No Limit Texas Holdem - The WSOP Game
As a dedicated follower of the World Series of Poker, you of course realize that the type of poker played in the main event is no-limit Texas Holdem. It can be argued, without any substantial fear of contradiction, that this poker variation is by far the most popular among serious gamblers today.
The reasons for this are not hard to fathom, because the game offers such a relentless assault of betting, bluffing and nonstop action. Entire fortunes can easily be lost or gained in a single hand, making this a game that's not well suited for the weak of heart.
The main event of the World Series of Poker is a $10,000 buy-in game of no-limit Holdem. For the laymen out there, that mean in order to get a seat in this game, you must slap down 10 large upfront. (Unless of course you qualify for the events via an online satellite tournament.)
If you have watched the World Series of Poker on television but have never played no-limit Texas Holdem for yourself, perhaps it would be beneficial to take a quick review of the basics of the game. Play begins with each player being dealt two cards, face down. These cards are known as the "hole cards" and are the only cards each player will receive individually.
The hand starts with the Pre-Flop betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise. The dealer then tosses out a "burn card", followed by three face-up community cards called the Flop, which then has its own round of betting. Then another card is burned and a single community card called the Turn (or, sometimes, Fourth Street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final burn card is followed by a single community card called the River and yet another betting round.
The no-limit form of Texas Holdem is typically played in tournament and casino settings with small and big "blinds" which are forced bets at the beginning of the hand, made by the people one and two seats left of the dealer, respectively. The big blind is usually twice the small blind. The blind structure periodically increases as the tournament progresses.
When playing a no-limit game, any player has the option of wagering any amount above the minimum bet. The minimum raise is the amount of the last bet or raise. If a player wagers all of the chips that he or she has on the table, this is called going "all-in."
As you can tell from even such a rudimentary introduction to the game structure, this is an extremely exciting and high-action form of poker. So give it a shot sometime, because it's a whole lot more fun to play than to watch. Once you start to get a hang of it, I can recommend you reading some of the strategy articles here at PokerJunkie.com.
