GENERAL POKER RULES
Betting and Raising
- The smallest chip that may be wagered in a game is the smallest chip used in the antes, blinds, rake, or collection. (Certain games may use a special rule that does not allow chips used only in house revenue to play.) Smaller chips than this do not play even in quantity, so a player wanting action on such chips must change them up between deals. If betting is in dollar units or greater, a fr action of a dollar does not play. A player going all-in must put all chips that play into the pot.
- Check-raise is permitted in all games, except in certain forms of lowball.
- In no-limit and pot-limit games, unlimited raising is allowed.
- In limit poker, for a pot involving three or more players who are not all-in, these limits on raises apply:
- A game with three or more betting rounds allows a maximum of a bet and three raises.
- A game with two betting rounds (such as lowball or draw) allows a maximum of a bet and four raises. See "Explanations - discussion #6" for more information on this rule.
- Unlimited raising is allowed in heads-up play. This applies any time the action becomes heads-up before the raising has been capped. Once the raising is capped on a betting round, it cannot be uncapped by a subsequent fold that leaves two players heads-up.
- Any wager must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise in that round, unless a player is going all-in.
- In limit play, an all-in wager of less than half a bet does not reopen the betting for any player who has already acted and is in the pot for all previous bets. A player facing less than half a bet may fold , call, or complete the wager. An all-in wager of a half a bet or more is treated as a full bet , and a player may fold , call, or make a full raise . (An example of a full raise is on a $20 betting round, raising a $15 all-in bet to $35).
- In limit poker, if you make a forward motion with chips and thus cause another player to act, you may be forced to complete your action.
- A verbal statement denotes your action and is binding. If in turn you verbally declare a fold, check, bet, call, or raise, you are forced to take that action.
- Rapping the table with your hand is a pass .
- Deliberately acting out of turn will not be tolerated. A player who checks out of turn may not bet or raise on the next turn to act. An action or verbal declaration out of turn may be ruled binding if there is no bet , call, or raise by an intervening player acting after the infraction has been committed.
- To retain the right to act, a player must stop the action by calling "time" (or an equivalent word). Failure to stop the action before three or more players have acted behind you may cause you to lose the right to act. You cannot forfeit your right to act if any player in front of you has not acted, only if you fail to act when it legally becomes your turn. Therefore, if you wait for someone whose turn comes before you, and three or more players act behind you, this still does not hinder your right to act.
- A player who bets or calls by releasing chips into the pot is bound by that action and must make the amount of the wager correct. (This also applies right before the showdown when putting chips into the pot causes the opponent to show the winning hand before the full amount needed to call has been put into the pot.) However, if you are unaware that the pot has been raised, you may withdraw that money and reconsider your action, provided that no one else has acted after you. At pot-limit or no-limit betting, if there is a gross misunderstanding concerning the amount of the wager.
- String raises are not allowed. To protect your right to raise , you should either declare your intention verbally or place the proper amount of chips into the pot. Putting a full bet plus a half-bet or more into the pot is considered to be the same as announcing a raise , and the raise must be completed. (This does not apply in the use of a single chip of greater value.)
- If you put a single chip in the pot that is larger than the bet , but do not announce a raise , you are assumed to have only called. Example: In a $3-$6 game, when a player bets $6 and the next player puts a $25 chip in the pot without saying anything, that player has merely called the $6 bet .
- All wagers and calls of an improperly low amount must be brought up to proper size if the error is discovered before the betting round has been completed. This includes actions such as betting a lower amount than the minimum bring-in (other than going all-in) and betting the lower limit on an upper limit betting round. If a wager is supposed to be made in a rounded off amount, is not, and must be corrected, it shall be changed to the proper amount nearest in size. No one who has acted may change a call to a raise because the wager size has been changed.
