Poker is a betting game. Games like seven-stud and five-draw get the pot started with antes -- each player has to ante up before the cards are dealt. In hold'em, there are no antes; instead, some of the players post blinds. Simply speaking, a blind is a forced bet.
Typically in hold'em there are two blinds: the small blind (or little blind) and the big blind. The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the small blind and the next player to the left posts the big blind. Obviously it would be unfair if the same players had to post blinds in every hand, which is why the position of the dealer is determined by a rotating dealer button: after each hand the dealer button moves clockwise one place.
In the example below, you'll see what a table looks like after the hole cards have been dealt. Note that the dealer button is in front of Tom, Butch has posted the small blind, and Norm has posted the big blind.
After the blinds are posted and each player's two hole cards are dealt face down, action starts with the player immediately to the left of the big blind (in this case, Wendy). She has the choice of calling the big blind (matching the big-blind's bet), raising (adding an additional bet), or folding (tossing her hand). Note that checking (holding the hand without putting in money) is not an option. The blinds are live bets, and all remaining players are forced to react to them.
Action continues around the table, and each player has the option of calling, raising, or folding. Once the action returns to the blinds, they have a couple of options. If there has been a raise, the blinds can fold, call, or re-raise. If no one has raised, either of the blinds can take the opportunity to raise. The small blind (Butch) must, at a minimum, match the big blind if he wishes to play the hand. The big blind (Norm) can simply check if no one has raised.
There is a separate round of betting after the flop, after the turn, and after the river. Betting starts with the first remaining player to the left of the dealer button. If the small blind hasn't folded yet, he starts the betting on all rounds subsequent to the flop. Note that because there are no forced bets in later rounds, checking is allowed.
If two or more players remain after the final round of betting, the players show their hands and the best hand takes the pot.
Still not clear? Don't worry. Things will make more sense after we take a look closer look at limit, no-limit, and pot-limit hold'em.
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