In heads up poker games, the button pays the small blind (and is sometimes also referred to as the small blind position). The small-blind/button acts first on the preflop betting round but last on the postflop betting rounds. The other player is referred to as the big blind and pays the big blind amount preflop. Poker Heads Up Dealer Small Blind, i5 poker, casino room bonus codes 2020, grand casino mille lacs concert seating.

1. Heads Up Poker Blinds Dealers
2. Blinds Are Up Poker Timer
3. What Is A Blind In Poker
4. Heads Up Poker Blinds
5. Poker Big Blinds

Introduction

Heads Up Hold 'Em is an Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em variant by Galaxy Gaming, based on Texas Hold 'Em. The player may raise his bet one time, and has three opportunities to do so. The earlier he raises, the more he can bet. The main differences between Heads Up Hold 'Em and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em are in the former the player may raise only 3x his Ante bet before the flop, but the game includes bad beat bonuses for losing with a straight or higher.

Rules

Following are the rules for Heads Up Hold 'Em. For those used to the terminology in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, what is called the Blind there called the Odds bet here.

1. The game is played with a single ordinary 52-card deck.
2. The player must make an equal bet on both the Ante and Odds.
3. Two cards are dealt face down to the player and dealer. The player may look at his own cards.
4. The player can check or make a Play bet equal to three times the Ante.
5. The dealer turns over three community cards.
6. If the player previously checked, then he may make a Play bet equal to two times his Ante or check again. If the player already made a Play bet, then he may not bet further.
7. Two final community cards are turned over.
8. If the player previously checked twice, then he must either make a Play bet equal to exactly his Ante, or fold, losing both his Ante and Odds bets. If the player already raised he may not bet further.
9. The player and dealer will both make the best possible hand using any combination of their own two cards and the five community cards.
10. The dealer will need at least a pair to open.
11. The following table shows how the Ante, Odds, and Play bets are scored, according to who wins, and whether the dealer opens.
    

    Scoring Rules

    Winner	Dealer Opens	Ante	Play	Odds
    Player	Yes	Win	Win	See rule 12
    Player	No	Push	Win	See rule 12
    Dealer	Yes	Lose	Lose	See rule 12
    Dealer	No	Push	Lose	Lose
    Tie	Yes or No	Push	Push	Push

12. Winning Ante and Play bets pay 1 to 1. Winning Odds bets pay according to value of the hand and whether it wins or loses. The following pay table shows what winning Odds bets pay.
    

    Winning Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pays
    Royal Flush	500
    Straight Flush	50
    Quads	10
    Full House	3
    Flush	1.5
    Straight	1
    All Other	Push

    Galaxy Gaming, the game owner, has four different pay tables for losing blind bets, as follows.

    Losing Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pay Table
    	1	2	3	4
    Straight Flush	500	500	500	500
    Quads	50	50	50	25
    Full House	10	10	10	6
    Flush	8	6	5	5
    Straight	5	5	4	4
    All Other	Loss	Loss	Loss	Loss

13. In addition, there are two side bets, that pay based on the player's cards only, the Trips Plus and Pocket Bonus. These side bets are explained after the analysis of the base game.

Strategy

The player should make the 3X raise with any pair except deuces. Otherwise, use the following table shows when to make the large 3X raise.

The strategy for the medium and small raise are the same as in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, as follows:

Medium Raise: Make the 2X raise with any of the following:

• Two pair or better.
• Hidden pair*, except pocket deuces.
• Four to a flush including a hidden 10 or better to that flush

* Hidden pair = Any pair with at least one card in your hole cards (thus the pair is hidden to the dealer).

Small Raise: Make the 1X raise with any of the following, otherwise fold:

• Hidden pair or better.
• Less than 21 dealer outs beat you.

For a more powerful small and medium raise strategy, I recommend the James Grossjean strategy card for Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em.

Analysis

The following table shows all possible outcomes of each hand, what it pays, the probability, and contribution to the return under the losing Odds bet pay table number 1 (the one that goes 500-50-10-8-5). The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.36%.

