Small Blind and Big Blind — How the Forced Bets Work

Without forced bets, everyone would fold every hand except the very best, and poker would collapse into nothing. Blinds create dead money in the pot from the start, giving players a reason to open hands and fight for it.

In a $1/$2 no-limit game, the small blind posts $1 and the big blind posts $2 before cards are dealt. If nobody raises, the minimum opening cost to see the flop is $2 for every player except the blinds.

The button moves one seat clockwise every hand, and the blinds move with it. If you're on the button this hand, you'll be in the small blind next hand, and the big blind the hand after that. Every player pays both blinds once per orbit of the table.

If a player leaves or a new player sits down mid-orbit, most rooms enforce a "post" rule: the new player must post the equivalent of a big blind to get dealt in on any seat other than the natural big blind. This keeps players from dodging blinds by table-hopping.

Pre-flop, action starts to the left of the big blind and ends with the big blind acting last. The big blind's cost is already in the pot, so they get a free look at the flop if no one raises — a small structural advantage that partially offsets the terrible position.

Post-flop, the blinds act first on every street. This is the worst possible position in poker: you commit chips before seeing what the other players do. The small blind is slightly worse than the big blind because it acts first of the two.

Long-run poker win-rate stats are almost always negative from the small blind and big blind, even for winning players. That's not a leak — it's math. You pay a forced bet with a random hand and play the entire pot out of position.

The goal from the blinds isn't to win money; it's to lose less than the mandatory cost. Tight defense, aggressive 3-bets against loose openers, and disciplined folding are what separate a bad blind game from a merely-expensive one.