Preflop - The cards are dealt

Before the cards are dealt, two players must post a blind bet. They are called blinds, because they haven't seen their cards yet. There is one small bet, the Small Blind, and one big bet, the Big Blind, usually double the small blind.

These bets aren't posted by anyone, but instead by the two players sitting on the left of the dealer. The task changes

clockwise each round. In order to recognize the current dealer, a special chip is placed in front of the concerned player. This is called the Button, or Dealer Button.

Now each player is dealt two cards and so begins the first round of betting. Do you have strong enough cards to commit chips or money, or will you throw away your cards? How the bets work is explained on the next page.