Return TableExpand

Player	Raise	Dealer Qualifies	Winner	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Fold				-2	5,498,078,560,920	0.197674	-0.395349
Less than pair	1	No	Dealer	-2	60,518,663,424	0.002176	-0.004352
Straight flush	1	Yes	Dealer	498	20,279,100	0.000001	0.000363
Four of a kind	1	Yes	Dealer	48	1,726,735,980	0.000062	0.002980
Full house	1	Yes	Dealer	8	10,082,720,220	0.000363	0.002900
Flush	1	Yes	Dealer	6	49,072,032,216	0.001764	0.010586
Straight	1	Yes	Dealer	3	47,952,010,720	0.001724	0.005172
Less than straight	1	Yes	Dealer	-3	3,006,630,550,164	0.108098	-0.324295
Anything	1	Y/N	Push	0	455,081,939,824	0.016362	0.000000
Royal flush	1	No	Player	501	6,914,880	0.000000	0.000125
Straight flush	1	No	Player	51	279,004,320	0.000010	0.000512
Four of a kind	1	No	Player	11	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	1	No	Player	4	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	1	No	Player	2.5	43,096,215,600	0.001549	0.003874
Straight	1	No	Player	2	145,034,240,580	0.005214	0.010429
Less than straight	1	No	Player	1	816,981,676,824	0.029373	0.029373
Royal flush	1	Yes	Player	502	46,580,760	0.000002	0.000841
Straight flush	1	Yes	Player	52	2,023,968,588	0.000073	0.003784
Four of a kind	1	Yes	Player	12	964,337,328	0.000035	0.000416
Full house	1	Yes	Player	5	46,108,374,192	0.001658	0.008289
Flush	1	Yes	Player	3.5	202,016,746,236	0.007263	0.025421
Straight	1	Yes	Player	3	421,268,280,080	0.015146	0.045438
Less than straight	1	Yes	Player	2	1,600,861,520,204	0.057556	0.115113
Less than pair	2	No	Dealer	-3	11,023,268,784	0.000396	-0.001189
Straight flush	2	Yes	Dealer	497	16,724,460	0.000001	0.000299
Four of a kind	2	Yes	Dealer	47	311,575,460	0.000011	0.000527
Full house	2	Yes	Dealer	7	18,705,932,580	0.000673	0.004708
Flush	2	Yes	Dealer	5	27,615,003,664	0.000993	0.004964
Straight	2	Yes	Dealer	2	21,031,977,440	0.000756	0.001512
Less than straight	2	Yes	Dealer	-4	1,979,644,169,384	0.071175	-0.284699
Anything	2	Y/N	Push	0	214,144,135,720	0.007699	0.000000
Royal flush	2	No	Player	502	11,938,680	0.000000	0.000215
Straight flush	2	No	Player	52	397,598,400	0.000014	0.000743
Four of a kind	2	No	Player	12	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	2	No	Player	5	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	2	No	Player	3.5	45,718,738,920	0.001644	0.005753
Straight	2	No	Player	3	53,068,201,380	0.001908	0.005724
Less than straight	2	No	Player	2	1,207,385,216,712	0.043410	0.086819
Royal flush	2	Yes	Player	503	147,692,880	0.000005	0.002671
Straight flush	2	Yes	Player	53	3,016,851,612	0.000108	0.005749
Four of a kind	2	Yes	Player	13	20,440,911,312	0.000735	0.009554
Full house	2	Yes	Player	6	320,575,227,408	0.011526	0.069155
Flush	2	Yes	Player	4.5	183,447,763,404	0.006596	0.029680
Straight	2	Yes	Player	4	158,035,798,360	0.005682	0.022728
Less than straight	2	Yes	Dealer	3	2,415,318,761,280	0.086839	0.260516
Less than pair	3	No	Dealer	-4	66,873,993,600	0.002404	-0.009617
Straight flush	3	Yes	Dealer	496	14,499,400	0.000001	0.000259
Four of a kind	3	Yes	Dealer	46	316,891,120	0.000011	0.000524
Full house	3	Yes	Dealer	6	13,387,474,080	0.000481	0.002888
Flush	3	Yes	Dealer	4	20,484,007,080	0.000736	0.002946
Straight	3	Yes	Dealer	1	22,371,396,720	0.000804	0.000804
Less than straight	3	Yes	Dealer	-5	3,136,124,565,400	0.112754	-0.563771
Anything	3	Y/N	Push	0	223,641,379,520	0.008041	0.000000
Royal flush	3	No	Player	503	86,472,360	0.000003	0.001564
Straight flush	3	No	Player	53	180,911,880	0.000007	0.000345
Four of a kind	3	No	Player	13	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	3	No	Player	6	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	3	No	Player	4.5	41,791,833,360	0.001503	0.006762
Straight	3	No	Player	4	64,386,219,840	0.002315	0.009260
Less than straight	3	No	Player	3	1,317,173,128,560	0.047357	0.142070
Royal flush	3	Yes	Player	504	556,552,440	0.000020	0.010085
Straight flush	3	Yes	Player	54	1,444,036,640	0.000052	0.002804
Four of a kind	3	Yes	Player	14	21,003,399,360	0.000755	0.010572
Full house	3	Yes	Player	7	261,421,403,040	0.009399	0.065793
Flush	3	Yes	Player	5.5	199,160,655,360	0.007160	0.039383
Straight	3	Yes	Player	5	195,058,020,480	0.007013	0.035065
Less than straight	3	Yes	Player	4	3,140,424,343,760	0.112909	0.451635
Total					27,813,810,024,000	1.000000	-0.023584

