Module 1 · Lesson 1 of 39 · Free
Poker blinds and the button: small blind, big blind and dealer
The button marks the dealer’s seat and moves one seat to the left after each hand. Before the cards are dealt, the next two players post the blinds: the small blind puts in 0.5 bb and the big blind puts in 1 bb. These forced bets start the pot. Try moving the button below to see whose turn it is.
The hand
Your first hand at a table of six. The button is two seats to your right, so the player between you posts the small blind of 0.5 bb and you post the big blind of 1 bb. Nobody has cards yet.
Predict first
The cards are dealt. Who decides first?
- The player to the left of the big blind
- The small blind: the blinds open the betting
- The button: the dealer goes first
Show the answer
Answer: The player to the left of the big blind
The blinds have already bet, so the action starts with the next player to the left of the big blind and goes round the table to the left. You, in the big blind, decide last before the flop.
The button decides more than who posts the blinds. Before the flop the action starts to the left of the big blind and the big blind acts last. On the flop, the turn and the river, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first, and the button acts last: the best seat at the table. With only two players the button posts the small blind, acts first before the flop and last after it.
Explore the numbers: the cost of blinds
Before a single card is dealt, two players have already put chips in. These forced bets, the blinds, cost each player 1.5 big blinds every time the deal goes around the table: at a table of six that is 25 bb every 100 hands. They are why every hand has a pot worth fighting for, and why nobody can wait for aces.
Follow the button for one round of six hands. In that round each player posts the small blind once and the big blind once: 0.5 + 1 = 1.5 bb every six hands. Over 100 hands that is 100 ÷ 6 × 1.5 = 25 bb. At a table of nine the same 1.5 bb comes every nine hands: 100 ÷ 9 × 1.5 ≈ 16.7 bb per 100 hands. Aces come once in 221 hands on average, so waiting for them at a table of six costs about 2.21 × 25 ≈ 55 bb.
Formula
Blinds per 100 hands = 100 ÷ players × (small blind + big blind). Six players: 100 ÷ 6 × 1.5 = 25 bb
Check your understanding
Nine players, seats numbered 1 to 9 clockwise. The button is in seat 4. Which seat posts the big blind?
- Seat 6
- Seat 5
- Seat 3
Show the answer
Answer: Seat 6
The small blind is the first seat to the left of the button, seat 5, and the big blind the second, seat 6.
Blinds of 0.5 and 1 bb at a table of five. How many big blinds does each player pay in blinds per 100 hands?
Show the answer
Answer: 30 bb
Each player posts 1.5 bb every five hands: 100 ÷ 5 × 1.5 = 30 bb per 100 hands.
On the flop three players are left: the small blind, the big blind and the button. Who acts first?
- The small blind
- The big blind
- The button
Show the answer
Answer: The small blind
After the flop the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first: the small blind. The button acts last.