Atlassino Academy · Poker in the room · Lesson 2 of 13
Blinds, button and betting rounds
Blinds go in before the cards, the button decides who speaks first, and in no limit a raise has a floor. Here is the order of a hand, round by round, and what you may do when the action reaches you.
The cards are dealt at a no limit table with blinds of $1 and $2, and nobody has acted yet. Who acts first, and what is the smallest raise that player may make?
The short answer
Before the flop, the first three shared cards, the first player to act sits to the left of the big blind, the second of the two forced bets that go in before the cards. From the flop on, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first; the button is the disc that marks the seat of an imaginary dealer. In no limit at a B.C. table, a raise, a bet bigger than the one before it, has to add at least as much as the last bet or raise in the round added: with nobody in yet, the big blind is that bet, so the smallest raise goes to $4. The ceiling is your stack, the chips you have on the table, and any maximum bet the house posts. The blinds here are an example table, not a suggested stake.
Before the flop
- Seat D
- Seat E
- Seat F
- Seat G
- Seat H
- Seat I
- Seat A, the button
- Seat B, the small blind
- Seat C, the big blind
From the flop on
- Seat B, the small blind
- Seat C, the big blind
- Seat D
- Seat E
- Seat F
- Seat G
- Seat H
- Seat I
- Seat A, the button
The same nine seats in both lists: the button and the two blinds stay where they are for the whole hand, and only the moment in the hand changes which seat speaks first.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
I dealt hold’em for years, and two questions came up at every table: “is it on me?” and “how much do I have to put in?”. Both answers come from where the button sits and from what the player before you did, and both can be read off the table before you touch a chip.
Seats, the button and the room
How many players can sit in one game is set by each room or province, and the ones we could read set it differently.
| Where | Players at one table |
|---|---|
| Rules published by BCLC for B.C. casinos | No more than 11 players in one game |
| Casino regulations of Nova Scotia | A table with places for up to 11 players |
| The Casino Niagara poker room guide | From 2 to 10 players at each table |
| Casino New Brunswick | Cash game tables seated for 9 players |
Everyone at the table plays against the other players, not against the house. The room is paid by a fee taken out of the pots, the rake, and lessons 7.3 and 7.10 deal with it; every pot on this page is shown before that fee.
The button marks the seat of an imaginary dealer, since a house dealer deals every hand, and after each hand the button moves one seat clockwise. At Casino de Montréal the same marker is called the puck. When a player who has just sat down gets a first hand is a rule of its own, and it is in lesson 7.3.
Blinds: the two bets before the cards
Before any card is dealt, the two players to the left of the button put in forced bets called blinds: the first player puts in the small blind, the second the big blind.
| Where | The small blind | The big blind |
|---|---|---|
| Rules published by BCLC for B.C. casinos | Up to half of the first round of betting | The value of the first round of betting, within the table limits |
| PlaySmart, learning pages for Ontario, on limit games | Half the minimum bet | The minimum bet |
The rule for B.C. tables comes first; the PlaySmart line is a learning page written about limit games, not the rule of a room. At Casino de Montréal the two blinds are posted by the first two players to the left of the puck, and the Casino Niagara guide calls a blind a forced bet made before any cards arrive.
- Small blind$1the first number of a $1/$2 stake on the sign
- Big blind$2the second number of a $1/$2 stake on the sign
- The smallest bet on any round$2the size of the big blind, at a B.C. table
We read the two numbers of a no limit stake on the sign, such as $1/$2, as the two blinds: the first is the small blind, the second the big blind. At a B.C. table, the smallest bet on every round is the size of the big blind. Amounts are in Canadian dollars.
Four rounds of betting, five moves
Each player gets two cards face down, dealt one at a time, starting with the small blind, and the first round of betting follows. The dealer then burns a card, setting it aside face down, and turns three shared cards face up: the flop. After a second round the dealer burns again and turns a fourth card, the turn; after a third round, a last burned card and a fifth, the river, and the fourth and final round.
