This post deals specifically with the movement of the button in a texas hold'em tournament. What is the rule with regard to movement of the button?  Does the button always move, regardless of anything else that has happened in the hand?  Or does the button NOT move if the people to the left of the dealer get knocked out? To clarify exactly what I'm looking for...   We were playing a home tournament that I was hosting.  It was decided that I would be ultimate arbiter in the instance that a rules question came up(agreed upon by everyone, friendly home game).  At one point, three people went all in on a hand, the small blind, the big blind and another person.  The other person(non-blinds) ultimately won the hand, resulting in the big and small blinds being eliminated.  The dealer at that table declared that the button should stay where it was, which caused the person in the (now) small blind position to complain that the button should move(since they were inches from going out).  I was called over to rule. Having only played online tournaments with any regularity, and having no casino experience, and only limited home poker tournament experience, I took what I knew from the online tournaments.  Regardless of anything that has happened at the table, the button moves, at least that's how it seems in online tournaments.  So I ruled that the button moves. However, this caused grumbling among the poker elite at the tournament. While they abided by my decision, they continually grumbled more than a little loudly, the button doesn't move when the blinds get knocked out . Fine, prove it, I says.  And I'm curious myself.  So, after the night was over, I tried to find the official rules on the net, or even *A* complete set of official rules for texas hold'em poker.  I found plenty of rule sets for the basics, but none dealing with the irregularities that might come up. Basically, I couldn't find an official rule set for what seems to be the most popular variation of poker out there these days.  I'm no internet newbie, either, I spent a good half hour searching with google, using a variety of phrases, and found nothing that fit my needs and seemed even remotely official . So, my ultimate questions are as follows: 1.  Where can I find a COMPLETE official set of texas hold'em rules that deal with not only the basics but also the irregularities?  A website would be great. 2.  The main question is this:  Does the button ALWAYS move?  Does it matter who went out last hand?  For this particular question, I'd appreciate some official backing , like an official rule website or something, so that I can show the guys next time we play.  Right or wrong, I don't care, I'm fully able to admit I'm wrong, I just want to know for SURE one way or the other. Thanks in advance.

I am not sure on a website with all the rules but normally the button would not move. A p_layer_ cannot skip blinds in a tournament format. (In a live game this is different at most places.) You would have a dead small blind and the next p_layer_ will post the big blind. Then in the next hand you will have a dead button and the p_layer_s will post both the big blind and the small blind. Hope this helps. So, let me see if I have this straight.  The TOURNAMENT rule is that nobody misses a blind payment, regardless of any other action?  This was a live game, so maybe that makes a difference(as you note above).  So, if I'm understanding you correctly, if both the big and small blinds go out in the same hand, the official tournament thing to do is to keep the button where it is, have NO small blind, and only one big blind.  Then the NEXT hand, the button stays where it is AGAIN, and there are two blinds, small and big.  Is that correct? If that *IS* correct, it provides an unfair advantage to the guy on the button for 3 consecutive hands.  That doesn't seem fair to me.  Personally, I would rather have one person avoid paying a single blind than to have one person gain the button advantage for 3 straight hands.  Or am I misinterpreting the implementation of what you are saying? On a side note, I did find this page, which seems to be a fairly comprehensive listing of poker rules, BUT it also seems to be a more house rules set of rules than anything official, given that it's called Robert's Rules of Poker rather than something like The 2004 Official Hoyle's Rules of Poker or something. http://www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach/RobsPkrRules3.htm That said, after I found this page, I found several references to it as the quintessential poker rules website, but unfortunately, most of those references seemed to be non official references(ie just this page has lots of rules so it's cool references).... anyone know?

position posts a small blind and the big blind is posted as usual and the system has returned to order. *MUCH* confusion.  Why all these blinds???  What's the logic behind all these wacky behind the button blinds and whatnot?  And, just out of curiosity, where did this structure come from?