I have been reading quite a bit about Texas No Limit Hold’Em. In these books, it states that the dealer is the last to act, and therefor has the advantage. However, I am having trouble understanding this logic. Isn’t the Big Blind the last to act? I know that the Big Blind is forced to place the bet before the Dealer. But the Big Blind has the chance to either check or raise the bet before the flop. Doesn’t this give the Big Blind and for that matter the Small Blind an advantage over the Dealer? I hope someone can clarify for this and that my question is clear.
Assuming the two blinds stay in the hand, they are first to act after the flop.
The first round, yes, they big and small blinds have the advantage, but every other roubnd, it’s the dealer, so overall, in any one hand, the dealer has the best position.
Forcing the blinds in to bet is also good information for the player with the dealer button. If there are no raises, and they don’t raise, then probably more often than not, they’re playing for free. If they raise, then, more often than not, they have something pretty good. If there are raises, and they call the raise, then more often than not, they have something good. In amateur games, especially tourneys, I believe you will see this holds true like 90% of the time, especially against short short to medium stacks. A good player with a large stack will be harder to read.
The big blind is the last to act before the flop, but the fact that he’s already plunked down his money sort of negates that advantage.
The person “on the button” (the preferred term over “dealer”) has the biggest advantage, in terms of seeing what everyone does after the flop/turn/river are dealt, as well as seeing what most people do before the flop without committing any money initially.