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This text has been taken from Clubpoker.lv website
Much of this website refers to the game of No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. This is the game experiencing the greatest boost in popularity and is the game that is shown on nearly all poker TV programmes. In "No-Limit" games, each player can bet as much as he likes (up to the amount he has on the table) at any stage of the game.
Many poker games, however, have much tighter limits on the amount that a player can bet at any one time. In particular, there are "Fixed Limit" games and "Pot Limit" games.
Fixed Limit - In a fixed limit game, the amount of any individual bet or raise is literally fixed to a specific amount. For example, in a $1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold 'Em game, all bets and raises before the flop or on the flop must be exactly $1. Bets and raises on the turn and river must be exactly $2.
Pot Limit is simply where you cannot raise by more than the total amount in the pot at the time. For example, suppose that in a game with two players left, there is £2 in a pot already and Player 1 bets another £1. If player 2 calls the £1 bet, there will be a total of £4 in the pot. If he wishes to raise, he may not, therefore, raise by more than £4.
No-Limit describes a game where betting is not limited in any of the ways described above. You can bet any amount at any time at any time, up to the total amount of chips you have on the table at the time.
Table Stakes - All internet poker games and all casino games (including "no-limit" games) are played as table stakes games. Table Stakes merely means that you cannot bet (and therefore cannot lose) more money than you actually have on the table at the time. Forget the movies where players have to go and get more money in order to be able to stay in a big hand - it isn't necessary!
When you sit down at a table you "buy-in" for the amount of money you want to play (there may be minimum and/or maximum amounts you are allowed to bring to the table). Having done this, you cannot bring more money to the table during the middle of a hand - you can only play with what you have. Between hands, you can bring money to the table, but you can't take it away unless you leave the table altogether.
The main advantages of table stakes is that even if someone places a bet larger than the amount of money you have on the table, you can still call and stay in the hand by betting all of what you do have on the table. This is called going "all-in." This system of table stakes means you cannot be forced out of a hand simply because someone has more money than you. As an example, under table stakes rules, someone may bet $3, and you can call this bet even if you only have $1 left on the table. $2 of the $3 bet by the other player will either be returned to that player or will go into a "side pot" which you cannot win. You can, however, still win the main pot.
The principle of side pots is straightforward: If you have gone "all-in" and have only put e.g. $5 into the pot, you can only win a maximum of $5 off of each of the other players. If any of them put more than $5 into the pot, that extra money will go into a side pot which you cannot win.The actual mathematics of how much goes into a side pot may be tricky sometimes. Fortunately, on the internet, the poker software does it all for you in the blink of an eye!
Games with different types of limits will require different tactics.
In no-limit games, you can easily protect your hand by making a large bet. For example, if you have Two Pairs on the turn, you can make a bet large enough to make sure that no player has the correct odds to draw to a flush or straight, for example.
In a Limit Game, you can't usually do this. Any bet you make will probably be small compared to the size of the pot, thus often giving people the correct odds to draw to hands like straights and flushes.
Also, A limit game will often result in a showdown, perhaps with several players in it. You therefore need to be playing hands that have a good chance of being the best hand at the showdown. Furthermore, there is often little point in bluffing, since you can only make a small bet into a large pot and so are very likely to be called.
No-limit games more often end without a showdown or, perhaps with only two players making it to the showdown. There is also much more room for bluffing and fancy play.
In Pot Limit Games, you have to be aware that each bet you make increases the size of the raise that other players can then make. It also increases the size of the bet/raise you yourself can make in later betting rounds. Thus in pot limit games, players will often make a small bet on the draw to a hand like a straight or flush. This then increases the size of the bet they can make if they do then get their hand.
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