Forced Bet
A forced bet is a bet that a player must post to start the action in a hand, even before seeing any cards. The most common forced bets are antes, blinds and the bring-in.
The simple explanation
Poker needs something in the pot to play for. Forced bets provide it. In Hold'em, the two players left of the button post the small blind and the big blind. In some games every player puts in an ante. The player who pays a forced bet gets nothing in return except the right to play the hand.
A closer look
Because the forced bets rotate, every player pays them in turn, and the cost per orbit is a basic measure of how expensive it is to sit in a game. In stud games the player with the lowest door card must post the bring-in. Understanding forced bets helps you see why blind stealing works: the pot already contains chips that you can win by raising, even without a good hand.
A practical example
In a $1/$2 game, the small blind posts $1 and the big blind posts $2 before the cards are dealt. These are forced bets.
Full explanation
A forced bet is a bet that a player must post to start the action in a hand, even before seeing any cards. The most common forced bets are antes, blinds and the bring-in.
A forced bet is a bet a player has to make without choosing. It creates a pot that players have a reason to fight for.
The main kinds are the blinds in Hold’em and Omaha, the ante in many games, and the bring-in in stud.
Forced bets move around the table, so every player pays them in turn.
The blinds are already posted
No-limit Hold’em · Blinds 1/2 chips · No rake
On this heads-up table, Player A is both the button and small blind. A has posted 1 and B has posted the big blind of 2. These are forced bets, made before the players choose whether to call, raise or fold.
Read the example transcript
Player A has the button (BTN) and posts the 1-chip small blind (SB). Player B posts the 2-chip big blind (BB).
- Preflop · Pot: 3 chips
On this heads-up table, Player A is both the button and small blind. A has posted 1 and B has posted the big blind of 2. These are forced bets, made before the players choose whether to call, raise or fold.
- Player A BTN / SB AAce of clubs (Ac)KKing of diamonds (Kd) · Stack 199 · In this round 1
- Player B BB QQueen of hearts (Qh)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 198 · In this round 2
Cards are shown for learning; totals are displayed before pot collection.