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If a player on a table raises, and when his turn comes next, someone has already raised more than him, then he has an option to raise again, right?

So how is it prevented that two players keep raising over each other in an infinite loop?

laggingreflex
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    if you and a friend log to a poker site and go to an heads-up (two players only) table, you can try it for yourself. You can min-raise (*i.e.* raise by the minimal valid amount), min-raise, min-raise, min-raise, min-raise, min-raise, etc. There's no rule limiting the number of raises AFAICT. You'll be able to do it until you run out of chips: *"infinite"* is a very strong word and a stack of chips is not anywhere near close to "infinite" : ) – TacticalCoder Apr 21 '14 at 13:14

4 Answers4

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Poker is typically played "table-stakes" which means that a player cannot bet more money/chips than is setting on the table in front of him. The only thing that would prevent infinite reraises between two determined players is one (or both) running out of money to bet.

In heads-up play, as soon as one player goes all-in and is called (or calls all-in), the betting is over, the dealer deals the remaining cards for the hand and the players show their hands and the high hand wins. (Actually, the players' hands are typically shown as the last call is made, but I don't think this is required.)

DoxyLover
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  • Regarding when to show hands: I haven't played very much poker, but I have played in a number of casinos in different states, and there's a decent amount of variation in both official rules of the house and unofficial behavior expected by other players at the table. Some casinos require that both players show before the dealer will continue; others say the last to call must show first once the cards are dealt; still others don't explicitly state who needs to show first or when, which can result in some pretty snippy table talk. – Pops May 02 '14 at 03:38
  • I've just expanded on the above comment at [an answer](http://poker.stackexchange.com/a/2917/1048) to "Do I have to show my hand in an “All-In” situation?" – Pops May 02 '14 at 04:29
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As far as I am aware there is nothing to stop someone ten betting for example. It's all down too how many chips you have.

Its unlikely to happen, because most of the time once its gone to 3 or 4 bets then someone will go all in and the other person will call therefore ending the betting.

Gaz Winter
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In limit poker there is always a cap on the number of raises, typically three to four. In Big bet poker (IE no limit and Pot limit) there is usually a cap but not always. More caps with lower limits, less caps the bigger the blinds.

The cap is lifted on the round after the players find themselves head up.

The reason for caps is because it discourages collusion.

Jon
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"typically three raises plus one initial bet" is the rule I guess.

laggingreflex
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  • Your link says nothing about a fixed raise limit. In fact, it talks about "table-stakes", as I answered. – DoxyLover Apr 21 '14 at 06:40
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    this is not a rule! – Gaz Winter Apr 21 '14 at 08:35
  • I'm not sure why this answer is getting so much hate. The link very clearly says, "There is also a limit to the number of raises that players can make if there are more than two players in the hand, which is typically three raises plus one initial bet." I've played in at least four different major casinos that I can recall which posted this rule (or one very similar) at the 2/4 limit table. Just because it isn't the most common rule doesn't mean it's flat out wrong. – Apis Utilis Apr 29 '14 at 23:05