As shown in the lower right cell, the house edge is 2.36%. This is the expected loss to the Ante wager only. For example, if the player bets $5 on both the Ante and Odds, then his expected loss would be $5 × 0.023584 = 11.79¢.

The average final wager per hand is 3.67 units. That makes the element of risk 2.36%/3.67 = 0.64%. This means for every dollar you wager in the game, on anything, other than the side bets, you can expect to lose 0.64¢.

By comparison, the element of risk in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em is 0.53%.

The standard deviation, relative to to the Ante bet, is 4.56.

The next table shows the house edge and element of risk under all four losing Odds bet pay tables according to the pay table for a losing Odds bet.

House Edge Summary

Hand	Losing Odds Bet Pay Table
	1	2	3	4
Straight Flush	500	500	500	500
Quads	50	50	50	25
Full House	10	10	10	6
Flush	8	6	5	5
Straight	5	5	4	4
All Other	Loss	Loss	Loss	Loss
House edge	2.36%	3.06%	3.73%	4.55%
Element of Risk	0.64%	0.83%	1.02%	1.24%

This is full table cloth.

Trips Plus

The Trips Plus bet will pay according to the poker value of the player's hand regardless of the value of the dealer's hand. Following is an analysis of the most common pay table.

Trips Plus Return Table

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	100	4,324	0.000032	0.003232
Straight flush	40	37,260	0.000279	0.011140
Four of a kind	30	224,848	0.001681	0.050420
Full house	8	3,473,184	0.025961	0.207688
Flush	7	4,047,644	0.030255	0.211785
Straight	4	6,180,020	0.046194	0.184775
Three of a kind	3	6,461,620	0.048299	0.144896
All other	-1	113,355,660	0.847300	-0.847300
Total	133,784,560	1.000000	-0.033363

The next table shows four known pay tables for the Trips Plus.

Trips Plus Pay Tables

Hand	Pay Table
	1	2	3	4
Royal flush	100	100	100	100
Straight flush	40	40	40	40
Four of a kind	30	30	30	30
Full house	9	8	8	7
Flush	7	6	7	6
Straight	4	5	4	5
Three of a kind	3	3	3	3
All other	-1	-1	-1	-1
Total	-0.74%	-1.74%	-3.34%	-4.34%

Pocket Bonus

The Pocket Bonus bet will pay according to the value of the player's two hole cards. The follow tables show what each two cards pays, the probability, and contribution to the total return for each known pay table for the Pocket Bonus.

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 1

Heads Up Poker Blinds Dealers

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	30	6	0.004525	0.135747
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	5	72	0.054299	0.271493
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.045249

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 2

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	25	6	0.004525	0.113122
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	5	72	0.054299	0.271493
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.067873

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 3

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	30	6	0.004525	0.135747
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	4	72	0.054299	0.217195
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.099548

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Charles Mousseau and Stephen How for their assistance, which confirmed my analysis. Thanks to Charles also for his advice on the medium and small raise strategy.

