"Buy the Button"
A Perfect Rule
By Tommy Angelo
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 to his
left, who would normally be posting the small blind and big blind, post nothing
on that hand. On the next hand, the player who bought the button gets the
button. The blinds resume as usual, and life goes on.
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.
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This article was published at an earlier date on PokerPages.com and is being rerun due to popular demand.
About the Author:
Tommy Angelo has written a book called "Elements of Poker" in which he shares
hundreds of his very best ideas in a manner intended to amuse, inform, inspire,
and enlighten. You can read many excerpts from EOP at Tommy's website:
www.tommyangelo.com.
And you can order personally inscribed copies there. Elements of Poker is also
available at amazon.com.
