Betting Round 1 – The Pre-flop

The first betting round, also known as the pre-flop, starts when all players have received their pocket cards.

First the SB and BB are paid and then the turn to act comes to the player to the left of the BB. There are three possible actions that can be taken:

►Call: Matching the current bet in order to remain in the hand. Calling the BB is in poker jargon known as limping in and a player that limps in is referred to as a limper. Calling is always an option. Should you have too few chips to match your opponent's bet you can still call by going all-in (betting all chips you have left). If a player goes all-in against players with more chips, a side pot will be created for any bets exeeding the all-in bet.

►Raise: Raising the bet above the current bet. The total amount you bet when raising is the amount you raise with + the cost of calling.

►Fold: Giving up the hand and saving the chips for the next hand. The cards are placed face down on the table and moved to the discard pile, also known as the muck (thus the expression muck one’s hand").

When all ordinary players have made their actions the turn to act comes to the SB. In order to stay in the hand he must either call or raise, whichever he prefers. Otherwise he must fold. His options are in other words exactly the same as those of the ordinary players with the difference that he already has a partial bet in the pot.

The first round then proceeds to the BB who has the same options as the other players with one addition; if all non folding players limp in, then the BB is given an option to raise or check. The betting round ends if he chooses to check.

The betting round continues until all players have either called or folded. If a player makes a bet that all subsequent players fold to, then the hand ends prematurely and the betting player wins the pot. The hand moves on to the next betting round if all non folding players call a bet unless the bet happens to be the original structured bet of the BB; in which case his aforementioned option comes into play.