How to Use Blinds in Texas Hold'em

Dear Perfesser Tony,

My friends and I, play poker every weekend, and I play in actual tournaments around my house. When we play we usually only play for $5 or $10 buy ins. We have one major problem though. We always argue about the blinds. Each person starts with either 500 or 1000 dollars in chips. We can never agree with what size of blinds to start and how long we should go before we raise them. I was wondering if you could give us some ideas on what to do. Also, can you give us a correct actual definition of a blind. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me.

Texas Hold'em Blinds Explained

You ask a good question. First, the definition of "blind" is that it is a rotating requirement to open, or partially open, the first round of betting. I'm going to assume that you're playing Hold'Em. In Hold'Em (and in Omaha as well) there are always 2 blinds: a "small blind" - player to the left of the dealer, and "big blind" - the next player to the left of the small blind.

The "big blind" player is always required to put in an amount of chips equal to one full first round bet, in the case of limit poker. The size of the blinds is therefore also the size of the smallest "bet" allowed in the game (perhaps this is where the confusion has arisen in the past?). The small blind is required to put in half the amount of the big blind.

Now, let's suppose that the blinds are $10 (small) and $20 (big) currently.

The purpose of the blinds is to get the pot started and keep the game moving, with less hassle than is involved in collecting antes from each player. The players who are in the small and big blind are already "in" the pot, and so the players to their left must decide whether to call the $20 raise (at least $20 more, unless the raising player doesn't have that many chips and wants to go "all-in") or fold. There is no way to "check" on the first round when blinds are being used, you see? So several players will usually fold, and the process of betting becomes less time consuming on the following rounds because there are fewer players still in the pot. Hold'Em is all about fast action, which is why it is so popular!

When first round play rotates around past the dealer button, then the small blind player will need to add $10 to complete his bet of $20, or fold and lose his original $10. If the pot was raised, then the small blind has that much more to put in. The big blind will also have to call any raises, or fold and lose his original $20. If there were no raises, then the big blind still has the option to raise when the action gets back to him. Usually the big blind will just say "check", and then you're ready for the flop. But if the big blind DOES raise, then the betting goes all the way around again (usually with a lot of grumbling!).

The minimum bet size on following rounds is always at least as large as the size of the big blind.

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