Heads-up button and blind rules

In an established heads-up Hold’em deal, the button is the small blind. That player acts first preflop and last on the flop, turn and river. The other player posts the big blind and acts first on those later streets.

This lesson follows the Poker TDA 2026 tournament rule profile for an ordinary two-player deal. Both players have live hands and chips available to act. The practice desk reads an already established button; it does not decide who should receive the button when a table first becomes heads-up.

Ace: “I put the button and small-blind token at seat 1.”

Yuna: “Keep them together for this heads-up hand. Seat 2 is the big blind, and seat 1 opens the preflop action.”

Establish which kind of hand you are reviewing

A new hand dealt to two players uses the heads-up arrangement. A hand originally dealt to six players keeps its original button and blind assignments when four players fold. Two hands remaining in a pot do not move the button during that hand.

Suppose a larger-table hand reaches the flop with only the original small blind and big blind still playing. Those players retain their roles from that deal. You cannot turn the small blind into a new heads-up button merely because only two players remain.

The desk below represents a table with just seats 1 and 2 for the established deal. It is useful for identifying their roles and the order at the start of a betting round. Keep a separate action history when reviewing a hand that began with more players.

For that larger-table situation, the position and effective-stack drills show how to retain the original seats while removing folded players from the action order. Choose the model that matches how the hand was dealt.

Read the layout with the button at seat 1

With the button at seat 1, seat 1 posts the small blind and seat 2 posts the big blind. The seat numbers are labels for the exercise. The roles explain the order; sitting at a particular numbered seat does not permanently give a player the button.

Under ordinary alternating dealing, seat 2 receives the first hole card, seat 1 the second, seat 2 the third and seat 1 the fourth. The button therefore receives the last initial card, as the TDA heads-up rule specifies. Receiving that last card does not make the button last to act preflop.

Follow preflop action beyond the first turn

Use blinds of 50 and 100 for a worked example, with both players able to cover the bets. Seat 1 is the button and has posted 50. Seat 2 has posted 100. Seat 1 acts first, facing the amount needed to match the big blind.

If seat 1 calls, it adds 50 to reach a total of 100. Seat 2 still has the big-blind option. With no raise faced, seat 2 may check or raise. The small blind’s completion does not finish the betting round by itself.

If seat 2 checks after that completion, preflop betting is complete. If seat 2 instead raises to 300, seat 1 has another decision and faces 200 more. A call to 300 would match the raise; a fold or further legal raise would produce a different continuation.

Now change seat 1’s first action to a raise to 300. Seat 1 adds 250 beyond its posted 50. Seat 2 has 100 committed and faces 200 more. The button still acted first preflop; choosing to raise did not change that position.

If seat 2 calls the 300, the ordinary heads-up preflop round is complete. Seat 1 does not get an extra action simply because it holds the button. If seat 2 instead makes a legal raise to 700, seat 1 must respond to the additional 400.

Start each later street with the big blind

On the flop, seat 2 acts first and seat 1 follows. The turn and river begin in that same order while both players can act. Who raised on the previous street does not replace this rule.

For example, seat 1 raises preflop and seat 2 calls. On the flop, seat 2 opens the action. If seat 2 checks and seat 1 checks behind, the flop betting round ends. Seat 2 will again act first on the turn.

If seat 2 checks and seat 1 bets 150, seat 2 now faces a wager. The button’s opening turn was last in the order, but its bet created another decision for the big blind. A check by seat 2 did not promise that seat 2 would have no more action.

Suppose seat 2 calls the 150. The flop round ends, and seat 2 acts first when the turn begins. The previous street’s final actor and the next street’s first actor can be the same person. Record the street boundary so those two facts stay clear.

If seat 2 instead makes a full raise to 450, seat 1 must respond to 300 more. The possible response depends on the wager, raising rights and stack. Acting last in the opening order does not mean the button’s first action must also end the round.

Ace: “The button used the first path before the flop.”

Yuna: “Use the other path for the flop, turn and river. The big blind starts each of those rounds.”

