wageringterms.

Definition

Blind

Also known as Blinds, Small Blind, Big Blind, BB

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In short

Blinds are forced bets posted before cards are dealt, ensuring every hand has money to compete for. The small and big blind rotate clockwise so the cost is shared equally.

Blinds are mandatory bets posted by two players before any cards are dealt. They exist to give every hand a pot worth contesting, without them, rational players would simply fold until dealt aces.

The two positions

  • Small blind: immediately left of the dealer button, posts half the minimum bet
  • Big blind: next along, posts the full minimum bet

In a £1/£2 game the small blind is £1 and the big blind £2. The button rotates each hand, so everyone pays both blinds equally over a full orbit.

The big blind as a unit

Poker measures almost everything in big blinds rather than currency, because it makes stakes comparable.

  • Stack sizes: “100 big blinds deep”
  • Win rates: big blinds per 100 hands (bb/100)
  • Bet sizes: “three big blinds”

A winning online cash game player might make 2 to 5 bb/100. That sounds trivial and is not: at £1/£2 playing 1,000 hands an hour across tables, it is a meaningful hourly rate.

Positional cost

The blinds are the worst seats at the table. You have already committed money and you act first on every post-flop street, giving you the least information.

Consequently, essentially every winning player loses money from the blinds. The goal is to lose less, a strong player might lose 30 bb/100 from the big blind while the field loses 50. Profit comes from the button and late position, where you act last.

This is why positional awareness is the most valuable early concept in poker, and why “playing tight from early position” is advice that survives every strategic era.

Tournament blinds

In tournaments, blinds increase on a schedule. Every 15 or 20 minutes typically. This forces action and guarantees the tournament ends.

As blinds rise relative to stacks, the game shifts from post-flop play toward pre-flop all-in decisions. Late-stage tournament poker is largely a push-or-fold exercise, which is a mathematically solved problem and quite different from the game played at the start.

Tournaments also add antes at later levels, further increasing the cost of folding.

Common questions

What are blinds in poker?

Forced bets posted by two players before cards are dealt, ensuring every hand has a pot worth contesting. Without them, rational players would fold until dealt aces. The positions rotate so everyone pays equally.

Why do I lose money from the blinds?

Because they are the worst seats at the table: you have already committed money and act first on every post-flop street. Essentially every winning player loses from the blinds, and the goal is to lose less than the field does.

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