How to Set Up a Poker Blinds Schedule A typical T1000 blinds schedule for a No-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament is shown to the right. T1000 means that each player is issued 1000 chips at the start of the tourney. This blinds schedule starts out slow for the first hour and should result in a poker tournament of about 4 hours. This blog provides a perspective on small blinds in poker & how to play them effectively. Follow Spartan Poker blogs to master small blinds. Blinds Blinds in poker is a term which means obligatory bets players make being 'blind', that means the bets are made before the cards are dealt. The major function of blinds is to form the starting pot for players to compete for. There are big blind and small blind. A blind steal, or steal attempt, is when a poker player raises pre-flop hoping to win the blinds uncontested. If everyone else folds when you raise, you will win the dead money regardless of what.

What are poker blinds ?

Based on the limit of the poker game the player to the left of the dealer’s button (small blind) and the player two to the left of the dealer (big blind) are required to place mandatory bets in the pot before cards are dealt (Small blind has to put half of the big blinds amount). These bets count toward the first round of betting. So if the pot is not raised pre-flop, small blind will only have to put half a bet to call and big blind has the option of raising or just checking.

In a poker tournament, blinds go up gradually. This is to ensure that the tournament finishes on a timely manner. (the higher the blinds get the more players tend to get eliminated).

Blinds usually go up after predetermined periods of time. (for example every 15 or 20 minutes).

Two main factors determine blind structure of the game:

Starting chip amount
How long you want the tournament to last.

Poker Blind Structure Tips

The first big blind should be 1/50 of the starting chip amount. (or the starting chip amount should be 50 times the starting big blind). So if everyone starts with 1000 in chips the first big blind should be 10/20.
Blind period is the time each blind lasts:
Typical tournament blind periods are 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 minutes.
Blinds period should be the same for every blind.

The faster the blind period is the faster the tournament ends and the more luck involves. So it’s a good idea to have slightly longer blind periods at your house game. 15 or 20 minute blind periods are good choices. Blinds in online websites tend to go up faster. This is because online poker action is much faster than live poker.
Blinds typically double after each round. If the first big blind is 10/20, the next one should be 20/40.

Calculate Blind Structure

Follow these simple steps to create blind structure that best fits your game:

Decide your starting chip amount.
Divide it by 50. This should be your first big blind.
Make your final big blind (when the tournament should finish) equal to your starting chip amount.
Arrange the middle level blinds so that they gradually increase from your first big blind to the last one. It is best to keep the first couple blind periods low.
Add the period (times) together. If it seems too long takes couple levels off the chart, and if it seems short add couple level to the chart.

Sample Tournament Blind Structure Chart

Following is a chart of recommended blind structures based on different starting chip stacks :

Blind Period	Chip Stack
Blind Period	100	1000	2500	5000
1	1/2	10/20	25/50	50/100
2	2/4	20/40	50/100	100/200
3	3/6	30/60	75/150	150/300
4	5/10	50/100	100/200	200/400
5	10/20	75/150	200/400	300/600
6	15/30	100/200	300/600	500/1000
7	25/50	150/300	500/1000	750/1500
8	50/100	200/400	750/1500	1000/2000
9	75/150	300/600	1000/2000	1500/3000
10	100/200	400/800	1500/3000	2000/4000
11	150/300	500/1000	2000/4000	3000/6000
12	200/400	1000/2000	2500/5000	5000/10000

(redirected from Poker/Blind stud)
Also found in: Thesaurus.

stud poker

Poker in which the first round of cards, and often the last, is dealt face down and the others face up when five cards per hand are dealt. When there are seven cards per hand, the first two rounds and the last round are dealt face down.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

stud poker

(Card Games) a variety of poker in which the first card is dealt face down before each player and the next four are dealt face up (five-card stud) or in which the first two cards and the last card are dealt face down and the intervening four cards are dealt face up (seven-card stud), with bets made after each round. Often shortened to: stud

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

stud′ pok′er

Poker Blind Definition