With an open pair after four cards, a player generally has the option of betting $5 or $ 10, but anyone who raises must raise $10. After the fifth, sixth, and seventh cards, the bets and raises must be $10 whether or not anyone has a pair showing. In other poker games the betting structure might be pot-limit or no-limit. In a pot-limit game, bets and raises may be for any amount up to the size of the pot.

Thus, with a $10 pot, someone might bet $10 and be called by three players. The last player to call can raise $50, the current size of the pot. If one player calls the raise, the size of the pot would then be $ 150 so that in the next round the first bet could be anything up to that amount. In no-limit poker, a player may bet or raise any amount up to what he has in front of him/ her at any time. If he has $500 in front of him, he can bet that. If he has $50,000 in front of him, he can bet that.

He cannot, however, raise a player with less money out of a pot. That player may simply call with the money in front of him and a side pot is created for any remaining players. If his hand prevails, the player who is “all-in” can win only the money he called in the main pot, and the best hand among those remaining wins the side pot. (The same mechanics apply to limit games when a player is all-in.)