Texas Hold’em is an extremely popular OKVIP game style. If you want to enjoy OKVIP, you cannot help but know how to play Texas Hold’em. In this article, we will introduce you to all information related to Texas Hold’em.
What Is Texas Hold’em OKVIP?
Texas Hold’em poker is one of the most popular poker variants in the world. Despite its relative simplicity, Texas Hold’em has the potential to be played with a seemingly infinite variety of strategies and tactics.
The Rules Of Texas Hold’em
- Each player is dealt two cards that only they can see (called “hole cards”’).
- 5 cards will be dealt (community cards) – three at once, then another, then another – all players can use these to make their best possible 5 cards hand.
- Before and after turning over each card, players take turns placing bets (Information about betting rounds you can find out here). To stay in the hand and see the next card, all players must place the same number of chips in the pot (unless one player has gone all-in).
- The best poker hand will win the pot (Information about OKVIP hand rankings you can find here). Players can use any combination of the seven available cards to create the best possible five-card poker hand, using zero, one or two of their own cards.
Actions In OKVIP
We have an article explaining in detail the betting options of players. Please read the betting action information in the related article.
How many Hand Combinations are there in Texas Hold’em?
There are 1,326 possible combinations for your opening hand in Texas Hold’em poker. However, because suits have no value in this poker variant, a lot of these combinations will have the same value before the flop. When we eliminate identical combinations, there are 169 starting hands in Texas Hold’em.
Pre-flop, Pocket Aces is the best starting hand. However, if your hand doesn’t improve on the board, you will only have one pair. Particularly in multi-way pots, this may not be a strong enough holding for you to continue in later betting rounds, or to win the hand if it gets to showdown.
When playing heads up games (vs just one opponent), you typically need to play an extremely wide range of starting hands, especially when on the button.
However, in multi-way games (vs several opponents), you need to be more selective with your starting hands, taking table position and the actions of your opponents into account. Hands with generally strong playability include:
- Top pairs – AA and KK are the premium starting hands in Texas Hold’em. They can be played extremely confidently and aggressively pre-flop, and you shouldn’t be deterred from getting your stack in the middle at this stage if you get the opportunity. QQ and JJ are the next best pairs which can also be played positively, though you need to proceed with caution if facing a lot of pre-flop aggression, or if over cards are dealt on the flop.
- Small pairs – small to middle pairs like 44 or 66 are good to play in late position if you can see a flop relatively cheaply, to try and hit a set on the flop. If you do, your hand will be pretty well disguised against opponents playing bigger pairs or higher cards. Folding is recommended against a lot of pre-flop action, or if you face a bet after missing the flop.
- Suited connectors – cards with consecutive numbers and the same suit (e.g. JH, 10H). These holdings have great playability post-flop and can give you the chance to make straights or flushes. It’s recommended that you play a lot of these hands multi-way and/or when you have a deep stack, as you have the potential to win large pots against players with inferior holdings like two pair or three of a kind.
- Suited aces – hands like AH, 4H give you the potential to make straights, but more importantly, the nut flush. Again, this can be extremely profitable against players with inferior holdings – especially players who may also hit lower value flushes. In addition, suited aces are great bluffing hands against pre-flop raises. Holding an ace means you block the combinations of aces that your opponent(s) can be holding. And if you’re called, your holding still has decent playability post-flop.
Limit, No Limit And Pot Limit Texas Hold’em
Hold’em rules remain the same for Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit poker games, with a few exceptions
Limit Texas Hold’em
Betting in Limit Hold’em is in pre-determined, structured amounts. Pre-flop and on the flop, all bets and raises are of the same amount as the big blind. On the turn and the river, the size of all bets and raises doubles. In Limit Hold’em, up to four bets are allowed per player during each betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap (final raise).
No Limit Texas Hold’em
The minimum bet in No Limit Hold’em is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet as much more as they want, up to all of their chips.
Minimum raise: In No Limit Hold’em, 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 $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table).
In No Limit Hold’em, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
Pot Limit Texas Hold’em
The minimum bet in Pot Limit Hold’em is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.
Minimum 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 $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 – the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.
In Pot Limit Hold’em, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
Learn to play Texas Hold’em OKVIP for free at OKVIP
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