Why blinds start the pot
Blinds are forced bets posted before the hole cards are dealt. In ordinary Hold’em with at least three players, the small blind sits immediately clockwise from the dealer button, followed by the big blind. A common small blind is half the big blind, but the stated game structure controls the amounts.
The label 1/2 therefore usually means a small blind of one unit and a big blind of two. Those units are hypothetical here. An ante, where required, is a separate contribution that also goes into the pot. Some tournaments collect a combined table ante from the big blind rather than taking it from each seat.
Check, call, bet, raise or fold
- Check: remain in the hand without putting in a bet when no amount is owed.
- Bet: put in the first voluntary wager of a betting round.
- Call: match the amount needed to continue, subject to the all-in rule.
- Raise: increase the bet other players face.
- Fold: leave the hand and give up any claim to its pot.
Checking and calling are different. You cannot check merely because you prefer not to pay an outstanding bet. Before the flop, the big blind is a live bet: a player without chips already committed needs to call its amount, raise or fold.
Read a raise as a total and an increase
In a hypothetical no-limit 1/2 game, an opening raise to six makes the current bet six. It increases the previous two-unit bet by four. The next ordinary minimum raise is therefore another four, making the total ten.
This is why “raise by six” and “raise to six” can mean different amounts. When reviewing a hand, record both the new total and the size of the increase. The minimum is based on the latest full bet or raise increment, rather than an arbitrary doubling of the new total.
Betting limits and all-in players
No-limit allows wagers up to the chips a player has in play, while still applying minimum bet and raise rules. Pot-limit sets a maximum using the pot and current betting. Fixed-limit uses predetermined bet sizes. The name of a poker variant does not, on its own, tell you its betting limit.
A player who cannot fully call can commit their remaining chips and be all-in. They are eligible only for the portion of the pot their contribution covers. Other players may create a separate side pot. A short all-in can also affect whether betting is reopened; check the room’s full rule rather than treating every all-in as an ordinary full raise.
Separate chips, pot and stack
The pot contains contributions already made to the hand. A stack is what a player still has available. A bet moves chips from one to the other. In table-stakes poker, players cannot add new chips in the middle of a hand to cover a decision.
These distinctions make hand histories easier to read. Note the blinds, current bet, contributions already made and remaining stacks before interpreting the next action. The poker terms guide explains the language used around these numbers.
