If you’re playing in a cash game that’s capped, but is described as offering full buy-ins, you may be playing under the “100 BB” (Big Blind) rule. As an example, 100 big blinds in a $1/$2 game is $200, which is often the maximum allowed in this type of game. (Certain games can feature maximum buy-ins of 30, 35 or 40 big blinds, and these are generally referred to as “short stack” games.) For general purposes this article is for cash games. Please see our article for the 10 bb rule in tournaments.
Big Blind Products 100 Piece Premium Poker Chip Set Set for Upscale Vegas-Style Poker Nights - Durable, Poker Chips with Denominations, Casino Weight Chips with Gift Box - Casino Chips 4.6 out of 5 stars 106. It puts the big blind in a tough spot with their marginal hands. It allows you to bet with a merged range. On the flop, optimal betting ranges tend to be merged (i.e., they contain more medium-strength hands), since the equities of the small blind’s and big blind’s hands run closer.
The 100 BB Importance
What’s so important about the 100 big-blind level, and how did it come to be? First, it’s easy math, and cashiers and chip runners like their jobs to be easy as possible. Second, and more importantly, a game featuring full buy-ins allows for the full gamut of strategy of no-limit poker to come into play. 100-BB cash-game poker is the complete game, allowing for bluffs, finesses, re-steals, squeezes, traps, and all the other bits and pieces that make poker such a dynamic game to play.
Keep it at This Amount
Because of this, many experienced players reload for another 100 BB in chips any time their chip stack falls below this level. Experienced, versatile (and properly-bankrolled) players perform at their best when they have lots of chips to work with, and at all times they can only win as much from another single player as the amount of chips their own stacks hold. The shortest stack at any given table has the least to lose… but he also has the least to win.
Another way to think of it is like this: If you are better than your opponents, you want to be able to win as many of their chips as possible. Because of this, you want to have all or many of them outchipped at any given time. We’ll ignore the opposite for the most part and just note that if you’re not better than most of your opponents, you’re sitting at the wrong table.
Rule of thumb, Time to Rebuy
The 100-BB rule, therefore, is simply a general reminder to good players that it might be time to rebuy and get some more chips into play. Maybe you’ve taken a bad beat, or two, or three, but if you can avoid tilt and you know your opponents are worse than you, remember that the cards themselves have no memory.
And go ahead and reload – another 100 BB’s should do the trick.
Author:Joseph Falchetti (twitter)
(C) Copyright PokerWebsites.com, 2018
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.
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. 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.
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:
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- 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.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Poker Chips Big Blinds