What Is a Blind in Poker?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Black Jack, and I'm here to tell you what a blind means in the game of poker. All right. For our purposes here, we're going to be playing Texas Hold 'Em, which is probably one of the most popular card games and poker games out there. And these games -- the game of Texas Hold 'Em -- there is a blind. All right. For our purposes, every player here is anted. For any game, you could have whatever amount you want. So they have anted. I'll be the dealer, so the person on the left of me will be a small blind, which can vary from any...anything you want to a couple of chips or what-have-you. The big blind will be the next player, and this will rotate as the game is played, okay? So they'll be the small blind and the big blind. This...the idea behind the blind is it forces people to bet chips. You can't just sit there all night. It moves the game along. It also changes the odds because a player who was forced to play the big blind may play a hand that he normally wouldn't just because he's already forced to play that amount. Again, the big reason behind blinds is to move the game along to give it a natural conclusion. If you've played five card draw, five card stud from years back, the game could go all night. By using blinds, again, it does force the player to bet chips, and it does move the game along. So that is what you would call blinds in the game of poker. I'm Black Jack, and thanks a lot."