• What Is The Blinds In Poker Room
• What Is The Meaning Of Blinds In Poker
• What Is The Blinds In Poker Winnings
• What Is The Blinds In Poker Table
• What Is The Blind In Poker

What’s the point of blinds in poker?

Have you ever wondered why there are blinds in poker? Why doesn’t everyone just play for free, and join or leave as they please?

The ‘blinds’ are so called because players have to pay them before they see their cards. They are not optional if you want to join a poker game, and not to be confused with antes. Antes are also a compulsory bet paid by players before their cards are dealt in a tournament, but an ante is usually taken from everyone in every hand. A blind is positional, taken from specific players.

If you’re an online-poker player, then you’re likely familiar with abbreviations that make Internet poker more enjoyable. At the very least, knowing online-poker abbreviations lets you know what people have to say about the poker prowess of the table (including what they say about you). With the exception of referring to a card with capital. The Texas Hold'em blinds are usually more popular in structured limit games. In this structure, such as the $2/$4 or $3/$6 limit hold'em, the blinds are comprised of two bets made - the small and the big blind. The Texas Hold'em blinds start to the left of the dealer. So the flow would go as follows: dealer button, small blind, and then big blind. Blind stealing is the first foundation of the poker predator game. Let it be clear now: learning to steal blinds is a must if you want to become a winning player.

For reference, we should state the purpose of the dealer button, which dictates the position of the blinds in a community card game like Texas Hold’em and Omaha. The dealer button represents the player who, in the “good old days,” used to actually distribute the cards to the other players.

The dealer button is allocated at the start of each hand, and initially two forced blinds are collected:

• The small blind from the first player to receive cards to the left of the dealer.
• The big blind from the second player to receive cards to the left of the dealer.
• If only two players are to be dealt in, the button takes the small blind and the other player pays the big blind.
• Further blinds may be collected from other new players wanting their first hand, or players returning from sitting out.

What Is The Blinds In Poker Room

As their name suggests, the big blind is more expensive than the small blind — usually double. In ring games the blinds are constant, but in tournaments they increase at a predetermined rate. Tournament blind levels are usually scheduled for a set period of time, but may be for a number of hands.

The reason that blinds are collected, particularly in tournaments, is so there is a starting pot for the players to compete for. In tournaments, the blinds increase in size in order to force players to keep up with the average stack as players are eliminated. If there were no blinds in poker games, the best strategy would be to fold everything except premium hands because it would be free to wait. The game simply would not be at all interesting or competitive.

It is important to note that the players who are paying blinds are at a distinct disadvantage for that hand.

• They’re betting without seeing their cards, whereas everyone else is playing for free.
• They must act first in every round of betting in the hand, except for pre-flop.

In order for the blinds to affect everyone equally, there are specific rules which most poker games follow to make things fair for everyone. A well-known and highly respected resource of poker rules and etiquette, Robert’s Rules of Poker, authored by Bob Ciaffone, has this to say about the button and blind obligations:

“A new player cannot be dealt in between the big blind and the button. Blinds may not be made up between the big blind and the button. You must wait until the button passes.”

The reason for this is that having a player pay a small blind in that seat might mean a player has had to pay the big blind in two consecutive hands. That would be a severe penalty. You may be moved to an empty seat between the dealer button and the big blind, but you’ll have to wait until the button has moved to your left before you can take a hand. This applies even in tournaments when you move tables.

Also from Robert’s Rules:

“A player who misses any or all blinds can resume play by either posting all the blinds missed or waiting for the big blind. If you choose to post the total amount of the blinds, an amount up to the size of the minimum opening bet is live. The remainder is taken by the dealer to the center of the pot and is not part of your bet. When it is your next turn to act, you have the option to raise.”

This method is used to prevent players from declining to pay their blinds when in the big blind position and then trying to return in a different, more advantageous position for free. They have to pay their dues of a big blind plus a small blind, which they have also skipped. Even if they do come back in the cut off, immediately to the right of the dealer button and in a highly advantageous position, the penalty of paying a small blind as well as a big blind compensates for that.

One of the game dynamics which paying blinds introduces is that players in short-handed games and the final stages of a tournament have to fight to stay alive. Everybody has the same cost each time the blinds get to them. Stronger players will have the ability to cope with the disadvantages forced on them and exploit the forced bets made by others. The better players will try to capitalize on positional play and not waste chips by limping or calling passively.

Ed. note: For those who might have missed it before, we're reprising Robert Woolley's series of articles for poker players who are new to live poker. The series is great for newcomers, and likely useful as well to those with experience playing in casinos and poker rooms.

At some point in just about every cash session of hold'em poker in a casino, you will be faced with this scenario:

You're in the big blind. The player to your left, first to act, folds. So does the next player, and the next, and so on, including the button. The player in the small blind now turns to you and asks a single word: 'Chop?'

I was among the many, many players who had no idea what was being asked of me the first time this happened. I'd like to fill you in so that you don't end up as flustered as I was.

'Chopping the blinds' in cash games is allowed in every casino in which I've played poker. It means that when everybody except the two blinds has folded before the flop, the last two players may end the hand right then and there. If both players agree to it, they can take back their blind bets, and the hand ends. The button advances, and the game moves on to the next hand, with nobody having either won or lost a dime. (At least that's how it works in Las Vegas. I've heard that some card rooms elsewhere take a small rake even if the blinds are chopped, which I think is unconscionable.)

So... knowing what the question whether or not you'd like to chop the blinds means, how should you answer it?

To Chop or Not to Chop?

