Let's start with the basics: So what's a blind?
A blind is a forced bet that is placed before the cards are dealt. It is used to seed the pot in flop and draw games. Generally, flop and draw games will use a nominal dealer button to indicate the last action after the flop or draw. This button is moved in a clockwise manner, one position to the left, before the start of each hand, in order to give each player equal time from each betting position. Most games will have two blinds, a small blind to the left of the button, and a big blind to the left of the small blind.
Blinds are called “big” or “small” based upon their relative size and not upon what position they are posted from, although it is standard to post the big blind to the left of the small blind. Typically, the big blind will be a full-sized bet of the lower betting limit, and a small blind will be a portion of the lower betting limit. The big blind is usually twice the size of the small blind. When you open our poker software and click on the 'Ring Games' tab, you will see the list of available tables and the blind size is usually listed, for example as $5/$10. In this case the small blind is $5 and the big blind is $10. Poker blinds help drive the action forward and prevent players from simply folding until they are dealt premium cards.
Blinds in poker tournaments work the same way as cash games, but with one key difference. The blinds in poker tournaments increase after set intervals of time, so players must try to maintain an ever-increasing chip stack to avoid being knocked out. Antes are often introduced in the later stage of tournaments. Antes are similar to blinds, but they are paid by every player at the table rather than just those occupying the small blind and big blind position.
Why is it important to know your Big Blind Stack?
Knowing the size of the big blind in a poker game is essential. Most cash game tables will allow you to buy in with a minimum of 20 big blinds and a maximum of 100 big blinds. The stack size in big blinds is calculated by dividing the tournament stack by the current big blind amount. For example, if the blinds were $50/$100, we would have 10bb (big blind) with $1000 in our stack. Keeping track of stack size in big blinds is important for tournament players as it sets the way for which strategy to follow.
How to use our Big Blind Feature
From now on you don't have to keep calculating your current Big Blind stack all the time. Instead you can focus on your game as we have made it easy for you to keep track. While at the poker table, no matter if you are playing a tournament or cash game, just click on your name plate. While the default setting shows your current chip size, you will now see your Big Blind stack after clicking on it. If you want to view your chip size instead, then just click on your name plate again. If you want to keep just one view as your standard setting, then please click on 'Options', choose the 'Graphics' tab, and tick or untick the 'show chips as big blinds for tournaments or cash games' options.
We hope you will enjoy this new feature and we wish you good luck at our tables!