button) provides the ante for each player. This simplifies betting, but causes minor inequities if other players come and go. During such times, the player can be given a special button indicating the need to pay an ante to the pot (known as "posting") upon their return. °°≈ Post A player who is temporarily away from his seat (e.g. for drinks or a restroom/bathroom break) and misses antes is also required to post to re-enter the game. They must pay the applicable ante to the pot for the next hand they will participate in. In this case, the amount to be posted is the amount of the ante at the time the player missed them. Posting is usually not required if the player who would otherwise post happens to be in the ante. This is because the advantage that would otherwise be gained by missing the ante, that of playing several hands before having to pay ante, is not the case in this situation. It is therefore common for a new player to lock up a seat and then wait several hands before joining a table, or for a returning player to sit out several hands until the ante comes back around, so that he may enter in the ante and avoid paying the post. For this same reason, only one ante can be accumulated by the player; old missed antes are removed when the ante returns to that player's seat because the player was never in any position to gain from missing the antes. Blind A blind or blind bet is usually a forced bet placed into the pot by one or more players before the deal begins, in a way that simulates bets made during play. The most common use of blinds as a betting structure calls for two blinds: the player after the dealer blinds about half of what would be a normal bet (small blind), and the next player blinds what would be a whole bet (big blind). This two-blind structure, sometimes with antes, is the dominating structure of play. Sometimes only one blind (half or whole bet) is used (often informally by the dealer as a "price of winning" the previous hand). Besides the forced blind bet, players may optionally play blind and put an optional blind bet to the pot. Blind players may place bets that are at least half of the current level