One of the most important aspects of any poker game is the blinds. Blinds are a form of ante that is placed in the pot preflop.
The size of the blinds changes depending on the game being played, but all blinds are always half the size of the big blind.
Blinds are determined by either a preflop raise or a flop. In case of a preflop raise, the player to the left of the button (the small blind) must put in an additional bet equal to the size of the original blind.
If no one raises, then the small blind automatically puts in a bet equal to half of what was originally in the pot (i.e., 1/2 of what was originally in the pot).
If there is a flop, then each player gets one opportunity to put in an additional bet. The first player to act gets to call all other bets, and then see what cards are revealed.
If there is a bet available from any player, then that player has an opportunity to put in another bet. If no one puts in any additional bets after seeing the flop, then there is a showdown where all players show their cards face-up and whoever has the best hand takes home everything in the pot (minus any rake taken by the casino).
In both cases – preflop raise and flop – there is always one blind higher than all others. So if there are three players and there’s a $2/$4 pot with a $0.50 blind, then there would be a $0.75 ($2 + $0.
50)blind for third place, $1 ($4 + $0.50)blind for second place, and no blind for first place (since $0.50 is greater than $1).
