![[beta]](http://www.bettorbest.com/static/images/beta.png)
Help • The Rules of Texas Holdem • Blinds, Buttons, and Bets
Blinds
To keep the bets up and keep the game interesting, Texas Holdem uses a system of blinds, or forced bets. Before anyone even sees their cards, the player to the left of the dealer must bet the small blind and the player to the left of that must bet the big blind. The size of these blinds varies depending on the table, but usually the big blind is twice the small blind.
Since the dealer is not actually playing, one player is marked as the dealer by placing a dealer button in front of him. The blinds are assessed and the cards are dealt as if he were dealing the cards.
Moving Button
As players join and leave the table, the blinds need to be adjusted to accomodate the changes.
Best Texas Holdem uses the Moving Button system. In this system, the dealer button always moves to the next player at the end of a hand. Then the big and small blinds are adjusted to keep the game fair. For more details, see How the Moving Button Works.
In addition, any player joining a table in progress pays a big blind on his first hand.
Heads up play
When there are only two players left at the table, this is called heads up play, and the rules change. The dealer button alternates between the two players. Whoever is the dealer pays the small blind, and the other player pays the big blind.
Buying in
When joining a table, you buy in to the table by purchasing a number of chips. While seated at the table, you can only bet those chips you have bought in for. Each table has a minimum and maximum buy in amount.
Adding chips
You can choose to buy in for more chips, up to the table's maximum buy in amount. You can only do this between hands.
Going all in
In Texas Holdem, a player can never be forced to fold for not having enough chips. In this situation you can go all in by betting the rest of your chips, even if it's less than you would otherwise owe. You can also raise the pot to go all in (up to the table's maximum bet in a limit game).
When a player is all in, he is basically a spectator for the rest of the hand. Any other players can keep raising against eachother. The all in player can not win any of these "extra" chips in the pot, so if he wins, the extra chips become a side pot, which is awarded to the player with the next-best hand.