Once heads up is achieved in a home game or pub poker tournament, the most common questions that I hear is, 'who goes first?' 'who gets dealt the first card?' or 'who has the button?' In fact, the most common time that gameplay rule violations occur at the poker table is when I am down to heads up. This is because the rules for heads to head or one on one play in Texas Hold'em can be a bit confusing.
- In heads-up play, the standard rules of the button, small blind, and big blind, change. Why in heads-up, is the button the small blind too? What is the logic behind this rule?
- The blinds and button in heads up poker is placed as follows; button will always post the small blind, while the other player will post the big blind. Post flop, the big blind will act first, and the person who posted a small blind (button in our case) will remain in the position. Next hand positions of the blinds and the button will switch.
For any tournaments and cash games where players are Heads-Up, the small blind will be placed on the button. The button will then be first to act preflop and second to act in all further betting rounds. This rule is widely accepted and explained in the Robert's Rules of Poker, which the vast majority of poker rooms use these days.
According to heads up poker rules, the dealer posts the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. The first card is dealt to the player in the Big Blind. The dealer acts first pre-flop and the big blind acts first on the flop, turn, and river. The dealer always goes last on the flop, turn, and river.
Why Does the Dealer Post the Small Blind?
If the blinds were reversed and the player on the button posted the big blind, the rules for order of play would be violated. In Texas Hold'em, the Big Blind is required to act last before the flop. Therefore, by default, the player on the button must post the Small Blind in heads-up play.
Additionally, if the dealer was the big blind and decided to fold, he would be folding his big blind to the small blind; another violation of the basic rules. Some might also argue that this 'discounted' price of folding is part of the basic advantage of the button.
However, this is just an incidental advantage obtained just by following the rules correctly and was not designed to give preference to one player or the other. To put it another way, the rules came first, before the optimal strategy to play within the bounds of those rules was formulated.
Why Does the Dealer Go First Before the Flop?
The player on the button acts first for the same reason he posts the small blind, to maintain the correct order of play. Some might argue that acting last before the flop offers a type of position advantage and that the button should have that edge in heads-up. However, the button does not have that type of favor when there are 3 or more players at the table, so why should the rules alter when it's down to heads up? The button never acts last pre-flop, no matter how many players are at the table.
Why Does the Big Blind Go First After the Flop?
The rules of poker state that the button must always act last after the flop. While this might seem like a departure from the rules, since the small blind does act first after the flop in non-heads-up play, it really isn't. Indeed, it doesn't matter what position a player sits in, if the button is involved in the hand, they are required to go first.
What If the Button Open Folds Before the Flop?
When the button folds, he relinquishes the small blind to the player in the big blind, the button moves, and the next hand begins. If the button just calls, the player in the big blind has the option to check back or raise. You may have heard the dealer say 'option' to the big blind before.
Are Poker Odds Different in Heads-Up?
No. The math of poker remains exactly the same, no matter how many players are involved in the game. The cool thing is that calculating the odds is simplified since there are never any multi-way pots when you are playing one on one.
Are the Heads up Rules the Same for Cash Games and Tournaments?
Yes, the order of play and the rules for posting blinds remains exactly the same, no matter the format. The only real difference you will see, when watching cash versus tournaments, is that the latter often has antes paid in on top of the blinds.
Are These Rules the Same for Pot Limit Omaha?
Yes, the rules of heads-up play remain the same for all flop-style games that have a button and two blinds, including limit hold'em, no-limit hold'em, and Omaha.
Strategic Adjustments For Heads-Up Play
Once you have the rules of how one on one gameplay works, you can focus all of your attention on winning. The key to crushing the competition is in making targeted adjustments based on your opponent's style of play.
The biggest adjustment that should be made when playing heads up revolves around how often you raise and call and how assertive you should be when it comes to fighting for pots. As a rule, as tables become more short-handed, your overall level of aggression should increase. When play is down to just you and one other people your level of aggressiveness should range anywhere from combative to downright maniacal. What controls your frequencies in this regard is the nature of your opponent.
In order to thrive in and succeed one-on-one, you have to drastically loosen your requirements for getting involved and continuing into later streets. As the old saying goes, it's very hard to make a pair. Often, high card will be the best hand on the flop in a heads-up battle. Therefore, you definitely do not want to play fit or fold when there is only one other opponent.
Feel Out Your Opponent Early
The early stages of a heads-up match are very similar to boxing. Unless you are really familiar with how your opponent plays, you will need to feel him or her out in the first few hands. For the most part, my general strategy is to raise any two hands from the button but defend a bit on the tight side in the big blind. By using this method, here are a few things you are looking to find out along with the adjustments that you can make as a result:
Pre-Flop Heads-Up Adjustments
- Your Opponent Is Folding to Steals Often
Count your blessings if this is the case. Playing against a fit or fold opponent when down to two players is the best case scenario. Keep stealing any two cards until he or she adjusts. You may find that you have the majority of the chips before this happens! - Your Opponent Seems to Be Defending Every Time
If you open your first 5 hands and get called or raised 5 times, it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy. Even so, I would almost never reduce my opening frequency down below 50% in a heads up match. - Your Opponent Is Stealing Often
So your opponent has open-raised the first 8 hands or so in the match. It is time to start playing back at him and the best way to do this is to flat call all of your high card hands, even Q2o, and anything that is suited or has any flopability (is that a word)? For example, something like 74o is an easy flat against someone who opens practically any two cards. - Your Opponent Is Folding the Button Often
If your opponent is open-folding the button more than half the time, it is safe to tighten up your flatting and 3-betting range substantially. The free money you are getting from your opponent's folds means that you are practically free rolling the big blind. How cool is that? Ramp up the aggression on the button and the match will be over soon (usually in your favor).
