BETTING LIMITS
There are two kinds of betting limits in Holdem: structured and spread limit.
The most common at the low limits is “sread limit,” for example 1-4, which means, at each betting round, you can bet anywhere from $1 to $4.
Typically in spread-limit games, the bets on the first round will be at the minimum, and players will bet the maximum on later rounds.
Typical spread limits you might see are 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, 2-10, 1-4-8, 1-4-4-8, or 1-4-8-8.
Games designated by two numbers, such as 1-4, allow bets in the range of $1 to $4, at any betting round.
A designation such as 1-4-8 means that bets up to $4 are allowed at any round until the last round,when the allowable range is $ 1 to $8.
Most cardrooms would designate that game as 1-4-4-8. When describing the limits of a spread-limit game,a 1 is the first number in the description.
There are a few exceptions, such as 2-10 and 2-4-8-8, but many clubs will designate games as 1-4-8-8 even if the actual minimum bet is $2.
“Structured limits” are where the bet at every round is fixed, 10/20 is an example.
Here the bet on the first two betting rounds is $10, on the second two, $20.
A “variation” is structured betting with an option on the last bet, for example, 3/6/12 or 10/20/40.
In 3/6/12, the bet on the first round is $3, the bet on the flop is $3, on the turn $6, and river bet is either $6 or $12 at the option of the bettor.
Spread-limit games also sometimes have the limit double on the last betting round.
Holdem is sometimes played as a pot-limit or no-limit game, or sometimes as a variation such as pot-limit with a cap on the maximum allowable bet.
Most casino games, however, are played as either spread-or structured-limit games.
The strategic advice in this book is mostly geared toward the typical structured game with two betting levels.
However, spread-and structured-limit games with three betting levels each have some important strategic considerations that are unique to the betting structure.
These issues are addressed separately in Chapters 20 and 21.