Internal Links

Detailed calculations on some starting hands.

Extneral Links

Play Heads Up Hold 'Em at the Galaxy Gaming web site. One click and you're playing.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

It’s a weekend and you and a friend or family member are wondering if you can play a game of poker with just the 2 of you. I have been playing for over 10 years and can give you a definitive answer.

Can you play poker with 2 players? Poker can be played with only two players. It is called heads-up. Here are the two player rules:

1. The dealer is the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. Players take turns being the dealer.
2. The first card is dealt to the player in the big blind.
3. The Dealer goes first before the flop and the Big Blind goes first after the flop.

Let’s cover a few more common questions that players typically have about 2 player poker in greater detail.

What Are the 2 Player Poker Rules?

Now that you are set up to play, let’s cover how to play 2 player poker. Here are the basic rules that you will need to know in order to play your game.

You may want to keep this page open in your browser in case questions come up during play.

1. How do the blinds work in 2 player poker?

How the blinds work is probably the most confusing thing in heads-up poker. However, once you get the hang of it it’s not that difficult to remember since there are only a couple of differences between 6-max or full-ring rules.

Who Is the Big Blind Who Is the Small Blind in Heads-Up Poker?

This is the most common question I get about 2 player poker.

The big blind is always the player who does not have the dealer button in front of him or her. That means that the person dealing is always the small blind.

How Do We Determine Who Gets the Button First at the Start of the Game?

The easiest and most fair way to determine who gets to be dealer first is for each player to draw a card from the deck. The high card gets to deal first.

2. How Are the Cards Dealt in 2 Player Poker?

Which Blind Gets Dealt to First Before the Flop?

The big blind gets the first card and the dealer gets the second card in heads-up play. The easy way to remember this is that the dealer never deals to his or her self first.

Can the Same Person Deal Every Hand?

It’s true that sometimes one person is better at dealing. In this case, it’s okay for the same person to deal every hand.

Just make sure that you move the dealer button each hand. It would be highly unfair if the same person had to play the big blind every single hand!

3. Who Goes First When Only Two Players Are Playing?

I remember walking up to observe the heads-up match between two friends in pub poker. I quickly realized that they were following the opposite order of play that they were supposed to.

I did not want to embarrass them so I kept quiet. It was apparent everyone else didn’t want to as well since none of the 10-15 observers said anything!

Who Goes First Before the Flop?

Pre-flop, the dealer always acts first in 2 player poker.

This rule is exactly the same as pre-flop however, it is easy to get wrong for inexperienced players. The easy way to remember it is that the big blind player acts last before the flop in 6 or 9-handed games, and it makes since to work the same way in heads-up.

Who Goes First After the Flop in Heads-Up?

This rule is also exactly the same for normal poker games. The dealer gets to always go last on the flop.

The biggest perk of playing on the dealer button is that you get to act last and have more information than your opponents. This is especially powerful in heads-up since the big blind can never act last.

What If the Dealer Open Folds in 2 Player Games?

When the Dealer decides to not play his or her hand before the flop, the small blind is relinquished to the player in the big blind. The dealer button then moves and the next hand begins.

Is it better to play Heads-Up, Cash Games or Tournaments?

Deciding what format to play in 2 player poker all comes down to personal preference. Each type of game has its perks.

Why Play Heads-up Cash Games?

There are a couple of reasons people might choose cash games over tournaments:

Blinds Are Up Poker Timer

1. Blinds Do Not Rise – Perhaps the biggest benefit of 2 person cash games is that you don’t have to worry about the blinds going up like they do in tournaments. You don’t need a special tournament clock, you can just choose your stake level and play indefinitely without having to adjust your style to the rising blinds.
2. You Don’t Need Poker Chips – In tournaments, you really need to use poker chips that you can “color up” as the game goes on. That means to add higher value chips to compensate for the bigger stakes. Instead, you can use real coins or even paper money to play cash games.
3. Cash Games Take More Skill – If you really want to practice and improve at poker, then the best way is through cash games. Once the blinds rise in tournaments, the game becomes more and more about who is the luckiest person.

Why Play Heads-up Tournaments?

