Dec 11, 2013 A big blind is typically twice the size of a small blind, so one half a big blind and one big blind, twice the size of the small blind. These are forced bets that drive the action.
The blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-stylepoker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three.
The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is then posted by the next player to the left. The one exception is when there are only two players (a 'heads-up' game), when the player on the button is the small blind, and the other player is the big blind. (Both the player and the bet may be referred to as big or small blind.)
After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act during the first betting round. If any players call the big blind, the big blind is then given an extra opportunity to raise. This is known as a live blind. If the live blind checks, the betting round then ends.
Generally, the 'big blind' is equal to the minimum bet. The 'small blind' is normally half the big blind. In cases where posting exactly half the big blind is impractical due to the big blind being some odd-valued denomination, the small blind is rounded (usually down) to the nearest practical value. For example, if the big blind in a live table game is $3, then the small blind will usually be $1 or $2 since most casinos do not distribute large quantities of $0.50 poker chips.
The blinds exist because Omaha and Texas hold 'em are frequently played without antes, allowing a player to fold his hand without placing a bet. The blind bets introduce a regular cost to take part in the game, thus inducing a player to enter pots in an attempt to compensate for that expense.
It is possible to play without blinds. The minimum bet is then the lowest denomination chip in play, and tossing only one chip is considered as a call. Anything higher than that is considered a raise. Poker without blinds is usually played with everyone posting an ante to receive cards.
- 1Blinds in cash games
- 2Blinds in tournament play
Blinds in cash games[edit]
Big Blind Little Blind Rules
In cash games, otherwise known as ring games, blinds primarily serve to ensure all players are subject to some minimum, ongoing cost for participating in the game. This encourages players to play hands they otherwise might not, thereby increasing the average size of the pots and, by extension, increasing the amount of rake earned by the cardroom hosting the game.
What Is A Blind In Poker
In cash games, the amount of the blinds are normally fixed for each particular table and will not change for the duration of the game. However, many cardrooms will allow blind levels to change in cases where all players unanimously agree to a change. Larger cardrooms will often include tables with different blind levels to give players the option of playing at whatever stakes they are most comfortable with. In online poker, blinds range from as little as one U.S. cent to USD1,000 or more.
The minimum and maximum buy-in at a table is usually set in relation to the big blind. At live games, the minimum buy-in is usually between 20 and 50 big blinds, while the maximum buy-in is usually between 100 and 250 big blinds. Some online cardrooms offer 'short stack' tables where the maximum buy-in is 50 big blinds or less and/or 'deep stack' tables where the minimum buy-in is 100 big blinds or more.
Missed blinds[edit]
In cash games that do not deal cards to players who are absent from the table at the start of the hand (or, in online games, are designated as 'sitting out'), special rules are necessary to deal with players who miss their blinds.
In such a situation, if a player misses his or her big blind, he or she will not be dealt in again until the button has passed. At that point, if the player wishes to rejoin the game, he or she must 'super-post' - he or she must post both the big and small blinds in order to be dealt cards. Of these, only the big blind is considered 'live' while the small blind is 'dead' - it is placed in the center of the pot apart from the big blind and will not count towards calling any additional bets or raises by other players. If the player has only missed the small blind, then the same procedure applies except that the player only has to post the 'dead' small blind to rejoin the game. Most cardrooms allow players to relieve themselves of these obligations if they wait until they are again due to post the big blind before rejoining the game.
Some cardrooms hosting live cash games do not allow players to miss and/or avoid paying blinds in this manner. In these games, all players with chips on the table are dealt in whether or not they are present at the table. Any blinds due will be posted from the player's stack - depending on the cardroom's rules this will be done either by the dealer, another cardroom employee or a nearby player under staff supervision. Whenever a player has not returned to the table by the time it is his turn to act, his or her hand is automatically folded. Under such rules, if a player wishes to be absent from the table then the only way he or she can avoid paying blinds is to cash out and leave the game altogether.
Blinds in tournament play[edit]
In poker tournament play, blinds serve a dual purpose. In addition to the purpose explained above, blinds are also used to control how long the tournament will last. Before the tournament begins, the players will agree to a blinds structure, usually set by the tournament organizer. This structure defines how long each round is and how much the blinds increase per round. Typically, they are increased at a smooth rate of between 25% and 50% per round over the previous round. As the blinds increase, players need to increase their chip counts (or 'stacks') to stay in the game. The blinds will eventually consume all of a player's stack if he or she does not play to win more.
