Texas Holdem Glossary and Game Types

Let’s take a closer look at the most important Texas Hold’em rules, terms, types of games, and the explanation of the betting rounds.

Glossary of Terms

Here is a list of the terms most commonly used in Texas Hold’em poker:

  • All-in: Betting all your chips on one hand.
  • Anchor: The player seated just before the dealer.
  • Ante: The minimum amount of money players must place on the table before betting begins.
  • Big Blind: A forced bet placed at the beginning of a game by the player seated two positions left from the dealer. Equal to the minimum bet in the game.
  • Bluff: Pretending to have a good hand.
  • Board: Cards that are on the table.
  • Bullets: A pair of aces.
  • Burning a card: Removing the first card from the deck before dealing.
  • Buy-in: The minimum amount of chips you must bring to a poker game to be eligible to play.
  • Call: Place a bet equal to the bet of the previous player.
  • Check: Stay in the game without placing a bet.
  • Community Cards: The cards dealt face up and shared by the players.
  • Dealer Button: The disc given to the dealer of the round.
  • Flop: The first three community cards.
  • Fold: Decide to skip the round because you have bad cards.
  • Hand: A player’s best five-card combination.
  • Hole Cards: Two cards dealt to each player at the beginning of each round.
  • House: The host of a game.
  • Muck: Folding a hand without showing it to the table.
  • Off-suit: Two cards of different suits.
  • Over the Top: Re-raise
  • Pot: The total amount of money on the table bet by the players.
  • Raise: Increase the bet compared to the previous player.
  • Showdown: All players reveal their cards.
  • Small Blind: A forced bet placed by the player sitting left to the dealer. Equal to half of the big blind.
  • Stack: Player’s chips.

Texas Hold’em Game Types

Although Texas Hold’em is a variation of poker, it has its own variations as well. Here are three most popular variations you can play.

No-Limit Game

No-limit Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular types of this game because of the freedom it gives to players. Namely, this game is called this way because the highest bet is not limited. Therefore, players can bet all-in at any point during the round. This makes the game more exciting than other variations.

The main advantage of no-limit Texas Hold’em is that you can develop an elaborate strategy where you can raise and bluff as much as you want. However, the main disadvantage is that this game is too risky since you can quickly lose your whole stack.

Fixed-Limit Game

In a fixed-limit game, you are not allowed to bet more than what is determined by the house. This game has a two-tier betting structure, where the upper limit is two times the lower limit. For example, if the lower limit is $4, then the upper limit is $8. The lower limit determines the betting increment in the first two rounds, while the upper limit determines the increments for the last two rounds.

The fixed-limit Hold’em game is perfect for beginners as there are no surprises and it’s difficult to make a serious bluffing attempt. However, experienced players do not like it because it’s difficult to develop a good playing strategy.

Pot-Limit Game

Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em is a mix of no-limit and fixed-limit Hold’em. It takes the best of both variations and combines them to make a unique game. In a pot-limit game, you cannot bet whatever you want. However, you can wager the amount in the pot and the bets on the table, as well as how much you called before raising. For example, if you’re first to play and the pot is $40 with the big blind of $4, you can bet anywhere between $4 and $40.

This is a good variation when transitioning from a limit to a no-limit game. You have more freedom when raising, but you do not need to worry about going all-in. However, its disadvantage is that it’s quite complicated to keep track of the bets.