- The dealTwo cards face down to each player, then the first round of betting.
- The flopOne card burned, three shared cards face up, then the second round.
- The turnOne card burned, a fourth shared card, then the third round.
- The riverOne card burned, the fifth shared card, then the last round.
Every new card or set of cards is followed by a round of betting; a hand in which every player but one folds stops right there.
When the action reaches you, there are five moves to choose from, and Casino de Montréal names each of them.
- CheckPass without putting chips in, while there is no bet for you to match.
- BetPut chips in when nobody has bet in the round yet.
- CallPut in just enough to match the bet you face.
- RaisePut in more than the bet you face, so the others have to match the larger amount.
- FoldGive up the hand, and with it any share of the pot.
Checking and betting are possible only while nobody has bet in the round; calling and raising, only once somebody has. Before the flop the big blind counts as a bet; when every other player has only called it, the big blind may still check.
Who acts first, before and after the flop
Before the flop the player to the left of the big blind acts first, and the two blinds act last, because their money is already in. From the flop on, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first, and the button acts last.
| When | First to act | Last to act |
|---|---|---|
| Before the flop | Seat D, the first seat left of the big blind | Seat C, the big blind, unless a raise sends the action round again |
| From the flop on | Seat B, the small blind, or the next seat still in | Seat A, the button, while still in |
The PlaySmart learning page for Ontario says that the betting after the flop starts with the small blind. That holds while the small blind is still in the hand; when the small blind has folded, the next player still in goes first, as the rule for B.C. tables puts it.
One thing follows from the order itself: the later you act in a round, the more you have seen of what the other players did before your turn. That is all this page says about position, and it is a fact about information, not a way to play.
How big a raise has to be
In no limit at a B.C. table, the smallest bet is the big blind, and every raise has to be at least as big as the last bet or raise in the same round, unless the raise is an all-in, a bet of your whole stack.
- The big blind$2counts as the first bet before the flop
- Seat D raises to $6+$4a raise of $4
- The next raise goes to at least$10$6 and $4 more
- Seat E re-raises to $16+$10a raise of $10
- The next raise goes to at least$26$16 and $10 more
The size of a raise is what it adds to the bet before it, not the total it reaches; each full raise in a round sets the floor for the next one.
No limit does not mean no ceiling at all: a bet is limited by the chips you had on the table when the hand began, your stack, and by any maximum single bet the house posts. Pot limit stops a raise at the size of the pot after your call, and limit games use fixed bets.
- No limitup to $150Your whole stack, below any maximum single bet the house posts.
- Pot limitup to $7$2 to call, then a raise of up to the $5 in the pot after the call.
- Limitfixed betsAt a B.C. table, no more than 3 raises while more than 2 players remain; at Casino Niagara, two players left in a fixed limit game may raise as often as they like.
The no limit and pot limit tiles are the same seat each time: a $150 stack, nobody in yet, blinds of $1 and $2 at an example table. The practice table on this page is no limit; the other two are here so that the sign at another table reads right.
A short all-in, and when the betting reopens
An all-in can be smaller than a full raise. At a B.C. table such an all-in does not give a player who has already acted in the round another chance to raise, unless several short all-ins together add up to a full raise to that player.
- Seat A, the small blind, bets$10the first bet on the flop
- Seat B, the big blind, raises to$20a raise of $10
- Seat C goes all in for$25$5 more, short of a full raise of $10
- Seat D, the button, folds; Seat A calls$25the bet Seat B now faces
- Seat B, who has already acted$5 to callor fold; Seat B may not raise
The rules for B.C. tables give this same case as their own example, with larger amounts; that is an example of the rules, and the amounts here belong to an example table. None of them is a suggested bet.
Adding up works both ways: two short all-ins can together reach a full raise and reopen the betting, or together still fall short of one.
Two all-ins that add up
- A raise to $6
- An all-in for $8
- An all-in for $10
- A call
Back to the player who raised: the bet has grown by $4, a full raise. Call $4, fold, or raise to at least $14.
