\u2019s WSOP Main Event win in 2003 and again following the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. The biggest difference when comparing limit vs no limit hold’em is that there is no ceiling on the amount you\u2019re allowed to wager, which can cause absolutely massive pots regardless of starting stack depths.<\/p>\n
While players are allowed to limp (call the big blind), opening raises must be at least double the big blind and further raises must at least match the size of the previous raise. For example, in a $2\/$5 game, a player may call the $5 or raise it up to at least $10. For this example, Player 1 has made an opening raise of $15. Player 2 may opt to fold, call the $15, or make a re-raise to at least $25. The $25 re-raise minimum is such because the original raise to $15, which was a $10 raise from $5. Oftentimes, recreational players will assume that raises have to be at least double the previous bet or raise, which is only true for the opening raise.<\/p>\n
Similar action is had on the flop, turn, and river, where players can risk as much as they want, check, or bet a minimum of one big blind. Players can, of course, put all their chips in the middle at any time when action is on them. The adrenaline and risk-taking are two of the biggest factors when it comes to why people prefer no limit vs fixed limit poker.<\/p>\n
Pot-Limit Poker<\/h3>\n
While pot-limit Texas hold\u2019em is a thing of the past, pot-limit Omaha (PLO) is the gold standard when it comes to four-card poker. Pot-limit poker refers to poker games where you are only allowed to bet the size of the pot when the action is on you.<\/p>\n
Pot-limit Texas hold\u2019em was removed from the World Series of Poker following the 2015 WSOP, largely due to the constant need to do math and the frustrating limitations of not being able to overbet or go all in whenever you wanted to.<\/p>\n
However, PLO is one of the most popular games in the world today and is widely available if you ever want to transition out of limit or no-limit poker. The rules are somewhat simple, though require some calculations to figure out the maximum amount you\u2019re allowed to bet.<\/p>\n
While you are allowed to call and raise as you\u2019d like, there\u2019s a cap on how much you can raise. The amount you can raise is equal to what\u2019s in the pot plus the amount if you had theoretically called. For example, if you\u2019re playing with 100\/200 blinds and face a call and a raise to 700, the maximum amount you can raise is 1,900 (100+200+200+700+700). Pots become very large, very quickly, so it\u2019s quite easy to get all in for 50 big blinds unlike in Texas hold\u2019em, where you usually need two big hands to collide.<\/p>\n