Straddles?

I heard Daniel Negreanu ask the table if they wanted to play a round of straddles. What does that mean?

A straddle is an optional bet that the player to the left of the big blind can make. The bet is live (meaning the player has the option to raise if everybody just calls the straddle) but it has to be made before the player sees their cards.

Think of it as a third blind and you're pretty much on track. It's usually twice the size of the big blind.

Note that straddles aren't allowed in tournaments and not all cash games allow them either. People usually make them to encourage action on the table. Some players will make them for the hell of it, others won't do it unless everybody else is doing it because they don't feel they get any advantage from it.

Otherwise known as throwing away money.

JohnBoyWWFC said:

Otherwise known as throwing away money.

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What makes you say that?

Straddle is when they usually just put in chips before the cards are delt and have to use less money to call if someone raises because they ahd already put some chips in the middle.