Without the blinds, there would be no penalty for waiting and only playing strong hands. These forced bets which give players an incentive to play in other words ‘spice up' the game. The blinds are an important part of the rules of poker. This is shown in the case of a 6 handed game below: The small blind and big blind are located to the left of the button. The size of the blinds depends on the limit for example, a 1/2 No Limit Hold'em game would have a big blind of $2 and a small blind of 1$. If you just sat down (out of turn) you will have to pay the blinds in order get dealt a hand otherwise, you can wait until the blinds come around to your seat. You should wait for the blinds as paying twice is unprofitable. The button doesn't show who is dealing in a casino the button shows who is seated the best position at the table and where the blinds are located.

If you have a dedicated dealer (such as at a casino), the button will still move around the table so everybody will eventually have to pay the blinds. The betting rounds will be detailed further on.

There are a total of four betting rounds: preflop, the flop, the turn and the river. The dealer button (denoted by a circular disc) is allocated before hands are dealt to allow for the positioning of the forced bets: small blind and big blind, and also to determine who will act first and last in the hand. Hole cards can only be seen and used by one person. In Texas hold’em each player is dealt two cards called their ‘hole’ cards.

The River and Showdown – The Fourth Betting Round.

Pre-flop – The First Betting Round of Hold'em.

3 category chart of texas holdem poker