Pot Limit Texas Holdem

• Starting hands and pot odds will only take you so far when playing hold'em

Starting hands and pot odds will only take you so far when playing hold'em. While these concepts are the most important at beating bad players, you generally need to add a few more tricks to your repertoire to take down better players.

The Betting Rules

Minimum eligible raise:

The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum of $100 (total bet of $200).

Maximum eligible raise:

The size of the pot. The size of the pot is defined as the total of the Pot in the middle plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.

As an example

The pot in the middle is $200 and the first player to act in the round bets $150 and the next player calls $150... the third player has a maximum eligible total bet of $800. The $800 total is his $150 call and $650 raise. The $650 max raise portion is equal to the pot of $200 + first player's $150 + second player's $150 + his own call of $150.

At some Pot-Limit tables there is a Maximum Buy-In amount in order to ensure all players have an opportunity to be competitive at Pot Limit without having to compete against players with thousands of dollars in front of them.