Blinds

What Is Blinds?

In poker, blinds are mandatory bets that rotate around the table with each new hand. The two players sitting directly to the left of the dealer button must post these bets before seeing their cards. The first player posts the small blind (typically half the minimum bet), and the second player posts the big blind (the full minimum bet).

Blinds exist for a critical reason: without them, players could simply fold every hand and wait for pocket aces with zero cost. By forcing two players to put money into the pot each hand, blinds create action and ensure that tight, passive play carries a real price. Every orbit around the table costs you 1.5 big blinds in forced bets, which means doing nothing slowly bleeds your stack.

In tournament poker, blinds increase at set intervals, adding pressure as the event progresses. This escalation prevents tournaments from lasting indefinitely and forces players to take risks as their stacks shrink relative to the blinds. Cash games, by contrast, keep blinds fixed throughout the session.

How It Works

At a standard No-Limit Hold’em table with $1/$2 blinds, the structure works like this:

• The player immediately left of the button posts the small blind ($1).
• The player two seats left of the button posts the big blind ($2).
• Cards are dealt to all players.
• Preflop betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind.
• The big blind acts last preflop and has the option to raise or check if no one has raised.

After each hand, the button moves one seat clockwise, and so do the blind obligations. Over a full orbit, every player pays both blinds exactly once.

In tournaments, blind levels might start at 25/50 and increase every 15-20 minutes. A common structure could escalate through 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, and so on, with antes often added at later levels.

Heads-up is the exception: the button posts the small blind and acts first preflop. The other player posts the big blind and acts first after the flop. Raises can return the action to players who have already acted; the big blind is last only in the initial unraised preflop circuit.

Example

Hypothetical $2/$5 cash hand: three players limp for $5. You raise to $25. The small blind folds, the big blind calls $25 total, one limper calls $25 total and the other two limpers fold their $5 each. Before rake, the flop pot is $25 + $25 + $25 + $5 + $5 + $2 = $87.

Notice that the small blind lost $2 without seeing a flop. This is the cost of the blind. Over a nine-handed session, you will post blinds every nine hands, costing you roughly $7 per orbit at this stake level.

Common Mistakes

• Defending the big blind too loosely. Many beginners feel entitled to see a flop because they already have money invested. This is the sunk cost fallacy. Your blind money is gone. Make decisions based on hand strength and position, not on protecting a forced bet.
• Ignoring blind pressure in tournaments. Express the effective stack in big blinds and account for antes, prior action and payouts. Push/fold can be a useful short-stack study model, but reaching a particular blind count does not ban a legal smaller raise or check.
• Not adjusting steal frequency. From late position, raising to steal the blinds is a fundamental winning strategy. Failing to attack the blinds when the table is tight leaves significant profit on the table.

Related Terms

• Ante — another forced bet, often used alongside blinds in tournaments
• Button — the dealer position that determines blind placement
• Preflop — the betting round where blinds are posted
• Position — seating relative to the blinds affects strategy
• All-In — short-stacked players may go all-in from the blinds

FAQ

What happens if a player cannot afford the big blind?

In a tournament, a player with fewer chips than the required blind posts the amount they have and is all-in. They can win only pots covered by their contribution, not the side pot from other players’ excess contributions. For example, contributions of 50, 150 and 150 create a main pot of 150 eligible to all three and a side pot of 200 eligible only to the two larger contributors. Cash-game posting and minimum-chip requirements follow the house rules.

Can you skip posting blinds?

In cash games, if you leave the table and miss your blinds, you typically must post both missed blinds when you return (the small blind goes into the pot as dead money). In tournaments, blinds are posted from your stack whether you are seated or not.

Why is the big blind important for measuring stack size?

Stack sizes are expressed in big blinds because it normalizes strategy across different stakes. Having 50 big blinds at a $1/$2 game ($100) requires the same strategic approach as 50 big blinds at a $25/$50 game ($2,500). This is why poker strategy content on our guides page references stack depth in big blinds.