Betting action

4.1 Action goes clockwise, one player at a time

Each player acts in turn, clockwise around the table, and only when it is their turn. You act by saying what you are doing, by putting chips forward, or both. An action taken in turn stands, and chips put in the pot stay there.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 52; pagat.com, Poker betting, "Betting Principles".

4.2 Who acts first on each betting round

In games with blinds, the first betting round starts with the player on the big blind's left, and the big blind acts last. On every later round, the first player still in the hand on the button's left acts first, and the button (or the nearest player still in to its right) acts last. Heads-up the button acts first before the flop and last after it (5.6). Stud games have no button: the bring-in opens the first round and the best hand showing opens the rest (7-Card Stud).

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 4, "Button and Blind Use" introduction; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 8, "Rules of Seven-Card Stud" rule 2.

4.3 A betting round ends when everyone still in has matched the bet

A round is over when every player still in the hand has had a turn since the last bet or raise and has put in the same amount, or when everyone has checked. It also ends at once when only one player is left. Players who are all in are not waited for.

Source: pagat.com, Poker rules, "The Deal and the Betting"; pagat.com, Poker betting, "Betting Principles".

4.4 Check, bet, call, raise and fold

1. (a) Check: pass without putting chips in. Allowed only when nobody has bet on this round.
2. (b) Bet: put chips in when nobody has yet bet on this round.
3. (c) Call: match the current bet.
4. (d) Raise: match the current bet and add more on top.
5. (e) Fold: give up the hand and every chip you have put in.

The TDA lists these, plus "all-in", "complete" (raising a stud bring-in or a short all-in up to a full bet in fixed limit) and "pot" (pot-limit only), as the official words. Other words and gestures are at your own risk.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 3; pagat.com, Poker betting, "Betting Principles".

4.5 Folding when you could have checked still counts

You may fold at any time, even when checking would cost nothing. It is pointless and gives information away, so the TDA calls it non-standard and may penalize it in a tournament, but the fold stands. A fold out of turn stands too (4.24).

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 60.

4.6 Check-raising is allowed

You may check and then raise if someone bets after you on the same round. Card rooms allow it in every game; Robert's Rules makes an exception only for some forms of lowball. Some home games ban it (they call it "sandbagging"), so it is worth asking.

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 2; pagat.com, Poker betting, "The Check-Raise".

4.7 In no-limit and pot-limit, the smallest bet is the big blind

Unless you are going all in, a bet must be at least the size of the big blind, on every betting round. At $2/$5, the smallest bet on the river is still $5. Fixed-limit bets have set sizes instead (Betting structures).

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 2.

4.8 A raise must be at least as big as the last bet or raise

In no-limit and pot-limit, a raise has to add at least as much as the largest bet or raise already made on this round. At $1/$2, before the flop the big blind counts as the bet, so the smallest raise is to $4. If someone raises to $7 (a raise of $5), the next raise must be to at least $12. On the flop, if A bets $10 and B raises to $30, C must make it at least $50 to raise.

There is no limit on how many times players may raise in no-limit and pot-limit.

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 45 and 50; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rules 1 and 3.

4.9 A raise that comes up short

In a card room you may put out a raise that is too small. The TDA's rule:

1. (a) if the amount added is at least half of a minimum raise, you must make a full minimum raise;
2. (b) if it is less than half, it is only a call, unless you said "raise" first or you are all in.

At $1/$2, A bets $100 on the turn. B silently puts out $140: the extra $40 is less than half of a $100 raise, so B has called. If B puts out $150, B must raise to $200. Robert's Rules and the WSOP's cash rules agree that a raise below the minimum is brought up to the minimum and no further.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 45; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 11; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 179 (copy hosted by the PHH project).

4.10 You can always go all in, even for less than a call

Because of table stakes (Betting structures), nobody can be bet out of a hand. If calling would cost more than you have, you may call with everything you have left. You can then win from each opponent only as much as you put in; the rest goes into a side pot the others play for (Pots).