Post-Flop Heads-Up Strategy
Your opponent's pre-flop tendencies will tend to bleed over into their post-flop play. Therefore, if a person is stealing wide pre-flop expect them to bluff a lot and take very weak ranges to later streets.
Yes, the order of play and the rules for posting blinds remains exactly the same, no matter the format. The only real difference you will see, when watching cash versus tournaments, is that the latter often has antes paid in on top of the blinds.
Are These Rules the Same for Pot Limit Omaha?
Yes, the rules of heads-up play remain the same for all flop-style games that have a button and two blinds, including limit hold'em, no-limit hold'em, and Omaha.
Strategic Adjustments For Heads-Up Play
Once you have the rules of how one on one gameplay works, you can focus all of your attention on winning. The key to crushing the competition is in making targeted adjustments based on your opponent's style of play.
The biggest adjustment that should be made when playing heads up revolves around how often you raise and call and how assertive you should be when it comes to fighting for pots. As a rule, as tables become more short-handed, your overall level of aggression should increase. When play is down to just you and one other people your level of aggressiveness should range anywhere from combative to downright maniacal. What controls your frequencies in this regard is the nature of your opponent.
In order to thrive in and succeed one-on-one, you have to drastically loosen your requirements for getting involved and continuing into later streets. As the old saying goes, it's very hard to make a pair. Often, high card will be the best hand on the flop in a heads-up battle. Therefore, you definitely do not want to play fit or fold when there is only one other opponent.
Feel Out Your Opponent Early
The early stages of a heads-up match are very similar to boxing. Unless you are really familiar with how your opponent plays, you will need to feel him or her out in the first few hands. For the most part, my general strategy is to raise any two hands from the button but defend a bit on the tight side in the big blind. By using this method, here are a few things you are looking to find out along with the adjustments that you can make as a result:
Pre-Flop Heads-Up Adjustments
- Your Opponent Is Folding to Steals Often
Count your blessings if this is the case. Playing against a fit or fold opponent when down to two players is the best case scenario. Keep stealing any two cards until he or she adjusts. You may find that you have the majority of the chips before this happens! - Your Opponent Seems to Be Defending Every Time
If you open your first 5 hands and get called or raised 5 times, it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy. Even so, I would almost never reduce my opening frequency down below 50% in a heads up match. - Your Opponent Is Stealing Often
So your opponent has open-raised the first 8 hands or so in the match. It is time to start playing back at him and the best way to do this is to flat call all of your high card hands, even Q2o, and anything that is suited or has any flopability (is that a word)? For example, something like 74o is an easy flat against someone who opens practically any two cards. - Your Opponent Is Folding the Button Often
If your opponent is open-folding the button more than half the time, it is safe to tighten up your flatting and 3-betting range substantially. The free money you are getting from your opponent's folds means that you are practically free rolling the big blind. How cool is that? Ramp up the aggression on the button and the match will be over soon (usually in your favor).
Post-Flop Heads-Up Strategy
Your opponent's pre-flop tendencies will tend to bleed over into their post-flop play. Therefore, if a person is stealing wide pre-flop expect them to bluff a lot and take very weak ranges to later streets.
If a person is folding a lot pre-flop and/or stealing narrowly, you would be well-served to give their bets and raises a lot more respect after the flop. Otherwise, my advice is to play a very stabby small ball style and try to keep most pots small while you feel our your opponent. Building a really aggressive image will pay dividends should you actually pick up a strong hand.
Summary
In live games where the players do the dealing, heads up play is the most common part of a tournament that the gameplay rules of poker are violated. More frequently than you might think, either the incorrect person gets dealt to first or the order of play is reversed.
It makes sense that sometimes people forget the heads-up rules since it can be rather rare to make it to heads-up in a tournament. It's easy to see how the rules can be forgotten when a player might only achieve heads up once every few months. Even so, once the reasons behind why the dealing and playing order are understood, it all makes perfect sense.
Once you have the rules down, I suggest that you spend a few hours practicing at home with a family member. That way the heads up rules will be followed to the tee next time you find yourself as one of the last two players in your next local event. Besides, you should be focusing on adjusting your strategy and beating your opponent, not on who goes first or whatever. Good luck, now go win that thing!
Heads Up Poker Dealer Small Blind
The blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-stylepoker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three. Closest casino to fort walton beach fl.
