03-31-03, LearnTexasHoldem:

Blinds Movements When Someone Busts Out...

Question: Love the web site ! My friends and I have been playing holdem at home games in a tournament format. We just started to play the blinds. One situation that came up (which caused an argument) was when someone goes broke when they are in the big blind and also when they are in the small blind. If the big blind goes broke does the next hand just get played with a person on the button and just a big blind ? Or does someone get the benefit of a blind passing over them ? On the same note if the small blind goes broke, on the next hand does the button stay on the same person as the previous hand and the blinds move forward as they normally would ? Or does the button move to the person who was previously the big blind and he/she gets the benefit of missing out on paying the small blind this round.

I hope I made sense explaining this, as it would resolve this ongoing argument me and my friends have on the subject. Thanks very much

Don

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Answer:

Hi Don, thanks for the questions and they make perfect sense. For most blinds questions for who has what, the general rule is that the dealer button moves one space after each hand. The texas holdem rules are the way they are so that no one gets nailed twice in a row by a big blind or gets an unfair advantage by getting the dealer button twice (or the blinds jumping them).

If the big blind goes broke does the next hand just get played with a person on the button and just a big blind ?

- No because then you would have to jump over someone's small or big blind to get things back to normal. What happens is a little strange. You have two big blinds and one small blind. There is a small blind on the dealer button, then a big blind on the next two places. Then the next hand you have two small blinds and one big blind. You have the regular big blind and small blind as well another small blind on the dealer button. Then the following hand things go back to normal. This is kind of weird but if you work it out on paper it makes sense. The reason for this is so that the dealer button moves as it should and it doesn't create any jumping. Another way of handling it is to completely skip the small blind position on the next hand, and then return to the regular setup on the following hand.

On the same note if the small blind goes broke, on the next hand does the button stay on the same person as the previous hand and the blinds move forward as they normally would ?

- No one gets the dealer button twice in a row. The answer is the same as above with one less step. You just go small-small-big for the blinds. You have a small blind on the regular position as well as the dealer button. Alternatively you could have a person skip their big blind on the next hand and everything goes back to normal.

The last case scenario which you didn't ask but is worth mentioning is if someone goes bust or leaves when it would be their dealer button next. In this case you have what is called a dead button. The dealer button is placed in the seat of the person just for that hand but it doesn't get cards of course. It is that way so you don't skip any blinds.

On a final note you may use an ante structure and blind in your tourney instead of two blinds. You can have a blind after the dealer button and then have an ante. So for example the blind is $5 and everyone antes $1 preflop. So if you had four people left in the game then the pot would already be $8 preflop without any betting yet.

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