Source: pagat.com, Poker betting, "Going All-In"; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Glossary, "Table stakes".

4.11 A short all-in does not reopen the betting to players who have already acted

In no-limit and pot-limit, an all-in that raises by less than a full raise lets the players who have not yet acted do anything they like, but it does not give a new chance to raise to players who already acted and are now facing less than a full raise. They may only call the extra or fold.

At $5/$10, on the flop A bets $100 and B calls. C goes all in for $130, a raise of only $30. When the action comes back, A and B may call the $30 or fold, but not raise. The TDA, Robert's Rules and the WSOP's cash rules all say this.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 49; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 3; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 171 (copy hosted by the PHH project).

4.12 Several short all-ins can add up to a full raise

Two or more short all-ins that together lift the bet by at least a full raise do reopen the betting. In the example in 4.11, C goes all in for $130 and then D goes all in for $200. A now faces $100 more than A bet, a full raise, so A may raise again. B, who called $100, also faces a full $100 more and may raise.

The test is what each player now faces since they last acted. Robert's Rules gives the case where it fails: A bets $100, B raises to $200, C goes all in for $250 and A calls. B now faces only $50 more than B's own raise, less than a full raise, so B may not raise again (A could, because B had fully raised A).

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 49; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 4.

4.13 A raise over a short all-in is measured from the last full raise

A short all-in does not change the size of the minimum raise. The next raise must add at least the last full bet or raise on top of the all-in. The WSOP's example: A bets $100 and B goes all in for $140; anyone who wants to raise must make it at least $240.

Robert's Rules covers an all-in below the minimum bet: if the minimum bet is $100 and a player goes all in on the flop for $20, the next player may fold, call $20 or raise to at least $120. A big blind faced only with short all-ins keeps the option to raise (5.5).

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 45 and 49; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 172 (copy hosted by the PHH project); Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 2, and Section 4, "Rules for Using Blinds" rule 9.

4.14 Fixed limit: half a bet counts as a full bet

In fixed-limit games the line is half a bet, not a full raise. An all-in that raises by at least half the betting unit counts as a full raise and reopens the betting to everyone. Less than half does not: players who already acted may only call or fold, and a player who has not yet acted may fold, call, or "complete" the bet to a full raise.

At $10/$20 on the turn, A bets $20 and B calls.

1. (a) C goes all in for $28. That is only $8 more, less than half of $20, so A and B may only call $8 or fold. D, still to act, may fold, call $28 or complete to $40.
2. (b) C goes all in for $30. The extra $10 is half a bet, so it counts as a raise, and A and B may raise. Robert's Rules and the WSOP's cash rules make a full raise over it the all-in plus one bet: $30 + $20 = $50.

The TDA's 2026 rules set the same half-bet line for reopening in tournaments.

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 7; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 129 (copy hosted by the PHH project); TDA 2026, Rule 49.

4.15 Fixed limit caps the number of raises

Fixed-limit games limit how many times the betting may go up on one round; pagat.com and Robert's Rules both give guarding against collusion as the reason. The house sets the number, and rulebooks differ:

1. (a) Robert's Rules: a bet and three raises in games with three or more betting rounds (Hold'em, stud); a bet and four raises in games with two (lowball, draw).
2. (b) The WSOP's cash rules (2023): a bet and four raises in every game; a straddle does not count as one of them, and a stud completion is not a raise.
3. (c) The TDA (tournaments): a cap set by the house.

They also differ on heads-up play. Robert's Rules lifts the cap in cash games whenever the action becomes heads-up before the cap is reached; once a round is capped, a fold that leaves two players does not uncap it. The WSOP lifts it only for a round that starts heads-up. The TDA keeps the cap even heads-up until the whole tournament is down to two players. No-limit and pot-limit have no cap.

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rules 4 and 5; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rules 126 and 127 (copy hosted by the PHH project); TDA 2026, Rule 50; pagat.com, Poker betting, "Number of Raises"; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 16, "Explanations" discussion 6.

