All casinos and many home games play poker by what are called table stakes rules, which state that each player starts each deal with a certain stake, and plays that deal with that stake. He may not remove money from the table or add money from his pocket during the play of a hand. Nor is a player allowed to hide the amount of his stake from other players; he must disclose the amount when asked. This requires some special rules to handle the case when a player is faced with a bet that he cannot call with his available stake.
For example, look at the hand of A-Qo (remember, “s” is suited and “o” is off suit). If you’re in Early Position (see Lesson 11 for the various position designations), you should raise with A-Qo. Now, look at the * (asterisk) next to most of the starting hands, including A-Qo. Down at the bottom, you’ll see this note: * = fold if a player before you raises preflop. So, if the UTG were to raise and you’re next to play, you fold with A-Qo or any other hand marked with an asterisk. About 90% of the time you’ll be either raising or folding. If you’ve read many books on no-limit Hold ‘em, you’ll often see the words “raise or fold” and it’s good advice. Also note that most of the hands have a “Fold” designation in the Early Position column. It means just that; you don’t limp and you certainly don’t raise in EP with A-Jo, you simply throw it away. About the only time you’ll call in EP is when you have 9-9 to Q-Q and the pot’s been raised in front of you. Those hands are just too good to fold, but they’re not strong enough to re-raise.
Let’s continue with A-Qo. If you’re in Middle Position and no one has raised ahead of you, (which would cause you to fold), you’ll raise with A-Qo. If one or more players have limped, you’ll still raise, but you should raise more than the standard 3 times the big blind, which is why I say, “Raise should be 3-4x Big Blind” in a note at the bottom of the matrix. You’ll fold if someone (anyone) re-raises after you. It’s tough to do, I know, but it’ll be the correct play the vast majority of the time. Oh, sure, you’ll get some player who will re-raise with A-10s every now and then, but most of the time you’ll lose if you call the re-raise. If you’re in Late Position, you should raise with A-Qo, assuming no one has raised in front of you (in which case you’d fold), but call if someone now re-raises you. Because the re-raise might come from an early position limper, you might wonder why you’d call and it all has to do with position. You’ll most likely be last to act for the rest of the hand, so it’s profitable to see the flop, then make a decision by how others bet it. See how this matrix uses hand strength and position to dictate the play? I’m sure it’s not perfect, but I will say it works pretty well if you follow it.
Okay, now let’s discuss the hand of A-Qo in the Blinds. You’ll notice that I didn’t make a distinction between the Small Blind and the Big Blind in the matrix. I did that primarily to keep it simple, but also because in most no-limit cash games the Blinds are a relatively unimportant part of the pot. Admittedly, they can be a factor in tournaments, but we’ll discuss that in a later lesson. For now, treat the SB and the BB the same. With A-Q in either Blind, re-raise a Late Position raise, but just call a raise made by a player in any other position. So, if the UTG raises, for example and you have A-Qo in one of the Blinds, just call, assuming it’s a 3x to 4x BB raise. If you re-raise a Late Position (“button”) raise and that player re-raises again, just call. How do you know to do that? You know because there’s not a “RR2″ designation on the hand. Looking at the notes on the bottom, you’ll see this: RR2 = Raise a Reraise. You’ll also see that RR2 applies only to A-A, K-K and A-Ks. So, a re-raise of your raise by a LP player warrants only a call.
Let’s say you’re in the BB with A-Qo and everyone has limped in. Regardless of their position – early, middle, late or SB – you should raise about the size of the pot, but certainly not less than 3 times the Big Blind bet. If someone subsequently re-raises you, it’s just a call because there’s no “RR2″ next to the hand, remember? If everyone folds to the SB and s/he limps by only completing the bet, then you should raise. If the SB raises, that’s a Late Position raise, so you should re-raise. Of course, if you have A-Qo in the SB, it’s the same as if you had it in the BB: re-raise a Late Position raise. But if the BB or anyone else re-raises you, then just call, because A-Qo doesn’t rate a “RR2″ designation.
You can see that there’s a (1) next to Q-Js in the Blinds column. That relates to the comment at the bottom. If everyone has limped into the pot, then raise from the SB or BB with Q-Js or higher. “Higher” refers to every hand above it in the left-hand column, which essentially means you’ll raise in that situation with any of the playable hands I show on the matrix. This situation will actually occur quite often in cash games because people like to see cheap flops, but you’re not going to let that happen, are you? If you get re-raised, just call because Q-Js does not have the RR2 designation.
