Poker limits III
Pot limit games of poker are not always played according to its strict definition. So what amount should be the maximum value of raise in the betting round prior to flop is determined by different calculations.
According to some variation, when the pot value is being calculated the small and big blind are treated to have same value size. The player, in such cases, has the choice to open a bet which is equal to the size of four times of the big blind. So, if the game is being played with $10 and $20 blind wagers, the opening bet can be $80 and can be staked straight away or started with an initial call of $20 and raised by $10 till $80 is achieved. As long as the initial round of betting is underway the remaining players are also free to calculate pot value by considering $10 small blind like $20 big blind.
An exceptional situation is when it cannot be unanimously estimated how much is the maximum value of the raise of small blind when all action has folded to the small blind. In this case, some poker games consider the big blind as a raise for the small blind and accordingly calculate the maximum raise value. So, the big blind can be called by the small blind and the pot value can be raised in amount equal to double of the big blind which would put the total bet amount at three times the amount of the big blind. Some other games of poker require the total bet to equal the amount arrived at by adding three times of big blind to the small blind value. Keeping in mind that this kind of calculation can lead to confusion, poker games played at the big tournaments determine the maximum value of raise that can be opened with and tell the value to all the players whenever there is an increment in the betting limits.