The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is then posted by the next player to the left. The one exception is when there are only two players (a 'heads-up' game), when the player on the button is the small blind, and the other player is the big blind. (Both the player and the bet may be referred to as big or small blind.)
After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act during the first betting round. If any players call the big blind, the big blind is then given an extra opportunity to raise. This is known as a live blind. If the live blind checks, the betting round then ends.
Generally, the 'big blind' is equal to the minimum bet. The 'small blind' is normally half the big blind. In cases where posting exactly half the big blind is impractical due to the big blind being some odd-valued denomination, the small blind is rounded (usually down) to the nearest practical value. For example, if the big blind in a live table game is $3, then the small blind will usually be $1 or $2 since most casinos do not distribute large quantities of $0.50 poker chips.
The blinds exist because Omaha and Texas hold 'em are frequently played without antes, allowing a player to fold his hand without placing a bet. The blind bets introduce a regular cost to take part in the game, thus inducing a player to enter pots in an attempt to compensate for that expense.
It is possible to play without blinds. The minimum bet is then the lowest denomination chip in play, and tossing only one chip is considered as a call. Anything higher than that is considered a raise. Poker without blinds is usually played with everyone posting an ante to receive cards.
Blinds in cash games[edit]
In cash games, otherwise known as ring games, blinds primarily serve to ensure all players are subject to some minimum, ongoing cost for participating in the game. This encourages players to play hands they otherwise might not, thereby increasing the average size of the pots and, by extension, increasing the amount of rake earned by the cardroom hosting the game.
In cash games, the amount of the blinds are normally fixed for each particular table and will not change for the duration of the game. However, many cardrooms will allow blind levels to change in cases where all players unanimously agree to a change. Larger cardrooms will often include tables with different blind levels to give players the option of playing at whatever stakes they are most comfortable with. In online poker, blinds range from as little as one U.S. cent to USD1,000 or more.
The minimum and maximum buy-in at a table is usually set in relation to the big blind. Odin pda slot lock. At live games, the minimum buy-in is usually between 20 and 50 big blinds, while the maximum buy-in is usually between 100 and 250 big blinds. Some online cardrooms offer 'short stack' tables where the maximum buy-in is 50 big blinds or less and/or 'deep stack' tables where the minimum buy-in is 100 big blinds or more.
Missed blinds[edit]
In cash games that do not deal cards to players who are absent from the table at the start of the hand (or, in online games, are designated as 'sitting out'), special rules are necessary to deal with players who miss their blinds.
Heads Up Poker Who Is The Small Blind
In such a situation, if a player misses his or her big blind, he or she will not be dealt in again until the button has passed. At that point, if the player wishes to rejoin the game, he or she must 'super-post' - he or she must post both the big and small blinds in order to be dealt cards. Of these, only the big blind is considered 'live' while the small blind is 'dead' - it is placed in the center of the pot apart from the big blind and will not count towards calling any additional bets or raises by other players. If the player has only missed the small blind, then the same procedure applies except that the player only has to post the 'dead' small blind to rejoin the game. Most cardrooms allow players to relieve themselves of these obligations if they wait until they are again due to post the big blind before rejoining the game.
Some cardrooms hosting live cash games do not allow players to miss and/or avoid paying blinds in this manner. In these games, all players with chips on the table are dealt in whether or not they are present at the table. Any blinds due will be posted from the player's stack - depending on the cardroom's rules this will be done either by the dealer, another cardroom employee or a nearby player under staff supervision. Whenever a player has not returned to the table by the time it is his turn to act, his or her hand is automatically folded. Under such rules, if a player wishes to be absent from the table then the only way he or she can avoid paying blinds is to cash out and leave the game altogether.
Blinds in tournament play[edit]
In poker tournament play, blinds serve a dual purpose. In addition to the purpose explained above, blinds are also used to control how long the tournament will last. Before the tournament begins, the players will agree to a blinds structure, usually set by the tournament organizer. This structure defines how long each round is and how much the blinds increase per round. Typically, they are increased at a smooth rate of between 25% and 50% per round over the previous round. As the blinds increase, players need to increase their chip counts (or 'stacks') to stay in the game. The blinds will eventually consume all of a player's stack if he or she does not play to win more.
Unlike many cash games, it is not possible for a player to 'miss' blinds in a tournament. If a player is absent from the table, he will continue to have his or her cards dealt and mucked and will have blinds and, if applicable, antes taken from his stack as they are due, either until he or she returns or until his or her stack is completely consumed by blinds and antes. A player who loses his or her chips in this manner is said to have been 'blinded off.'
Goals[edit]
There are two main goals for the blinds structure:
- Ensure that by the time the desired duration of the tournament is reached, it will be very hard for players with small stacks to stay in the game. This forces players with smaller stacks to play them aggressively, thus increasing their chip count or losing everything quickly.
- Ensure that players, in general, do not have a large stack relative to the blind level.
If desired, antes can be added to further increase the pressure to win more chips.
Example[edit]
If each player in a tournament starts with 5,000 in chips and after four hours, the big blind is 10,000 (with a small blind of 5,000), it will be very difficult for a player with only 15,000 in chips to stay in the game.
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References[edit]
