If you are an ardent poker lover, you must be well accustomed with all the elements of Poker. Poker blinds are the essential bets that are placed in the poker pot before the onset of card dealing in Poker. The poker blinds help for the game progress and moves the game action forward to prevent players from simply folding till they deal with premium cards.
The best way to describe poker blinds is by the simple approach that – poker blinds are the mandatory wagers that are placed in the poker pot before card dealing. Now, who pays the blinds – it is the players who occupy two respective positions on the table – “big blind and small blind”. If you are well known to the game of poker, you would know that the big blind and small blind positions at the table change after every poker hand. So, every player at the table will get the position of small blind and big blind at least once in every game orbit.
Determination of Blinds in Poker
Blind determination in Poker is a major factor and it is mostly done by the host of the game. The big blind is usually two times the size of the small blind. But this structure is not fixed and it can be determined differently by the host. In some casinos, the host decides that the size of both the big and small blinds will be exactly the same.
Role of Poker Blinds and Antes in Poker Tournament
Poker blinds in the tournament are exactly the same as the blinds in any other cash game of casino. The one major difference between the blinds of poker and of any other game is that there is an increment of set intervals of time in the poker blinds. Thus, the players while dealing with the blinds in the poker game should maintain a cumulatively increasing chip stack, failing in which they could simply be knocked out of the game.
Antes are not introduced in the first half of the game and it is only in the later part of the game that they come into existence. Antes closely resemble blinds in the game, however, the major difference is that Antes has to be paid by almost every player in poker and not just by those players who occupy the big and small blinds at the table.
Big Blinds
Using big poker blinds to the advantage of the player is one of the most challenging and critical parts of Poker blinds. A right strategy is crucially important to use the big blinds correctly.
In each round, each of the players must have a button opportunity in Poker and also fulfill a complete set of blind obligations. A big blind is one of the mandatory bets in the game and is devoid of any Ante. Once a hand finishes out, the dealer button will shift to the right that is in the clockwise direction of the poker table. The players will now have to pay the big blinds while the match continues. The amount for big blinds is usually just the same as the amount any poker player will make as the minimum bet, the average stack being just a small percentage.
In a poker game, if you are in the big blind position, you will always get a free chance to witness the flops. While holding on to an unmentioned hand, this one is a great move.
Small Blind
Now that a discrete idea about the big blind is already formed, it is time to understand something about the small poker blinds. Small blinds have an advantage in the game, since it is at a time when the pot is already half filled. It is also a mandatory bet that must be played before the game starts. The value of the small blind in most poker games is half the minimum bet for the poker table.
The whole idea of blinds in the game of poker is to add value to the bet pot of the poker game and add an incentive for other players to play their starting hands. The players play their starting hands through the blinds in the poker game.
Here are some of the major differences between the small blind and the big blind in the game of poker:
- Bet Size: The fundamental difference is the value of the bet. The small blind is worth half the value of the minimum bet while the big blind is equivalent tin value to the minimum bet of the table
- Position: The small blind is usually the player right to the left side of the button while the big blind is the player again next to the small blind.
