[OnTheButton]

Got into a minor discussion with another player about where the button goes when play is finally heads-up in a tournament.

He insisted that the button is ALWAYS big blind or small blind (I don't remember which one he said, since there was no supporting arguement, just a "That's the way it always is" statement).

And I was under the impression that the button "falls where it may" and can be different each time. Sometimes it is SB and other times the BB depending on where it should land when it moves, relative to the previously posted blinds, and the eliminated 3rd player.

Meaning that if when the 3rd person was knocked out, and the button is now the guy who just posted BB, that he would now be the SB and the button would be SB until it was over. Of course the opposite would be true if he had just posted SB, and the button goes to him now, he is button and BB.

Example 1:

Player 1 = Button
Player 2 = SB
Player 3 = BB

Player 1 (button) is eliminated.
Button moves to player 3 who now posts the SB, (was BB) and player 2 posts the BB (was SB). It stays this way until the tournament is over.

Example 2:

Player 1 = Button
Player 2 = SB
Player 3 = BB

Player 3 (BB) is eliminated, making player 1 the Button and the BB, and player 2 the SB (was BB). It stays this way until the end of the tournament.

Am I doing this correctly, or is the button ALWAYS a particular blind, even if it means a player must post a BB twice in a row, but only once?

[RTBrandy]

The dealer, when down to Head's up, is always the small blind. He's also the first to act pre-flop....

[sunderB]

Unfortunately not. The blinds move as they normally would and the SB gets the button. SB/ button acts first preflop and last on subsequent rounds.

[OnTheButton]

Originally Posted by RTBrandy

The dealer, when down to Head's up is always with the small blind. He's also the first to act pre-flop....

So it is possible that a player would have to post a BB twice in a row, or get the button twice in a row when the 3rd player is eliminated?

[burnvalley]

Standard rules for heads up. Button is the small blind and the bb gets dealt first.

[sunderB]

Originally Posted by OnTheButton

So it is possible that a player would have to post a BB twice in a row, or get the button twice in a row when the 3rd player is eliminated?

No, you move the blinds as normal and reset the button on the SB

[RTBrandy]

Originally Posted by sunderB

No, you move the blinds as normal and reset the button on the SB

I concur here

[UW85]

Originally Posted by RTBrandy

I concur here

Yup, I triple concur.

[Ranman]

The button is the small blind.

Not sure if this is correct or not but the way I (and all games I play at) handle this is we don't allow the BB to hit the same player twice in a row.

If the dealer gets knocked out the previous BB is now the SB and the dealer

If the BB is eliminated the previous Dealer becomes the BB and the SB is SB again and deals.

If the SB is bumped the previous dealer is the BB and the previous BB is now SB and dealer.

[OnTheButton]

Originally Posted by UW85

Yup, I triple concur.

Let me see if I can understand where I'm getting confused here.

I'm running all kinds of play-out in my head and on paper.

Basically in a 3 way scenario, if the button player is eliminated, the previous BB is now the SB, and SB the BB, but the button actually moves backwards to the SB position, but only once, and now always follows the SB position.

Is that the part that I'm missing? That the button goes backwards one time?