Texas Hold em Lingo
Written June 4, 2008 by Jack Jones
With poker becoming more and more prominent on TV there are a lot of people catching on to the game for the first time. There are some terms out there that the poker commentators casually throw around thinking that everyone watching knows them like they do. Well we know that isn’t the case as we have fielded a couple questions on what certain terms mean, so let’s clear up the confusion starting with the button.
In front of one of the players at the table you will notice what is usually a small, white disk called the button. The button is there to represent who would be dealing the cards if he or she was actually the dealer. This gives the player holding the button a distinct advantage because they are the last player to act after the deal. By acting last, the dealer has more helpful information about everyone’s hands by seeing how they acted when their turn came.
Blinds are another confusing term for newbies. Blinds stimulate the action before the first cards are dealt. Most poker games require a blind bet or ante. If antes are used then all players post a standard amount of up-front money just to get their cards. You find these antes in the traditional Stud games.
The blind bet is an alternative to the ante. It is a required wager for some, but not all of the players that must be posted before anyone at the table gets to see his or her cards.
In Texas Hold’em the first two players to the left of the dealer post the blinds before anyone gets to see any cards. This blind bet follows the dealer button around the table. Because blinds are forced wagers, these players can raise once the action gets back around to them and it’s their turn to act. Pretty simple right?
Let’s take a look at an example. The first player to the dealer’s left, makes a small blind bet of $10, then the player to his left posts the big blind of $20. Once the cards have been dealt it is just like the player bet $10 then was raised to $20, so each player must call the $20, re-raise, or fold. When the betting returns to the player who had the forced $10 blind bet, he acts just as if that had been the opening bet; he must equal the bet facing him (toward which he may count his original $10), re-raise or fold.
To ensure that there is constant betting action on every hand, blindsin a no-limit tournament increase progressively at pre-determined time intervals. They continue to go up as the day goes on, raising the stakes and the pressure, especially on the player who lurks and seldom acts. That type of player risks getting his or her bankroll eaten up bit-by-bit by the erosion of the increasing blinds.
