21

I have a question regarding increasing blinds in Texas Hold-em poker. I am developing a poker website. During tournaments players are not allowed to buy chips. Each player starts with 1000 chips to play. We always keep all amounts on the table (player pot, player bet, table pot etc.), in multiples of the smallest denomination, i.e. small blind.

But when blinds are increasing automatically, what should I do in the case when a player is left with a chip smaller than the small blind? Should that player be able to continue the game, or are they busted immediately (and lose the tournament)?

Example : In a tournament of four players, all players begin with 1000 chips to play. After some time, one of the four players remains with 10 chips in the pot, and blinds reach to 500/1000 (SM/BB). What should I do with that player?

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
25

If a player cannot cover a blind, that player is all-in and the bets are handled just as if that player had gone all-in on an ordinary bet. The main pot gets an amount of money from each player who bets equal to the all-in player's stake. Any further betting goes into a side pot, which the all-in player is ineligible to win.

Improve this answer
3
  • Still one confusion in case of split the main pot when two, three etc. player got equal hand then which should be used as smallest denomination chip i.e. small blind or pot value of player who goes all in ?
    – Ajay Khunti
    Aug 5, 2013 at 6:41
  • 1
    @AjayKhunti: Pot value of the player. If small blind is 1000 and the player only has 500, than 500 of big blind's money goes into the main pot and 1500 into a side pot.
    – Guvante
    Aug 5, 2013 at 18:53
  • 6
    @AjayKhunti: Consider this an inviolable rule of poker: I can never win more money from you than you can win from me. If I only have 500 chips, then 500 chips is the most I am allowed to win from any player. The entire purpose of a side pot is then to allow other players to make further bets against each other.
    – Free Monica Cellio
    Feb 6, 2014 at 6:38
0

In most casinos, $25 is the smallest tournament chip. However, it may not remain so. Periodically chips are "raced off" or "colored up". How it is done is another topic.

However, lets use something similar to your example: 4 players, one with 10 chips (call him A), the rest with 1000, blinds are 50/100. None of the three players raises preflop, so 4 see the floop. There is a total of 340 in the pot. 40 in the main, which A is able to win, 300 in the side, which A is not able to win. Flop comes. One of the players with chip bets, one folds, the other calls. There is now 40 in the main, 500 in the side.

Say the board is AAAAK. All players have 4 aces with King kicker. They all tie. The two players with chips split the side of 500, they get 250 each.

The main pot is interesting as there is 40 in there and three players to split. Each player gets 10 chips, but there is 10 left over. Who gets the extra chip? The player that is first to act in the hand (like the one who was in the small blind).

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    While all of this is true, it's mostly unnecessary in a computer implementation; online poker tends to keep all the chips in play because the primary consideration at play (keeping the quantity of physical chips manageable) is completely irrelevant. That said, even online poker doesn't go to fractional chips so you do have to break ties occasionally, using the "first to act" rule as needed.
    – Free Monica Cellio
    Feb 6, 2014 at 6:50
  • 2
    In your example, it should be 310 total in the pot preflop -- 40 in the main and 270 in the side.
    – Chris Dodd
    Feb 6, 2014 at 22:03
-1

It is not different than any other all in.

If someone raises you create a side pot.

Say it is the BB that only has 1/2 a BB. The question is could someone call the 1/2 BB? The common approach is the min bet is still 1 BB.

Improve this answer
3
  • Down vote what is the problem?
    – paparazzo
    Jan 16, 2017 at 2:59
  • I would guess that it is because the question does not mention raising. It asks "if I have $x, and the blind is $x ..."; why muddy the waters with raises?
    – Mawg says reinstate Monica
    Apr 14, 2021 at 8:34
  • My guess is that it's the same answer as sitnaltax's one 4 years prior
    – komodosp
    Jun 11, 2021 at 8:14
-5

calculate the odds, seek for on line poker odds calculator, i think it should not pose a problem. But I think it is necessary to include it so the program will not crash. I would suggest the remainder to go into the next pot or a random generator pops up and notifys players of who gets it. Hm maybe it would be fair the remainder to go to BB.

Sorry if there are rules about this, but haven't seen it yet

Improve this answer
1
  • 9
    This does not appear to answer the question in any form. This is not a game design forum asking for suggestions; it's asking what happens by the rules, and there are rules for it (as you can see from the other two responses).
    – doppelgreener
    Feb 6, 2014 at 8:30

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .