Types of Forced Bets

Enter and read about the various types of forced bets, which are common in poker and other card games.

Ante

An ante is one of the most common forced bet. Ante is an equal amount of money placed by each player into the pot before the game starts. In home games, where dealer changes each turn, the ante is usually small, and sometimes the whole amount of the ante is provided by the dealer, which makes the betting more simple, but, on the other hand, may result a bit unfair to players who come and go. Therefore, this system is more appropriate for the same players playing many rounds in sequence.

Blinds

A blind, also called blind bet is a forced bet placed into the pot by one or more players before the deal begins. Blinds substitute for bets made during play. Blinds guarantee there will be betting action in the game and are common in casinos and poker tournaments. Blinds are usually used in the following betting structure: the first player to the left of the dealer blinds about half of a normal bet, and the next player after him blinds a whole bet. Other structures allow only one or three blinds. In the case of three blinds, the first blind is usually one quarter of the bet and is paid by the dealer, while the second one, also of one quarter, and the third blind of half a normal bet are paid by two next players to the left of the dealer.

When the game starts, it is played as if the blinds placed by the players were their bets. The player next to the last one who placed a blind makes the first turn. For example, if the game is played with 2 blinds, the first player makes 1 dollar blind, the second player places 2 dollars blind, the third player starts the game and acts if 1 dollar was an initial bet and 2 dollars was a raise. So, he can either call 2 dollars, re-raise or fold. When the betting gets to the first player, who made 1 dollar blind, he does the same, taking into the account the dollar he has placed in the beginning.

The largest blind is compensated by an additional privilege for the player who made it. When this player gets his first voluntary turn, and the amount of his blind was not re-raised during the round, he has the right to raise, while in other circumstances, the call of the player to his right would have closed the betting round. This privilege is called live blind. The player has the right for only one live blind, so if in the second round all players call, the round terminates as usual.

In some spread limit and fixed limit games the highest blind is lower than the minimum bet. In this case players can call the blind as it is or raise it to the minimum limit. If the game is played with 5 dollars fixed bet and blinds are 1 dollar and 2 dollars, players may either call 2 dollars or raise to 5 dollars, if the first 5 dollars rise is made, the game continues according to the normal limits and the next raise must be to 10 dollars.

Bring-Ins

Some games involve bring-ins, which are forced bets paid after the cards a dealt. Usually one player, who has the poorest combination of face-up cards must make bring-in, which is treated as an initial bet by the following players. For example, in traditional and high-low stud, the player with the lowest up-card pays bring-in, while in low hand games the bring-in is paid by the player with the highest up-card. Suits can serve as tie-breaker in both cases.

Bring-ins are usually lower than the minimum bet limit, so, as in the case of sub-minimum blinds, players can choose call the original amount of the bring-in or raise to the minimum bet. Bring-ins equal to the fixed bet are rare and not recommended, but if they occur, the bring-in player is usually given the same privilege as live blind players, that is, the player has a right to raise in the first round even if all others have called.