It’s time to learn the different game mechanics and what they are called in No Limit Texas Holdem. The three basic things you can do in the game is to call, raise or fold. Folding means throwing away your cards putting no more money into the pot. This is what you do if you don’t think you have the best hand and don’t think you can manage to bluff the other player.

Calling means putting in the same amount of money as the bet is. Say if CO bets $4, you need to put in $4 yourself to call and still keep your cards and be in the hand. If everyone either folds or calls the bet made we move on to the next street, from the flop to the turn, etc.

Raising means increasing the bet, you have to at least double what your opponents bets into you. If CO bets $4 you have to raise to at least $8. Preflop it is considered that the big blind is a bet, so we have to bet twice that amount to raise. In a $0.50/$1 game that would be $2. It is normal to raise 3 or 4 times the big blind preflop though, I suggest 4 times as a new player.

In no limit holdem there is no limit to how much you can raise, thus the name no limit. If someone raises the bet one time and you raise their bet, it’s called reraising.  Say preflop UTG raises to $4 preflop in a $0.50/$1.00 game, you’re on the BTN with AA. Now you probably want to raise this bet, this is called reraising or 3-betting. 3-betting is bet number 3, 4-betting is bet number 4, etc. In this case bet number 1 is the $1 dollar big blind. A 3-bet to 13 big blinds or $13 is a good option.

If you bet or raise without a hand you think is best it is called a bluff. You should not bluff too often as a new player, that is a mistake many players make. If you bluff with 4 cards to a straight or flush it is called a semibluff, since there is a decent chance you will win hitting your straight or flush on the next cards.

Just calling the big blind preflop in NLHE is called limping, limping is usually considered a bad play. I suggest you never limp in no limit holdem 6 max. Now that you know the basic game mechanics, lets move on to what hands to play from the different positions.