Blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-style poker games.
After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act during the first betting round.
After the flop, turn and river, the first person to act is the player seated to the left of the dealer position.
The blinds exist because Omaha and Texas hold 'em are frequently played without antes, allowing a player to fold his hand without placing a bet.
The blind bets introduce a regular cost to take part in the game, thus inducing a player to enter pots in an attempt to compensate for that expense.
Larger cardrooms will often include tables with different blind levels to give players the option of playing at whatever stakes they are most comfortable with.
At that point, the player must "super-post" (post both the big and small blinds) in order to rejoin the game and be dealt cards.
Most cardrooms allow players to relieve themselves of these obligations if they wait until they are again due to post the big blind before rejoining the game.
Some cardrooms hosting live cash games do not allow players to miss their blinds in this manner.
There are two main goals for the blinds structure:[citation needed] If desired, antes can be added to further increase the pressure to win more chips.