Deciphering the betting structure might be a first time Holdem
players’ biggest challenge. Terms like dealer button, big
blind, small blind and straddle are sufficient to confound even
those players who have spent decades playing additional poker varieties.
Never fear. With a little explaining and some table time, you too
can master Texas Holdem wagering.
In a standard house game, the dealer generally calls the game,
shuffles the cards and deals out. The player to his left is then
responsible for beginning the action. This leaves the dealer to
act last giving him a distinct advantage. In house games each participant
takes turn dealing. Therefore, the benefit of acting last is passed
evenly to all the participants.
In a structured Texas Holdem game, the casino or card room provides
the dealer. By the rules of a regular house game, this would give
the participant to the right of the dealer the benefit of acting
last in each round. To get rid of this advantage the “DEALER
BUTTON” was introduced. This small button, or chip, is passed
around the table after each hand. The player whom the dealer button
is in front of is considered the dealer of that hand. While he does
not actually deal the cards, he is awarded all the advantages of
being the dealer. The casino dealer will start dealing the hand
to the left of the dealer button. When it is time to bet, the person
who possesses the dealer button will be last to go. Once the hand
is over, the dealer button is passed to the next player to the left.
Another problem was getting the action started or making sure there
was always money in the pot for each hand. Casinos or card rooms
make money off a rake, a small percentage of each pot. The rake
is how they maintain the game and pay the dealers. No action means
no money to keep the game going. The solution was to develop forced
bets, or “BLINDS”, to ensure that each hand has money
in the pot. Blinds are assigned to the two participants directly
to the left of the participant possessing the dealer button. This
is done to ensure that as the dealer button moves around the table,
so will the blinds.
Normally blinds are broken up into two forced bets, a “SMALL
BLIND” and a “BIG BLIND”. The small blind is placed
by the first participant to the left of the dealer button and is
normally half of the opening bet. For example in a $10/$20 Texas
Holdem game the small blind would be $5. The second player to the
left of the dealer button then places the big blind. The big blind
is normally equal to the opening bet. For the example above, the
big blind would be $10.
Once the blinds are placed and the cards are dealt, each participant
left of the big blind has the opportunity to call, raise or fold.
Once the action goes around the table, the small blind might complete
the bet or fold. Folding would forfeit his small blind. The big
blind then has one last chance to raise before the flop is dealt.
In some rare cases a casino may allow for a “STRADDLE”.
A straddle is an additional blind that is not forced. The person
to the left of the big blind may select to place a straddle bet,
which equals double the amount of the big blind. A straddle bet
is a raise before anyone has seen his or her cards. When somebody
elects to straddle, it changes the future wagering rounds by making
it double as much to call. Essentially, a straddle will turn a $10/$20
game into a $20/$40 for that hand. If you ever hear the dealer declare
that a participant has chose to straddle, be mindful that if you
wish to call you need to match his initial raise.
As I stated earlier, wagering in Texas Holdem is one of the most
important aspects of the game. Hopefully, this article shed some
light on the basic wagering structure used in most Texas Holdem
and other games where casino dealers are used.
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