Who Participates in Holdem Poker Pots?

Who Enters the Pot in Holdem Poker?

What hands you decide to fold, call or raise depends mostly on the bargaining you’ve seen before you and on your position at the table. You have one set of criteria for the situations when all players before you have folded their cards and completely another one if two players have already made raise and reraise. It would be completely impossible to lighten all the possible raising, calling and folding combinations for each and every table position in a pot of holdem poker. I’ve classified them into five groups instead leaving you with good review of different possibilities.

The five groups of raising, calling and folding combinations

1. No one has yet entered bargaining for the pot.

2. Player in third position made initial raise thrice as big as the big blind. You’re in fifth position. Players in first, second and fourth positions folded their cards.

3. Player in third position called the big blind. Like in the previous situation you are in fifth position and players in first, second and fourth positions folded their cards.

4. You’re on the button. Player in third position raised to the sum three times higher than the big blind and player in fifth position made nine times higher call. All other players folded their cards.

5. You’re on the button. Players in second, fourth and sixth positions joined bargaining by limping (calling the big blind). Players in first and fifth positions folded.

Although you won’t appear in the same exact situations quite often, my analysis must show you how to think about entering bargaining.