Inconsistent Blinds or Dead Dealer

[CanadaWest]

I don't know if this is a bug or deliberate design, but its been bugging me for a couple of months and seems contrary to poker rules. A dozen or so of our players have noticed it too.

If the small blind is knocked out, the button moves to the big blind player rather than to the "dead" seat. This results in one player missing the big blind and another missing the small.

[Kent Briggs]

I don't know if this is a bug or deliberate design, but its been bugging me for a couple of months and seems contrary to poker rules. A dozen or so of our players have noticed it too.

If the small blind is knocked out, the button moves to the big blind player rather than to the "dead" seat. This results in one player missing the big blind and another missing the small.

There are two ways to handle that situation. I use the "button always moves" method as does PokerStars, Full Tilt, and probably most other sites. See Rule #2 in Section 4 of Robert's Rules:
http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/PMHelp.htm

And rule 6 at PokerStars:
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/

"PokerStars uses a "forward moving button" rule in its tournaments. According to this rule, no player ever receives the button twice in a row; at the completion of every hand, the button is moved clockwise to the small blind. The implication of this rule is that when players are eliminated, there may be players who get a reprieve from one or both blinds. The forward moving button is common practice in online poker due to the technicalities involved in adjusting the blinds after players are eliminated. Since these are basically random occurrences, no player will receive any long-term advantage, and the rule is necessarily fair for all players."

[madcow]

i like the pokerstars rules .. i think that's why we are having?

t

[CanadaWest]

Excellent explanation. I get it.

One way, a player might miss the blind, but the other way a player benefits from button position twice (and maybe more).

Definitely better to have a player miss a blind.

Good choice.

[Kent Briggs]

One way, a player might miss the blind, but the other way a player benefits from button position twice (and maybe more).

That's correct, because just moving the button to the empty seat means the last player to have it still gets to act last after the flop. So he would effectively be getting the button twice in a row.