One of the most exciting situations in poker is the all-in. When a player is all-in, all of his chips are at risk. Naturally, there are some specific rules that govern this situation when it comes into play. Here are the basic strategy no limit texas holdem ideas to understand about all-in situations.

Table Stakes
You are only responsible for the money you have on the table. You cannot reach into your pocket for more money, nor can a player "bet you out" by betting more than you have with you. You can win whatever you can match with your own stack; any excess is returned to the other bettor or contested in a side pot if there are other players who can match the complete bet.

Exposing Cards
This is a basic strategy limit texas holdem rule as well. Once all players are all-in and there can be no more betting action, it is okay to expose your hole cards. In a tournament situation, players are required to reveal their hole cards. In a cash game, they are not, although they may do so if they choose to.

Talking
At many online poker sites, chat is disabled while someone is facing an all-in decision. There is no such restriction during a live game, although if you are not one of the players involved in the pot, proper poker etiquette demands that you keep quiet until the player has made his decision and there is no more action.

Declaring All-In
In order to be all-in in texas holdem, you must either verbally declare all-in or push your entire stack into the middle at once. If you leave a chip covering your cards and push the rest of your stack in without declaring all-in, you are not all-in. If you try to throw the last chip in afterwards, it will be declared a string bet and returned to you. Similarly, you cannot push in one stack at a time unless you have already declared "all-in".