Heads-up · the rules

Heads-up poker rules: blinds, button, and who acts first

Every rule below exists at full tables too, but heads-up rearranges them in a way that surprises even experienced players. Here are the answers people actually search for, stated plainly, then the logic behind them.

Updated September 2026

The quick answers

Who posts which blind? The dealer (the button) posts the SMALL blind. The other player posts the big blind. This is the single most-missed rule in heads-up poker, because at a full table the button never posts a blind at all.

Who acts first before the flop? The dealer. Having posted the small blind, the button acts first preflop: fold, call the difference, or raise.

Who acts first after the flop? The big blind. From the flop onward, order flips: the non-button player acts first on every street, and the dealer acts last.

Who gets the button first? Standard practice is to deal for it or draw high card; after that it alternates every hand.

Who is dealt to first? The non-dealer, same as always: dealing starts left of the button, and with two players that is the big blind.

Why the small blind moves to the button

The rule looks arbitrary until you see what it protects: position. If the button posted the big blind, the same player would act last preflop AND last postflop, an enormous double advantage repeating every hand. Splitting it, button acts first preflop but last on every later street, keeps the edge of position real but survivable, and because the button alternates every hand, both players hold it half the time. Heads-up is the fairest structure in poker precisely because it looks the strangest.

A worked hand

Blinds 1/2. You have the button: you post the small blind of 1, your opponent posts 2. You act first and raise to 5; they call. On the flop THEY act first and check; you act last, and bet. Turn and river run the same order: them first, you last. Next hand, the button crosses the table and every one of those sentences reverses. That alternation is why heads-up feels twice as fast: you are never out of the action, and half your hands come with the best seat in the game.

The rules that stay the same

Everything else is standard poker: hand rankings, betting increments, showdown order (last aggressor shows first; if the river checks through, the out-of-position player shows first), and all-in rules. Tournament heads-up adds one wrinkle worth knowing: when a multi-table tournament reaches its final two, the blinds convert to heads-up rules mid-match, and the button small blind surprises someone at almost every final table.

The strategy consequence, in one paragraph

Because the big blind is under attack every single hand, hand values widen enormously: hands that fold at a full table are raising hands heads-up. If you bring nine-handed instincts to a duel, you will fold your way to defeat without ever making a mistake you can point to. The full strategy drawing is on its way; until then, the one-sentence version is: play far more hands than feels right, and respect the button.

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