Poker Betting Structures

Not many poker players know this, but there are actually four betting structures used in the game of poker. No-limit and limit games are the more popular ones indeed, along with the less popular spread-limit and pot-limit. In this article we are going to discuss these betting structures and understand how they can influence the game of poker.

Limit games are perhaps the easiest to understand. The amount of bets you can place is limited. If you are playing $2/$4 limit Hold’em poker, for example, you can bet or raise by exactly $2 during the first few betting sessions – usually before and after the flop – and bet or raise by $4 during the last betting sessions after the turn and river.

No-limit poker games are even more daring, because you can raise the bet by as much as you want. There are still lower limits, usually stated as small and big blinds, but no upper limit is in place. If you play the game of $2/$4 no-limit Hold’em poker, you can raise the bet all the way to $100 – even further – if you think your card is strong enough.

Pot-limit games are exactly what you think they are; the largest amount you can bet or raise is the amount that’s in the pot at the time you are placing your bet. Spread-limit games, on the other hand, allow you to bet or raise within a certain range determined before the game starts. If the range is $1 to $5, you can bet or raise a minimum of $1 and a maximum of $5 at any given time.