Unlike many cash games, it is not possible for a player to 'miss' blinds in a tournament. If a player is absent from the table, he will continue to have his or her cards dealt and mucked and will have blinds and, if applicable, antes taken from his stack as they are due, either until he or she returns or until his or her stack is completely consumed by blinds and antes. A player who loses his or her chips in this manner is said to have been 'blinded off.'
Goals[edit]
Poker Small Blind Big Blind
There are two main goals for the blinds structure:
- Ensure that by the time the desired duration of the tournament is reached, it will be very hard for players with small stacks to stay in the game. This forces players with smaller stacks to play them aggressively, thus increasing their chip count or losing everything quickly.
- Ensure that players, in general, do not have a large stack relative to the blind level.
If desired, antes can be added to further increase the pressure to win more chips.
Example[edit]
If each player in a tournament starts with 5,000 in chips and after four hours, the big blind is 10,000 (with a small blind of 5,000), it will be very difficult for a player with only 15,000 in chips to stay in the game.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Last week, I discussed why and how we should get comfortable with playing wider ranges from the big blind. This week, I will address the same concept, only I will focus on small blind play.
How Often Should We Defend the Small Blind?
When I am in the small blind, I cannot widen my ranges as much to profit from loose opens for several reasons. First, I can't defend by calling too widely because the price is not as good even in cases where my call entices the big blind to come along as well.
Let's say I am in the small blind facing a steal attempt from the cutoff in a nine-handed multi-table tournament with antes that are 10 percent the size of the big blind. If villain makes a 2.2x raise, the bet needs to work as a complete bluff only 47 percent of the time in order to break even. This means the players left to act must collectively defend 53 percent of the time to prevent him from making money with any two cards.
Once the player on the button folds, it is left up to me and the big blind. In order to call, I have to put in another 1.7 BBs to see a flop in a 7.6 BB pot, assuming the player in the big blind calls as well. This means that I have to win around 22 percent of the time to break even. If you recall from last week's article, this is more often than the 20 percent of the time the big blind would need to win had I folded.
But wait, it gets worse!
First, it is much harder to win 22 percent of the time in a three-way pot than it is to win 20 percent of the time in a heads-up pot.
Second, these numbers assume the big blind calls. If he folds, I would need to win almost 27 percent of the time against the opener to break even.
Third, I may not even get to see the flop since the player in the big blind could raise and squeeze me out of the pot. Even when all the planets align and the player in the big blind just calls, I still have to play out of position with a capped range in a multi-way pot. Not good.
For these reasons, flatting from the small blind with a wide range is a really bad idea. Instead, we should be three-betting with the majority of the hands we play from here.
What Sort of Hands Should We Defend?
Most of the absolute garbage should be folded since the small blind range is so small. This means the remaining hands should be split up into high, medium, and low categories that are stronger on average than the ones from the big blind range.
Obviously, we want to three-bet with the highest hands like big pocket pairs and big aces for value. Depending on a variety of factors, we may want to flat with a few medium hands like maybe 66-88 and suited Broadway hands.
This leaves the hands just below the flatting range for use as three-bet bluffs. These can include hands like ATo, A2s-A5s, J9s, and the like. Again, most hands worse than this can just be folded.
How Often Do We Need to Win?
Let's say I want to 3x the villain's 2.2x open to 6.6x as a bluff. Like the big blind, I get to use my dead money as part of my bet, so I really only have to risk another 6.1 BBs to win a total pot of 10.7 BBs.
This means that my bluff needs to work 57 percent of the time to break even compared to the 54 percent fold equity a big blind three-bet needs to generate.
Small Blind And Big Blind
Not only that, we again have the problem of trying to fold out two players, the opener and the big blind, either of whom could have been dealt a playable hand. For these reasons, the bluff will not succeed as often, which is why we attempt it with a stronger range that plays well postflop.
Conclusion
As you can see, all the problems of playing from the big blind are magnified when playing from the small blind. This means we do not have to defend it as often; however, we still need to fight for the pot at least some of the time, especially in cases where the player in the big blind is too tight.
Being out of position is what causes so much trouble for the players in these spots. Next week, I will discuss playing wider ranges when this is not the case because we have the beautiful button!
What Is The Big Blind
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Small Blind Vs Big Blind
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