Poker Blinds
Poker blinds are mandatory bets that are placed into the pot before any cards are dealt. The blinds are paid each hand by the players who are occupying the “ small blind ” and “ big blind ” seats at the table. Poker blinds help drive the action forward and prevent players from simply folding until they are dealt premium cards. Online Poker Blind Play. Playing online poker from the blinds is one of the hardest things you can do when playing cash games. The reason why playing from the blinds is so hard is because you are.
Poker Blinds Rules
When you are in the casino at the beginning of a poker game, and you have lots of chips, the blinds are something you hardly notice. Towards the end of a poker night, especially if things aren’t going so well and your chip pile is lower than you’d like it to be, or the blind bets are increasing in size, then the blind can really eat into your stack.
Some poker games have antes – forced bets. But Texas Holdem doesn’t, meaning you can fold your cards without betting. Texas Holdem poker does have something called blinds though. They are another type of forced bet, but this time before you have been dealt your cards. Like antes, they exist so that there is a cost to playing, so the poker games don’t go on and on with players just waiting to be dealt a great hand. Paul Phua thinks that the blind keeps the momentum up, and ensures the game of poker finishes within a reasonable time frame – especially since the blinds often increase in value during a game of Texas Holdem to speed things up even further.
A typical T10,000 blinds schedule for a No-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament is shown to the right. T10,000 means that each player is issued 10,000 chips at the start of the tourney. This blinds schedule starts out slow for the first hour and should result in a poker tournament of about 4 hours. In order to start betting in Hold’em, forced bets (known as blinds) are made by the two players immediately clockwise from the dealer button. The person immediately clockwise from the dealer has the small blind, and the next player clockwise has the big blind. Making blind bets is known as posting and this is done before any cards are dealt.
Poker Blinds Timer
Poker Blinds Meaning
Poker Blinds
There are mainly two blinds in Texas Holdem – the big and small blind, but there can sometimes be three players who have to make them.
The name comes from the fact that players are being asked to bet without seeing their hands. They are betting blind, with no knowledge of the hand’s worth. So in the casino, whether you hold a 2 and a 3 unsuited, or a pair of aces – before you see your hand it’s all the same.
Paul Phua says the blind also marks potential poker strategy. Depending on your position around the poker table in a casino, or a social poker night where the dealer changes as the “button” moves from player to player, you will have to give certain blinds. Being in the small blind spot on a poker table is a disadvantage because you will be the first to act in every round after the flop. But Paul Phua’s poker tip is to remember never feel committed to a pot simply because you have paid your blind, especially in Texas Holdem, and not be afraid to enter a pot if you have a strong enough hand.