Poker Betting Structure Terms

Big Blind (Texas Hold'Em)

This is the seat position of the player who must make an involuntary bet before any cards are dealt. The big blind bet is typically at least the minimum allowed to bet in the first round, and the big blind position is two seats to the left of the dealer button.

Blind

This is an involuntary bet made by one or more players prior to the cards being dealt.

Buy In

This is the amount of money that's required to enter a tournament. The buy in money each player puts in is what makes up the winnings of the tournament.

Double Draw

A draw poker variant which has two rounds of betting and drawing.

Entry Fee

This is separate from the buy in and is common but not always required for participation in a poker tournament. The entry fee is a much smaller amount paid out of your online poker bankroll that goes directly to the house that is sponsoring the tournament.

Fixed Limit

This is a betting structure in which bets are fixed at a certain amount, so players are choosing only whether to bet or not instead of how much they're going to bet. In most cases of fixed limit betting the fixed bet amount is bumped after a few rounds.

No Limit Games

These are the big bet game where the betting structure has no limit to the amount that can be bet or raised other than the amount of chips a player holds.

Pot Limit

This is a type of betting structure in which the bet or raise maximum a player can make is the amount that is currently in the pot.

Small Blind

In a blind betting structure the small blind is the smaller of two involuntary bets made before any cards are dealt by the player in the small blind position. This position is the seat directly to the left of the player dealing or behind the dealer button. The small blind is typically half of the amount of the big blind bet which is usually equal to a first round bet.

Spread Limit

This is one of the limit structured betting options where there is a predetermined range that the players must stay within when betting and applies to every betting round or can fluctuate between rounds. There is a minimum and maximum amount for spread limit betting.

Structured

This is in relation to the betting structure of a poker game. The structure determines how much will be bet in and within each round of betting. Common betting structures are no-limit, pot limit, fixed limit and spread limit.

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