And that’s basically it for now. Just play your hand as shown for the position you’re in and you’ll soon be holding your own in No-Limit Hold ‘Em. (Poor pun, I know.) When in doubt, fold; there’ll be another hand coming along soon enough. I’m not trying to turn you into a wimpy player, but folding is the best tactic if you’re confused about a hand. In time, you’ll begin to feel real comfortable with this matrix and as the $$$ come rolling in, you’ll know it’s working.
Oops! I almost forgot the ** designation that you’ll find next to the LP column up top. In the notes at the bottom, you’ll see this: **LP = 2-3 players left. This is a reminder that you must “open up” your game when you get down to 2 or 3 players left. As time goes on, you’ll find yourself as one of the last few players in SnGs and, because the Blind bets will be coming around a lot quicker, you cannot sit and wait for premium hands. When that happens, start making all of your plays according to the LP column regardless of the position you’re in. In the case of A-Qo, for example, you’d raise and call a re-raise even if you were UTG at the short-handed table. A-Qo isn’t a great hand at a full table, but it’s not bad when there are only three of you left.
In a game played with a fixed limit betting structure, a player chooses only whether to bet or not – the amount is fixed by rule. To enable the possibility of bluffing, the fixed amount generally doubles at some point in the game. This double wager amount is referred to as a big bet.
For example, a four-round game called “20 and 40 limit” (usually written as $20/$40) may specify that each bet in the first two rounds is $20, and that each big bet used in the third and fourth rounds is $40. This amount applies to each raise, not the total amount bet in a round, so a player may bet $20, be raised $20, and then re-raise another $20, for a total bet of $60, in such a game.
Four bet maximum
Most fixed limit games are played with a four bet maximum. This means that in a given betting round, there can be no more than three raises, meaning that on the betting round, only four bets of the given limit have been made.
Consider this example in a $20/$40 game, during a $20 round with three players that proceeds as follows:
Player A bets $20.
Player B puts in another bet, raises another $20, making it $40 to play.
Player C puts in a third bet, raising another $20 on that, thus making it $60 to play.
Player A puts in the fourth bet (she is usually said to cap the betting).
Once Player A has made her final bet, Players B and C may only call another three and two bets (respectively); they may not raise again because the betting is capped.
A common exception in this rule practiced in some card rooms is to allow unlimited raising when a pot is played heads up (when only two players remain). Usually, this has occurred because all other players have folded, and only two remain. Many card rooms will permit these two players to re-raise each other until one player is all in.
Some variations do exist for this exception. For example, some card rooms require that the pot became heads up before the third bet has entered the pot on that betting round. It is widely believed that this variation exists to prevent two colluding players from raising a third player out of the pot.
This exception to the four bet maximum has been observed in nearly all card rooms in the USA. It has never been observed in Internet card rooms.
In some card rooms, there is a five bet maximum instead of four.
Kill game
Sometimes a fixed limit game is played as a kill game. Such a game is played with an additional blind, called the kill blind. The kill blind can be posted from any position at the table. The amount posted is typically twice the typical blind for that game. For example, in a $20/$40 game, the large blind is typically $20. If this game were played with a full kill, the kill blind would be $40.
When the kill blind is posted, it changes the stakes of the game. For that hand, the game is played as if the game were a higher limit. In a $20/$40 game with a full kill blind posted, the hand is played as if the limit were $40/$80. The kill is said to be active when the kill blind is posted and the game is played at the higher limit.
Rules on how the kill is activated vary. On the east coast of the USA, the kill is typically activated by the previous pot being over a particular value. The most typical value is ten times the value of the large bet (in a $20/$40 game, the kill would be active if the previous pot won was greater than $400). The winner of that pot is required to post the kill blind for the next hand.
In the Pacific Northwest of the USA, a kill is typically activated when a particular player wins two pots in a row. After that player wins her second pot, she is required to post a kill blind and the kill is active for the next hand.
Note that a kill need not always be a full kill. For example, it is common to find a game with a half kill. For example, when the kill is active in $4/$8 game with a half kill, the game is played at a $6/$12 limit.
The term kill, when used in this context, should not be confused with killing a hand, which is a term used for a hand that was made a dead hand by action of a game official.
