Poker is a game with a series of bets that seek to eliminate weaker players and create a big pot of chips for the winner to take at the game’s end. While knowing when and how much to bet is one of the trickiest parts of the game, there is one sure bet in poker: the forced bet.
No matter whether it’s casino poker or online poker, there will usually be a forced bet at the beginning of the game. Although they often seem like a waste of chips, forced bets serve an important purpose in the game. They help ensure that the playing field is kept even in a poker game, while at the same time ensuring that there is a tempting pot in the center of the table that encourages people to play.
Forced bets come in two different forms. With an ante, each player is required to chip in a minimum bet at the beginning of each new round of cards. Depending on the game, this amount can vary.
The second forced bet is the blind, used commonly in community card poker games. There are two blinds, the big and the small; the small blind amount is half of the big blind amount. The player to the left of the dealer pays the first blind in a game. The blinds are then passed around the table so that everyone has their turn paying. At the end of a specified amount of time, the amount of the blinds increases.