4.16 What you say in turn is binding

If you say "call", "raise" or "fold" when it is your turn, you have to do it. A spoken action takes precedence over chips that say something different. Under the TDA, whichever comes first, the words or the chips, defines the action; if both come at once, a clear spoken declaration wins. Saying only a number ("two hundred") is the same as silently putting out that amount, which matters under 4.9. A general "call" or "raise" commits you to the full current action.

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 42 and 53; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 9.

4.17 Tapping the table is a check

Knocking or rapping the table with your hand, when it is your turn and nobody has bet, means check.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 3; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 10.

4.18 String bets are not allowed

A string bet is putting chips out, then reaching back to your stack for more to make the same bet bigger, without having said how much first. It is not allowed because it lets a player watch for reactions before deciding the final size. The fix is to say "raise" and the amount, or to put the whole amount in in one motion.

Rulebooks differ in how strict they are after the word "raise". The TDA's tournament rules require the full amount to be stated or pushed out in one motion. Robert's Rules lets a cash-game player who has said "raise" keep adding chips in more than one move, since a big no-limit raise can take a lot of chips; the WSOP's cash rules allow several moves only once an amount has been declared. When a player calls and then reaches back for a raise, pagat.com gives the usual result: it counts as a call and the extra chips go back.

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 44 and 58; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 14, and Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 6; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 174 (copy hosted by the PHH project); pagat.com, Poker betting, "Betting Principles".

4.19 Putting in more chips than a call

If you silently put out several chips facing a bet, and every chip is needed to make the call, it is a call. If some chips are not needed, the half-raise test of 4.9 decides whether it is a call or a raise. The TDA's example: facing a bet of 1,100, putting out a 1,000 chip and a 500 chip is a call, because without the 500 the chips fall short. Robert's Rules puts the line for fixed limit the same way: a full bet plus half a bet or more is a raise.

Don't push out extra chips expecting change. Facing a 325 bet, silently putting out 525 is a raise to 650 under the TDA's rule.

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 47 and 63; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 14.

4.20 A single oversized chip is a call unless you say "raise"

Facing a bet, putting in one chip worth more than the call, without saying anything, is only a call. In a $3/$6 game, if a player bets $6 and you silently put in a $25 chip, you have called $6. To raise with a big chip you must say "raise" before the chip lands; the TDA reads "raise" with no amount as the chip's full value. With no bet in front of you, a single chip put out silently is a bet of its full value.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 46; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 15, and Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 10.

4.21 Calling for less than the bet

Putting in less than the call without saying "call" is an undercall. The TDA makes it a full call when you are heads-up, or when you are facing the first bet of a round with several players in (before the flop that is the big blind). In other cases the tournament director may instead let you fold and lose what you put in. Robert's Rules treats a short call as a counting error to be corrected: the call must be brought up to the right amount, even if the bettor has already shown a better hand.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 53; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 16, and Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 9.

4.22 Mistaking the size of a bet

The two rulebooks take different views on a player who calls without realizing how big the bet was.

1. (a) The TDA: before calling, you are responsible for knowing the bet. If you ask for a count, get the wrong figure and call, you have accepted the correct amount and owe it. The director may still use general fairness (TDA Rule 1).
2. (b) Robert's Rules (cash games): in no-limit and pot-limit, a call may be ruled not binding if the player plainly misunderstood the amount and no harm was done. Its example: A bets $300, B re-raises to $1,200, and C puts in $300 and says "call". C may take the $300 back and think again. As a rule of thumb, it suggests not allowing the claim once the caller has put in 80 percent or more of the bet.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 51; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 12.

4.23 "All in" means your whole stack, up to the limit

Saying "all in" in turn commits every chip you have. Putting in your last chips is an all-in whether or not it reaches the minimum raise. In pot-limit, an all-in larger than the pot is cut back to a pot-sized bet or raise (3.8), and in fixed limit a bet or raise is never more than one bet (3.11).

Source: TDA 2026, Rules 3 and 47; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 1, and Section 14, "Pot-Limit Rules" rule 1.

