Betting

djw · Feb 05,2004, 08:23 AM

I wanted to ask a question about betting in a limit hold em' game (home).

At the online casino's normally you have a maximum of 3 raises per round (plus the initial bet - making it 4 total bets). So in a $3/$6 game, pre-flop, the maximum you would have to throw in is $12 in that round assuming everyone bet/raised to the max. And nyou can raise only one bet at a time ($3 increments in the example).

Are there many variations to these rules? For example, do you see many places differing on how many bets are allowed per round? Also, have you ever seen the rules allow you to simply throw down 3 bets at once (in my above example, $9 pre-flop)?

Just wondering what kind of variances of the rules are out there.

ScottyZ · Feb 05,2004, 08:52 AM

The most significant rule variation is that Las Vegas casinos normally have a 5 bet cap (1 bet & 4 raises).

Also, almost all places allow for unlimited betting when it goes heads-up. There are two common variations: it can either go unlimited immediately when it gets heads up (seems to be more common because it's easier to implement this variation), or it can go unlimited on a betting round which starts with two active players.

I've never heard of a limit game where you can make multiple unit bets. Of course, you do sometimes newbies opening for 10 on the flop and 5 on the turn in a 5-10 game. (This means you should have folded on the flop by the way.) 8)

Besides spread limit (not very common in holdem, more common for low limit stud), the only substantial limit rule changes I've seen are big river or small blinds. Some places allow a bet (or raise) of either 2 (the usual numner) or 4 times the big blind on the river. Also, I believe the Orleans in Las Vegas has a game which they call 4-8-8, which is identical to a 4-8 game, except the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. So, pre-flop you can call $2 or raise to $6 (or fold if you're one of those annoying tight players...).

ScottyZ

Jeremy · Mar 03,2004, 03:18 PM

Most home games I have played in follow this scenario.

Max 3 raises
We don't usually have unlimited raises head to head(especially if newbies are present).

I have played with some guys that, if there is a lot of betting in a round, the next round they will just say "is this going to the max"? if someone else agrees, they will just put in the total amount of a bet+ three raises all at once, and any callers will have to do the same. I think this is a terrible way to do it, you will end up winning less in the long run and I think only REALLY loose players would do this.

Hork42 · Mar 03,2004, 06:24 PM

I haven't seen any online sites that have more than 3 raises, even in a heads-up situation... I would guess this would be to minimize abuse. (Collusion, money transferring... ) dunno though. Is there any good reason for this?

hork.

ScottyZ · Mar 03,2004, 06:48 PM

I haven't played limit tournaments for a while, so I'm not sure--- they might actually remove the cap heads-up on some sites.

In terms of a cash game, some reasons I can think of to keep the cap on:

1. To protect inexperienced players in limit play.
2. To prevent wasting time if two players have the nuts on the river.

I can't see how it prevents collusion, since it only applies heads-up. And most sites allow you to do cash transfers between players anyway, so chip dumping is irrelevant. (Tournament chip dumpers would play NL, because chip dumping is easier and less obvious than it is in limit.)

ScottyZ