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Poker players usually start by playing at home with friends and family.  Home games tend to be simple in their structure with everyone putting in a small ante and a low upper and lower betting limit. The ante may be around 25c with bets/raises up to $2.

The action is often bet, call or bet, raise, call. The play will end in a showdown with the best cards winning rather than the best moves.

Online Poker is different in all respects, the ante, the betting structure and the competition.

The Ante 

In online poker there is no ante except in 7 stud. Instead the two players to the left of the dealer pay the small blind and the big blind respectively. These bets are compulsory whether or not the player intends to continue. The other players do not have to place a bet in the pot unless they wish to see the Flop in which case they must at least match the previous player's bet. In a Low-Limit 50c/$1 game with 6 players the pre-flop betting might go like this:

Player 1 small blind  50c

Player 2  big blind  $1

Player 3  fold

Player 4  call the big blind $1

Player 5  raises the big blind $2

Dealer 6 fold

Player 1 fold

Player 2 calls the raise

Player 3 calls the raise

Note that all the players going into the flop have all paid the same amount into the pot. 

After the Flop the betting begins again the player in the small blind position folded pre-flop so the player who placed the big blind ( player 2 ) starts the action. ( see our Poker Rules section for more info on blinds ).

The Betting

In no limit Poker there is a minimum bet but the only upper limit is the number of chips in your stack. You cannot be forced out of a hand by not being able to match a bet in no limit.

Say for instance in our example player 2 put $40 in the pot and player 3 only had $20, which they placed in the pot, the game would continue as if player 2 had only bet $20 with the other $20 being put in a sidepot. If player 4 had more than $40 left they would put $20 in the pot and $20 in the sidepot. If player 2 won the hand they would take both the pot and the side pot as would player 4. If player 3 won the hand they would take the pot and the sidepot would go to either player 2 or 4 depending on which of them had the best hand.

Another form of poker with a betting Limit is Pot Limit Poker in which the maximum bet is equal to the size of the pot.

In Limit Poker be it Texas Holdem Poker or Omaha poker an upper and lower limit of betting is specified and all bets will be at those levels. Thus in a $4/$8 game all bets pre-flop and at the Flop are at $4 and at the turn and River $8.

Player 1  Check
Player 2  Bets $4
Player 3  Raise $4 ( making $8 in total )
Player 4  Call $8

Player  1 Fold
Player  2 Calls the $8 raise by putting $4 in the pot

All players have now added the same amount to the pot. At the Turn and River the betting is now at the higher limit of $8.

Player 2  Bet $8
Player 3  Fold
Player 4  Raise $8 to $16 in total

Player 2  Call $8

Both players have again contributed an equal amount to the pot.

Competition

In online Poker or in a cardroom skill is more important than luck. The players are making judgements based on how much money they stand to make or lose not out of curiosity for what their opponents are holding or out of a friendly rivalry.   Do not bet all the way to the River just to see someones cards. You may get lucky at first but eventually unless you use strategies like those outlined on this website you will lose. Worse still if you got lucky initially it will forever give you the wrong impression of the game.