Two all-ins that fall short
- A raise to $6
- An all-in for $7
- An all-in for $9
- A call
Back to the player who raised: the bet has grown by $3, short of the $4 raise. Call $3 or fold.
At Casino New Brunswick a player may ask, before acting, whether a wager is big enough to reopen the betting.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Know the rules before you buy in. A hand where you are not sure whether it is your turn, or how big a raise has to be, is a hand where chips go in by accident and calm goes out with them. Decide the money for the evening before you sit down, and if a hand rattles you, you can fold the next one, or step away for a short break.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
Practice: action is on you
Level 1 is the round before the flop: who speaks first, and how big the first raises have to be. Level 2 is the flop, the turn and the river. Level 3 is the short all-in: when it reopens the betting for a player who has already acted, and when it does not.
Nothing is bet here. Every table is an example no limit table with blinds of $1 and $2, and every moment stops at a decision, with the seats, the stacks and the moves before yours on the screen.
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Level 3 · Short all-ins
Before the flop
No shared cards on the table yet
Seat Abutton
Stack $200
folded
Seat Bsmall blind
Stack $199
folded
Seat Cbig blind
Stack $198
folded
Seat Dyou
Stack $194
In front: $6
raised to $6
Seat E
No chips left
In front: $8
all in for $8
Seat F
Stack $192
In front: $8
called $8
Blinds $1 and $2, no limit: an example table
You raised to $6. Seat E went all in for $8, Seat F called, and the action is back on you. What can you do?
- Put in $2 more to call, or fold; you may not raise The all-in added $2 to your $6, less than the $4 your raise added, so the betting is not open again to you.
- Call, fold, or raise to at least $12 That would hold if the all-in had been a full raise. An all-in that adds less does not give a player who has already acted another raise.
- Call, fold, or raise to at least $10 A short all-in does not reopen the betting for a player who has already acted, and it does not set a new size for raises either.
Reopening asks one question of each player who has already acted: has the bet you face grown by at least a full raise since you acted? Here it has not.
Every moment in the practice run is worked out the same way: the moves before yours are played through by the same engine, and the answer is what the engine allows the seat whose turn it is.
How the practice run works
Where the answers come from. Every moment is a set of stacks, a button and the moves before yours, and the engine plays those moves through when the page is built: the answer is what the engine allows the seat whose turn it is, or the seat it names as first to act. Each wrong answer is a named mistake, such as a raise counted from the wrong bet, a blind that is forgotten, the pot limit ceiling at a no limit table, or a short all-in read as a full raise.
One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one decision of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself, with no button in between. Practising a decision you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Three quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. The player to the left of the big blind acts first before the flop, and with nobody in yet the smallest raise goes to $4: the big blind and as much again.
The rooms, and further reading
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Rules of Play for Table Games — Poker (17.0 Texas Hold’em, 33.0 No Limit and Pot Limit) · BCLCThe rules a B.C. poker room deals by: blinds, the button, the order of play, the rake, the showdown, side pots, table stakes and what makes a bet binding.
- Poker Texas Hold’em · Loto-Québec, Casino de MontréalHow a hand goes in the Montréal poker room, the hands from the royal flush down, and what decides between two equal hands.
- Niagara Casinos General Poker Rules · Casino NiagaraOne Ontario room’s house rules: the waiting list, phones, string raises, the single-chip rule and who shows first.
- Poker at Casino New Brunswick — House Rules · Great Canadian EntertainmentA full set of house rules from one room, including when a ruling can still be asked for and how long you can be away from your seat.
- Texas Hold’em · OLG PlaySmartThe blinds, who acts first before and after the flop, and how a tie splits the pot.
How it’s worked out
Rules, numbers, sources and hosts
Where this happens. Every table on this page is a poker room you can walk into, where a house dealer deals Texas hold’em and the players bet against each other. The rule of a room is named with that room; a rule printed for one province is named with that province, and no line on this page speaks for every room in the country.
