Missed Blind Buttons

About the Missed Blind Buttons. The 3 Missed Blind Buttons (missed, little, big) are rarely used in home games, but employing them is a fairer way to play. They are used in cash games to keep tabs on who has not paid their blinds for the current round. They are never used in tournaments since players must post their blinds even if they are not seated to play the hand.

As a game of hold 'em is dealt, the players posting their blinds are "paying the rent" for the next orbit of play just like you pay your apartment rent at the beginning of the month. (If there are 10 players at the table, then an "orbit" would be 10 hands of play.) After you post the blinds, you then get to play the next 8 or so hands for "free," so to speak. If you were to get up from the table to take a break, as the blinds come back around to your empty seat, the dealer would issue you a "missed blind" button (and specifically the "little" and "big" buttons as well). When you return to the table, you can either "post" (i.e. pay) your missed blinds immediately and play the next hand, or you can wait until the blinds naturally come back around to you and post them at the correct time for the next orbit.