Heads-up help needed!!

No one in my area seems to know what the actual poker law is regarding blinds during heads-up.

Does the big blind stick with the dealer button, or is it the small blind that has the honour?

I'd also appreciate you pointing me at the answer in the rules somewhere, or I'll never convince half of the locals of the answer!

Cheers!

ive always played and im pretty sure that the small blind has the button

This is correct, I always remember it as the person to act first before the flop is the one with position after the flop.

Great. Thanks guys!

Ehhhh dealer cant be BB in HU wouldnt work... lol

what is the "locals" alternative?!? i mean if you are trying to convince this to them, im just curious what they use... now.

Above posts are right, small blind has the button in heads up.

So says the Poker Tournament Directors' Association, Rule 35: http://www.pokertda.com/rules.pdf

Wave that at your locals, it's what pretty much every reputable tournament in the world works off.

Excellent! Exactly what I needed - thanks, guys!

Just to clarify -

I presume the big blind receives the first card when dealing? There was a dispute last night about that, also.

Then, after the flop, sb plays first as usual?

Yes, and no, respectively.

You deal to the big blind first, but the big blind acts first after the flop.

Thanks again!

I quoted the rules that were provided earlier in the thread, but the dispute was that "there are many laws of poker", so which do the serious players refer to?

There's a difference between "many laws of poker" and the actual rules of the game. This is not open to any interpretation: When playing HU, the person that has the SB will also have the button. The other person will be the BB. The SB (with the button) deals normally starting with the first card to the BB. Once the cards are dealt out, the SB will act first preflop. After the betting (assuming a flop is dealt), then the BB will act first on the flop, turn, and river. Next hand postions change. Player 1 becomes the BB and player 2 gets to be SB and Button. Rinse, repeat.

If you have someone in your group arguing any of these steps, then they are totally clueless.

Now, as far as the "many laws of poker" go, there are two generally accepted standards: 1) Robert's Rules of Poker and 2) the TDA as mentioned above. Both are accurate and essentially the same and should be able to answer pretty much any question you have. If you friend insists that the feedback here, Robert's rules, AND the TDA are ALL wrong, then smack him in the head, he's a moron.

Zackery. The World Series of Poker follows the TDA rules, and I dunno if it gets any more serious than that. As does the World Poker Tour, the Aussie Millions and I'm pretty sure every other serious major tournament in the world.

ROFLMAO!!

Gotta love answers like that!

Sadly, the dispute is greater than just one chap. I'm based in South Africa, where poker has exploded overnight, though as one might imagine, less attention is paid to the rules/the law than to who is bringing the beer/pizza!

Rules change even from Casino to casino in the same city, so I was really not sure there even was one definitive set of rules! Thanks for clearing that up.

Fortunately, I enforced the "Sole Adjudicator' rule, and used the help already supplied in this thread to make the decisions.

Gotta go smack someone in the head...