Buy-the-Button: A Perfect Rule
Several
major card rooms in the San Francisco Bay Area use a rule called “Buy the
Button.” This is an option that pertains to the blinds. The only thing
to prevent a casino from using this rule is that they do not know about it.
You
leave the table, beckoned by your mate, stomach, bladder, nicotine, whatever.
You have a sense of how much time you have until your big blind.
But now and then, you return a moment too late.
-sigh-
You
could post both blinds behind the button, but you're not too happy about that,
especially if the game is not full. Or
you could wait a whole round and take the big blind and waste precious poker
time.
Meanwhile,
the seated players are grumbling about the absent players. Another one gets up,
then another, and the game stalls out. A
moment later the usual plea is broadcast. "Players on table 14, please return to your game.
You are all lobbying at the same time."
Buy-the-Button
eliminates the personal frustration of barely missing the big blind, and it
frequently remedies the group frustration of stalled games. I’ve seen every
type of player gladly use this option, from the most reckless recreational
player to the most careful professional. Here’s how it works.
A
player with a missed blind button may reenter the game by posting both blinds
from the small-blind position (one seat left of the button). The big blind
amount is live and the small blind amount is dead. The players
It’s
as if you were never gone. And that’s why the dealers and the floor staff like
it as much as the players do. Buy-the-Button keeps games full, prevents stalled
games, and helps restart games after domino-effect lobbying.
When
I first saw this rule in 1998, I was blown away by the ingenuity. Because I’m
a rule-freak, I couldn’t help but wonder about how “buy the button” would
be used in those awkward situations that arise when a player quits or lobbies
right after taking a blind. As it turns out, these
puzzles are easily solved. Just
make sure each player has a big blind and then a small blind.
A
while back I asked where this rule came from.
I was told Reno. Soon after
that, I was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains walking around with a gal who likes
to slow down and smell the pines. That
didn’t last long. "We're only an hour from Reno! Let's go!"
She
perked up and yelped, “Shopping!"
We
stopped by the Peppermill. There
was one seat open in the $10-20 game. There
was also one door open at the gift shop. Both
of us were drawn to our natural environments.
I
bought in and started yacking with the locals.
Nice bunch. I played a couple rounds and then headed over to the gift
shop to see who was stuck the most so far. I came back to the poker table an
instant too late to take my big blind. Dang!
On
the next hand the button moved to my right and I reflexively posted both blinds
to buy the button, just like back home. The
dealer politely pushed my chips back and told me to wait one more hand.
I asked about buying the button, adding that I had heard it started in
Reno.
Someone
told me that they use that rule in Tahoe. This was feeling like a mystery story.
Home again, I dug around and learned that “buy the button” was invented by
Bee Estes during his tenure as poker room manager at Harvey’s in South Lake
Tahoe. From there he went to Lucky
Chances Casino as manager and brought “buy the button” with him.
When Bee left, his clever invention stayed behind.
Buy-the-Button
is spreading. Danny Twitchen took
it across the Bay Bridge to Casino San Pablo when he became poker room manager
there. And Artichoke Joe’s Casino
in San Bruno added it recently.
Buy-the-Button
is a perfect rule because it is
simple and fair, good for the players, good for the employees, good for the
house, and good for poker.
© 2001 Tommy Angelo