Numbers. Every amount on this page belongs to an example table with blinds of $1 and $2, and none of it is a suggested stake. Every answer is worked out when the page is built: the moves before yours are played through by our engine, which follows the no limit and pot limit rules for B.C. tables, and the smallest raise, the largest raise, the call and the first seat to act are read from it.
Our readings. No Canadian document we could read says in so many words that the two numbers of a no limit stake are the small and the big blind; we read them that way. We read a posted blind as not yet an answer to a raise, so a big blind facing a short all-in still has every move open. And we read the case where every other player still in is all in as leaving only a call or a fold, since a raise would have nobody to answer it; no document we could read prints that as a rule.
What is deliberately absent. Limit betting, the straddle and a hand dealt to only two players are not in the practice run. When a new player gets a first hand is lesson 7.3, along with the waiting list and the buy-in. What makes a bet binding, string raises and the single oversized chip are lesson 7.4. The showdown, the kicker, table stakes and side pots are lesson 7.5, and the ranking of hands is lesson 7.1. How often starting hands come and how far one is ahead, outs, pot odds and the strongest hand a board allows are lessons 7.6 to 7.9. The rake and what it adds up to are lesson 7.10, and tournaments are lessons 7.11 and 7.12.
Sources. Every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Poker is played against the other players at the table, and the room takes its fee from the pots. Knowing whose turn it is and how big a raise has to be keeps a hand from going wrong by accident; nothing on this page says how a hand or an evening would end, and nothing here is a way to earn money.
The smallest raise in no limit
The minimum bring-in is the size of the big blind.
All raises must be equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise on that betting round, except for an all-in wager.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
Who acts first after the flop
The Player to the left of the second blind Player has the option of calling, raising or folding.
Beginning with the first remaining player to the left of the designated Dealer, all remaining Players have the option of checking, betting, calling, raising or folding.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 7.4 and 10.2 to 10.12
When everyone has their personal or “hole” cards, the player to the immediate left of the big blind—the third player after the button—acts first.
This kicks off another round of betting, starting with the small blind—the player to the left of the button.
The button
After each game the designated Dealer button will be moved clockwise one position.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 7.4 and 10.2 to 10.12
DEALER BUTTON - A marker moved clockwise around a Poker table to denote an imaginary Dealer.
At the beginning of each game, a puck is moved clockwise to each play position to determine the dealing order and the order of the betting rounds.
How many players one table seats
No more than eleven Players shall participate in the same game.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 1.2 to 3.5
Poker shall be played on a table which is oval in shape and which has on one side, places for up to 11 players and on the opposite side, a place for the dealer.
Section ss. 2 and 110(1)
Province of Nova Scotia · Casino Regulations (Gaming Control Act) · read
A minimum of two and a maximum of ten Players can participate at each table.
Casino New Brunswick cash game tables are seated as nine handed.
Great Canadian Entertainment · Casino New Brunswick — Poker · read
The button
After each game the designated Dealer button will be moved clockwise one position.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 7.4 and 10.2 to 10.12
DEALER BUTTON - A marker moved clockwise around a Poker table to denote an imaginary Dealer.
At the beginning of each game, a puck is moved clockwise to each play position to determine the dealing order and the order of the betting rounds.
The blinds
The first Player on the Dealer's left shall place the first blind bet ("small blind") for an amount up to one half of the first round of betting.
The second Player on the Dealer's left shall place the second blind bet ("big blind") which shall be equal to the value of the first round of betting (within the table limits).
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 4.1.1 to 5.1
Player 1 (known as the “small blind”) posts a bet equal to half the minimum bet
Player 2 (known as the “big blind”) posts a bet equal to the minimum bet
Blind bets must be posted by the first and second players on the left of the position identified by the puck.
Each of these players must post a "small blind" and a "big blind" before the first card is dealt.
