Betting Limits dictate how much you can bet and raise at any particular time during the hand.

Although you can play any poker variant at any betting limits, each one has a particular betting limit that it is more commonly played.

There are three basic limits, or betting structures, used in the different types of poker games:

Fixed Limit Poker

In Fixed Limit poker there are restrictions imposed on the amount that you can bet. All bets and raises must be in equal increments set by the stakes of the table. Players cannot bet more or less than the Fixed Limit increment.

For example, if a poker game has table stakes of “$5/$10”, all bets & raises must be placed equal to the low-end ($5) or high-end ($10) stakes.

The actual amount varies by the particular betting round. In Texas Holdem, for instance, there are 4 betting rounds. For the first two betting rounds, all bets/raises must be equal to the low-end stakes of $5. The last two betting rounds increase bets/raises to meet the high-end stakes of $10.

Fixed Limit is most often used in Stud Poker based variants.

No Limit Poker

No Limit poker has no limits on the amount a player can bet or raise. The only limit is the total chips a player has at the table.

Stakes are still used in a No Limit poker game, but these refer only to the minimum bet and forced bets at the start of each hand. For example, in a $5/$10 Texas Holdem game, the Small Blind (forced bet) would be $5 and the Big Blind (forced bet) $10. The minimum bet/raise would be $10.

No Limit is most often used in Texas Holdem Poker.

Pot Limit Poker

Pot Limit is a better variant between Fixed Limit and No Limit.

The table stakes refer to the minimum size of bet/raise and forced bets just like a No Limit poker game, but the maximum bet is only limited by the size of the current pot.

This means a player can wager up to as much as the pot currently holds but no more.

For example, if the pot has $10 in it, the player may raise up to $10. Let’s assume the player does bet $10; the pot now holds $20. The next bettor may wager up to $20, and so on…

Pot Limit is most often used in Omaha Poker.