Even though I am a cash game specialist, when I play heads-up I actually prefer tournaments. Here is why:

1. There Are Logical End Points – While cash games drag on and on, a tournament always ends up with one person having all the chips. You can then decide whether to start anew or call it a night. So, if you want to play best of 3 or best of 5, you have a better idea of when the night will end and can plan for it. For this reason, it’s also a great format for hosting a home poker tournament with multiple players.
2. Tournaments Tend to Be Much More Exciting – There’s nothing more fun in poker than getting to the shove-fold phase of a tournament or sit and go. Chips change hands rapidly and anyone can win at that point. Who doesn’t love a race for all the chips?
3. The Games Are Usually More Fun for Beginners – Many people that get into poker are used to watching the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. Therefore, tournaments are what they are familiar with and likely to understand better.

If you don’t have poker chips, there are likely plenty of poker chip substitutes lying around the house or office.

A Fun Alternative Format: Play Short-Stacked Cash Games

Another idea is to mix both a tournament and cash game feel by playing short stacked cash games.

The way it works is that each player starts with 20, 30, or 40 big blinds and then play cash games. The blinds do not rise, but there is still plenty of heavy pre-flop action with lots of reraise shoving.

Post-flop also plays a lot easier as a short stack. Top pair is an easy hand to get all-in with when short whereas it can be difficult to play when deed-stacked.

What Is the Best 2 Player Poker Strategy?

The biggest adjustment when playing heads-up poker is that marginal hands go way up in value. 3rd pair or even high card Ace can often win at showdown.

So, loosen up and don’t let your opponent run you over if he or she bets a lot! Conversely, you should bet often when you have any piece of the board or a credible bluff. There is a good chance your opponent might fold a better hand or pay you off with a worse hand.

What 2 Player Games Can We Play Besides Texas Hold’Em?

If you are tired of heads-up No-Limit Hold’em and want to mix in another game occasionally, there are several good options:

• Pot Limit Omaha: In PLO, the heads-up rules are exactly the same as Hold’em except that both players get four hold cards. You also have to use both cards at showdown. Having one Diamond in your hand does not make a flush on a four Diamond board in PLO.
• 5-Card Draw: This is the traditional “old-fashioned” game that most people used to learn poker before No-Limit Hold-em became the dominant game. Both players have a designated ante that they pay before the cards are dealt. Then, you simply deal out 5 cards to each heads-up player. Instead of having a flop, turn, and river there is instead two betting rounds. Once when you get your initial cards and then after a discard round. You may discard up to 3 cards (4 if you have an Ace) and get those cards replaced by the dealer. There is then another betting round and then the cards are shown and a dealer determined. You can, of course, fold any time during the hand and only lose the money you have invested up to that point.
• 7-Card Stud: This game is similar to draw except that you start with two cards down and one card up. There is then a betting round. Afterward, another card is turned up one by one with a betting round happening in between. Once both heads-up players each have 7 cards, the dealing is complete and showdown can be reached.

Accessories to Make Matches Even Better

If you want to make your games more classy, then I recommend picking up quality accessories. I wrote recommendation articles for each category, just click the links to learn more:

What Is A Blind In Poker

• Playing Cards– My personal favorite is Copag, what’s yours?
• Poker Chips– I prefer a higher-end set, but there are plenty of good budget poker chip sets available as well.
• Poker Table– I like roll up poker table mats for ease of storage, but that’s just me.

Final Thoughts

Playing heads-up only happens in tournaments if you are the last two players left in the field. However, 2 player poker is something you can do for fun either as a cash game or tournament at home.

If you want to read more about heads-up poker, I wrote a detailed article on the heads-up poker rules for Texas Hold’em. Thanks for stopping by!

Related Questions

Heads Up Poker Blinds

Do you have to use both cards in Hold’em? In order to make your best 5-card hand in Hold’em, you can either use both cards or just one.

Poker Big Blinds

Is Ace high or low in poker? In Poker, an Ace can usually either be the highest card or the lowest. It can make the highest straight of TJQKA and the lowest straight, often called the wheel, of A2345.

Do you have to match the big blind is poker? In order to qualify to see the flop, you must at least match the amount of the blind.