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The Texas Hold'em Blinds

By Unknown - Dic 13, 2007

A game of Texas Hold'em poker starts with two players posting the blinds. These are money bets placed in the pot before the players see their first two cards or hole cards. The player by the dealer's left side posts a small blind and the next person at that player's left posts a big blind.

The blinds are fixed amounts that are set before the game started. The big blind is the lowest bet in the game while the small blind is usually half of it. After the two players to the dealer's left have consecutively posted the small blind and the big blind, the players' hole cards are dealt out and the first round of betting continues. In most poker tournaments, as the match progresses the blinds are becoming bigger and bigger, yet still keeping the ratio between the big and small blind.

You might think that the blind posters are at a disadvantage since they place bets even before they see their hole cards. Well, the big blind poster can still win some if nobody else on the table calls or checks. In that case, that player automatically wins the small blind in the pot.

However, the blind posters can't get their blinds back if they fold at pre-flop. The rest of the players can fold and don't put money in the pot at all. There's also an online poker tactic called "stealing the blinds". This happens when the player next to the big blind poster raises the bets and everybody else folds. That player, in effect, wins the pot.

On the other hand, don't despair if you're sitting on the first or second seat to the dealer's left. The upside to being one of the persons posting the blinds is that the amounts are negligible if you lose them. Any Texas hold 'em expert can tell you that victory doesn't happen from small frequent wins, victory is gained when the pots are big!

The Texas hold 'em blinds are bets placed before the players see their hole cards. The two players at the dealer's left hand side start the game by posting the blinds. The big blind poster may win the small blind bet if all the other players don't call. But they may also be stolen or won by the player next to the big blind poster who executes the "stealing the blinds" tactic. And don't think that you're at a disadvantage when you're posting the blinds. So what if the next player wins them? That's chump change! Focus on winning the big pots because that separates the poker champs from the poker chumps.

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