The amount of these bets must be within the limits indicated on the dealer.
The two Players to the left of the Dealer button begin by posting the blind bets.
BLIND BET - A forced bet that must be posted before the Player receives any cards.
The smallest bet
The minimum bring-in is the size of the big blind.
All raises must be equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise on that betting round, except for an all-in wager.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
The deal and the betting rounds
The Dealer shall deal two cards, face down, to each player seated at the table, beginning on their left with the small blind Player and continuing clockwise around the table.
When all the Players have exercised their options, the Dealer shall burn one card and then deal three cards face up in front of the chip tray.
When all Players have exercised their options, the Dealer shall burn a card and deal one card face-up beside the three previous community cards.
When all the Players have exercised their option, the Dealer shall burn a card and deal one final card face-up, which will be placed beside the four previous community cards.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 7.4 and 10.2 to 10.12
Beginning with the first player on the left of the player identified by the puck, the dealer gives each player in turn a first card, dealt face down, and then again, a second card, also dealt face down.
Once all players have received both their cards, the first betting round begins.
Players may call the big blind, raise, or fold.
The dealer burns the top card and then deals three community cards called "The Flop."
Players then proceed with the second betting round.
The dealer burns the top card and then deals a fourth community card called "The Turn."
A third betting round follows.
The dealer burns the top card and then deals a fifth community card called "The River." A fourth and final betting round then takes place.
Two cards are dealt to each Player face down, followed by the first round of betting.
The five moves
Pass (Check): Decline to place a bet but retain the right to do so later if an opponent places a bet
Bet: Place a bet in the pot
Call: Match the preceding player’s bet
Raise: Bet an amount higher than the amount bet by the preceding player.
Fold: Stop placing bets and forfeit the right to win the pot
Who acts first
The Player to the left of the second blind Player has the option of calling, raising or folding.
Beginning with the first remaining player to the left of the designated Dealer, all remaining Players have the option of checking, betting, calling, raising or folding.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 7.4 and 10.2 to 10.12
When everyone has their personal or “hole” cards, the player to the immediate left of the big blind—the third player after the button—acts first.
This kicks off another round of betting, starting with the small blind—the player to the left of the button.
The smallest raise in no limit
The minimum bring-in is the size of the big blind.
All raises must be equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise on that betting round, except for an all-in wager.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
Limit, no limit and pot limit
A maximum of three raises is permitted when more than two players remain in the game.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 1.2 to 3.5
The number of raises in any betting round is unlimited.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
No limit means that the amount of a wager is limited only by the table stakes rule and within the maximum single bet limit.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, introduction (table stakes)
A bet may not exceed the pot size. The maximum amount a Player can raise is the amount in the pot after the call is made.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 2.1
In fixed limit, once you are left with 2 players remaining, they are allowed to raise as many times as they want.
A short all-in
Multiple all-in wagers, each of an amount too small to qualify as a raise, still act as a raise and reopen the betting if the resulting wager size to a Player qualifies as a raise.
If Player C goes all in for less than $300 total (not a full $100 raise), and Player A calls, then Player B has no option to raise again, because he wasn't fully raised.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
A player, before he acts, is entitled to request and receive information as to whether any opposing hand is alive or dead, or whether a wager is of sufficient size to reopen the betting.
Great Canadian Entertainment · Casino New Brunswick — Poker · read
Asking whether the betting is reopened
Multiple all-in wagers, each of an amount too small to qualify as a raise, still act as a raise and reopen the betting if the resulting wager size to a Player qualifies as a raise.
If Player C goes all in for less than $300 total (not a full $100 raise), and Player A calls, then Player B has no option to raise again, because he wasn't fully raised.
Section 33.0 No Limit/Pot Limit, 1.1 to 1.4
A player, before he acts, is entitled to request and receive information as to whether any opposing hand is alive or dead, or whether a wager is of sufficient size to reopen the betting.
Great Canadian Entertainment · Casino New Brunswick — Poker · read
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