what are blinds in poker

In poker, blinds are mandatory bets that are placed into the pot before any cards are dealt. The blinds are paid each hand by the players who are occupying the “small blind” and “big blind” seats at the table. The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is placed by the player to the left of the small blind. The purpose of blinds is to give every hand equity and to establish a minimum amount of money for the rest of the table to call if they want to see the flop. Blinds also help drive the action forward and prevent players from simply folding until they are dealt strong holdings. Without blinds, poker might easily become a boring game where every player at the table waits for strong holdings.