4.24 Acting out of turn

Acting before your turn is not allowed. Rulebooks agree that an out-of-turn action stands if nothing changes before your turn, and that an out-of-turn fold always stands. They differ on what happens when the action does change.

On the flop at $1/$2, Ann acts first, then Bo, then Cy. Cy says "check" before Ann has acted.

1. (a) If Ann and Bo both check, nothing has changed and Cy's check stands. (A check, call or fold in between does not count as a change.)
2. (b) If Ann bets $10, the action has changed. Under the TDA and the WSOP's cash rules, Cy's check no longer binds him: when his turn comes he may fold, call or raise. Robert's Rules is stricter: a player who checked out of turn may not bet or raise on his next turn, so Cy may only call or fold.

Out-of-turn bets work the same way. If Cy had bet $10 out of turn and Ann then bet, the TDA gives Cy his $10 back and all his options. Heads-up, the TDA says a player who checks out of turn may only call or fold that round. Doing it on purpose can be penalized under every rulebook.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 55; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 11; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 132 (copy hosted by the PHH project).

4.25 Substantial action

Several rulings depend on whether "substantial action" has happened since a mistake. The TDA defines it as either:

1. (a) any two actions in turn, at least one of which puts chips in the pot (two checks or two folds don't count); or
2. (b) any three actions in turn of any kind.

Posted blinds don't count. It decides, for example, whether a skipped player still gets to act (4.26), whether a misdeal can still be called (The deal and misdeals), and whether a hand dealt at the old blind level by mistake stands (5.26).

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 38.

4.26 A skipped player must speak up

If players act after you before you have acted, you must stop the action ("time!") to keep your turn. Under the TDA, if you had a reasonable chance and say nothing before substantial action has happened after you, the out-of-turn actions stand and the director decides what becomes of your hand, which may mean you can only call or fold, or that your hand is dead. Robert's Rules puts the line at three or more players acting behind you, and the WSOP's cash rules at two. You can't lose your turn while someone before you is still to act.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 55; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 12; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 133 (copy hosted by the PHH project).

4.27 Chips released into the pot stay there

Once you let go of chips in the pot to bet or call, you are bound by it and must make the amount right. Robert's Rules makes one exception: if you didn't know the pot had been raised, you may take the chips back and think again, as long as nobody has acted after you.

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 13; TDA 2026, Rule 52.

4.28 Forward motion with chips

Rulebooks treat a hand moving toward the pot with chips differently by betting structure. In fixed limit, Robert's Rules says a forward motion that leads another player to act may force you to finish the action; the WSOP's cash rules add that you may instead lose the hand and the chips already in. In no-limit and pot-limit, a bet is not binding until the chips are released unless you spoke, though the WSOP may hold you to at least a call if your forward motion drew a reaction. The TDA has no separate forward-motion rule: chips pushed out in turn are an action under its general betting rules.

Source: Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 3, "Betting and Raising" rule 8, and Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 7; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rules 134 and 175 (copy hosted by the PHH project); TDA 2026, Rules 42 and 52.

4.29 Act in reasonable time; a player may ask for the clock

You are expected to act without holding up the game. After a reasonable time, a player can ask for the clock to be put on someone, and the floor decides. The limits differ:

1. (a) TDA (tournaments): 25 seconds, then a 5-second countdown. Only the director calls the clock or approves a player's request, and that player must be in their seat.
2. (b) Robert's Rules (no-limit and pot-limit): one minute, then a 10-second warning.
3. (c) WSOP cash rules (2023): a clock only after at least two minutes; then one minute and a 10-second countdown. Anyone dealt into the hand may ask.

When time runs out facing a bet, the hand is dead under all three. The TDA adds that a player not facing a bet is checked.

Source: TDA 2026, Rule 31; Robert's Rules of Poker v11, Section 14, "No-Limit Rules" rule 16; WSOP 2023 Live Action Rules, rule 181 (copy hosted by the PHH project).