My reaction when I was first presented with this option was to reject it. After all, I came to the casino to play, not to fold. My selfish reasons for wanting to play rather than chop have only become stronger as I have gained poker experience. Playing blind-versus-blind presents difficult tactical and hand-reading challenges, and I have reason to believe that I will, on average, make those tricky decisions better than my opponent, and the situation will therefore be profitable or 'positive EV' for me.

What Is The Meaning Of Blinds In Poker

However, there are also legitimate reasons to favor chopping. Often both players will have nothing in the way of starting hands, and the hand will play out either checked down all the way, or with one bet at some point followed by an immediate fold. Either way, somebody wins a $3 pot in a $1/$2 no-limit hold'em game. Worse, that $3 pot may be reduced by some amount of rake. For such paltry stakes, the whole table is delayed from getting on to the next hand.

But the most important reason to agree to a chop is social. A high percentage of low-stakes players have a strong preference to chop. You do have veto power over that choice, but if you exercise it, you might generate resentment in a lot of opponents. Some significant fraction of them will immediately retaliate by putting in a prohibitively large raise — sometimes even all in — regardless of what their cards are, just to 'teach you a lesson.' It is particularly troublesome to have the player on your left be angry with you, because his positional advantage gives him endless opportunities to punish and confound you for the next several hours.

What Is The Blinds In Poker Winnings

This part of the game is perhaps hard for new players to understand, but it's absolutely true. Having friendly relations and good feelings between you and your opponents wins you more money than having hard feelings and resentment. In terms of long-term profit, that factor vastly outweighs the small edge you might have in contesting blind-on-blind pots. Besides, it's a lot more pleasant to spend the time sitting next to people with whom you're on good terms than people who are glowering at you, thinking you're a jerk, and looking for chances to rub your face in a big loss.

Your Chopping Choice

'Okay,' you think. 'That sounds reasonable, and I'll agree to chop the blinds if the other guy does — at least most of the time. But surely not when I've finally been dealt the pocket aces or kings that I've been waiting for!'

Sorry, but that's not how it works. With any given adjacent player, you need to either always chop, or never chop. Doing it selectively is both socially wrong and strategically disastrous.

Since you have veto power over the chop, would you passively allow your opponent to decide to chop most hands, but play his very strongest ones? Of course not. That would be to voluntarily put yourself at a disadvantage. It follows, by the golden rule, that you should not attempt to impose such a scheme on your opponent. Any player with half a brain won't let you do it anyway, and you'll generate resentment for trying.

Once in a while you'll hear somebody brag that he always chops 'even if I have aces,' as if this makes him a morally superior human being. It doesn't. For the reasons just explained, the decision should be thought of as always or never — and the 'always' part of that includes pocket aces.

What should you do if you find yourself paired in the blinds with a would-be selective chopper? Maybe it's a guy who chopped with you the first three times the situation arose, but then the fourth time says, 'Sorry, but I have to play this one out.' Since both players must agree to a chop, you can't force him to continue chopping.

You can, however, surrender the currently insignificant pot to him, then refuse to chop thereafter for as long as you're sitting together. In fact, that is precisely what you should do, as both a social and profit-making strategy.

Basic game theory dictates that this is a situation where 'tit-for-tat' applies. You voluntarily cooperate until the other guy defects, after which you stop cooperating with him, because he has proven himself to be unreliable. You need not be unfriendly about this. You just smile and say, 'Let's play it' every subsequent time he suggests a chop.

If you wish, you can explain that, by general consensus, chopping is always or never, and his defection meant that he was choosing 'never.' But you don't have to articulate that. The message will become abundantly clear by your subsequent consistent refusal to chop. (Of course, you can and should continue to cooperate in a chop with the player on your other side if that has been your pattern.)

In poker rooms where there is a high-hand jackpot, some pairs of players will openly agree to a selective-chop arrangement in which the two will play out any hand in which one of them has jackpot potential (pocket pairs or suited connectors, typically). The usual signal not to chop a hand is something like, 'Let's play this one.'

The expectation, either explicit or implicit, is that the players will both just check on every street, unless the big hand actually comes in. In that case, the player who has it will make a bet which, if called, will meet the minimum pot size, and the other will be expected to call, with the understanding that that bet will be quietly refunded upon payment of the jackpot.

You should know that such an arrangement may violate the casino's rules for the bonus, depending on the exact wording of the rule and how explicit the players' agreement is. It's at least a gray area, and for that reason I prefer to avoid these situations, and stick to a truly universal chop-or-play deal. But declining this arrangement when offered may well cause resentment and retaliation by a player who prefers it. It's tricky to deal with, and I'm not sure there is a perfect or universal solution.

Once in a while, you'll end up seated next to a player who prefers to play rather than chop every time. If so, don't get in a snit about it. Cheerfully agree to the arrangement, and play. The concerns about a social faux pas and causing ill feelings are no longer present in that situation, so take the chance to learn to play those difficult blind-versus-blind hands. You'll need that experience when you play tournaments, where chopping the blinds is never allowed.

Conclusion

To sum up:

What Is The Blinds In Poker Table

1. If the other player wants to chop routinely, then be cooperative.
2. Don't let anybody else bully you with selective chopping on his terms.
3. Whatever you decide with another player, honor your agreement, and always be friendly and cheerful about it.

Remember — you're playing poker, not mowing the lawn or shoveling snow. Don't allow petty disputes over the blinds spoil your enjoyment of the game.

Robert Woolley lives in Asheville, NC. He spent several years in Las Vegas and chronicled his life in poker on the 'Poker Grump' blog.

What Is The Blind In Poker

• Tags

  cash game strategylive pokercasino pokeretiquetteruleshouse rules