Swap the button to check the relationship

Choose an established button at seat 2 instead. Seat 2 is now the small blind and seat 1 the big blind. Preflop opening action goes from seat 2 to seat 1. On the flop, turn and river it goes from seat 1 to seat 2.

The ordinary initial deal would now be seat 1, seat 2, seat 1, seat 2. The button at seat 2 receives the last hole card and still opens preflop. Reversing the seat numbers preserves the relationship between the roles.

Treat changing the button control as selecting another supplied layout. The desk does not claim that this must be the next real hand after the previous example. It has no record of an elimination, a previous blind assignment or a ruling about button movement.

Keep the first heads-up assignment separate

When a table becomes heads-up after an elimination, first establish the button and blinds for the new hand under the event’s rules. Only then apply the ordinary two-player order. The roles in an established hand and the procedure for assigning them are separate steps.

Poker TDA 2026 rule 36C says the button may need adjustment when heads-up begins to prevent a player receiving the big blind twice in a row. Applying that instruction requires knowing the previous positions. A picture of two surviving players does not supply that history.

Record who held the button, small blind and big blind in the last hand, which player was eliminated, and whether anyone moved. Keep the adopted tournament procedure with those facts. The dealer or floor can then establish the first heads-up assignment.

The instruction about avoiding consecutive big blinds also has a limit: if the previous big blind was eliminated, that fact alone does not identify the next big blind. The event’s movement procedure and remaining positions still matter. Do not turn one transition principle into an answer to every possible layout.

This desk has no transition control. It does not compare house policies, resolve dead-button cases or assign a button after table balancing. If the established button is unknown, settle that fact before using the selector.

Ace: “Two players remain, but this file has no previous blind positions.”

Yuna: “Leave the next button unassigned. We need the last hand and the event procedure before filling that space.”

Separate position from legal choices

A role tells you where a player belongs in the order. It does not say that checking, calling or raising is available at every turn. A player facing a wager has different choices from a player facing no wager, and a prior action can affect raising rights.

The big blind’s ability to check after an ordinary small-blind completion is one specific example. If the small blind raised instead, the big blind faces an additional amount. Calling that decision a big-blind option does not make a free check available.

Likewise, the button may face a raise after making a postflop bet. Use the actual action and applicable raise rules to decide its choices. The desk has no chip totals or action-history fields, so it cannot supply that ruling.

All-ins are outside this ordinary two-active-player exercise. A player with no chips behind cannot take another betting action merely because the diagram places that seat first. Outstanding calls and whether further betting is possible need their own hand history.

Dead blinds, straddles, unusual posting arrangements and antes also need separate treatment. The desk assigns blind roles without calculating payments. It does not determine a short-stack posting order, a pot amount or what a player may win.

Dealing errors and action out of turn require the event’s remedies. An ordinary card-order example is not an instruction to redeal or move the button after an error. Explain what occurred to the dealer or floor before trying to repair the sequence.

Use the opening-order desk

Start with Established button set to Seat 1 and the street set to Preflop. Choose Show the opening order. The result should identify seat 1 as button and small blind, seat 2 as big blind, and seat 1 followed by seat 2 as the opening precedence.

Keep the button at seat 1 and choose Flop. The roles stay the same while the order changes to seat 2 then seat 1. Selecting Turn or River gives that same later-street order. No button movement is needed between those selections.

Next select Seat 2 as the established button and repeat all four streets. The preflop result becomes seat 2 then seat 1; the three later streets become seat 1 then seat 2. Predict each result before displaying it so the exercise tests the role relationship.

Changing a selection clears the old output. Use Show the opening order again after an edit. Reset example restores button Seat 1 and Preflop. The four-street table above remains a readable reference without the controls.

For a hand review, write both the layout and the action: “Button and small blind at seat 1; big blind at seat 2; flop begins with seat 2; seat 2 checks, seat 1 bets, action returns to seat 2.” That note distinguishes the opening order from the decision now pending.

Keep transition notes beside the hand history when the table has just become heads-up. Once the assignment is confirmed, identify the button/small blind first and follow the appropriate street order. More worked lessons are available in Info & Tools.

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