The schedule, and how often each rung arrives
Every count below is enumerated from the full seven-card distribution, the same computation behind the Trips bet. The last column is what each line contributes to the schedule's total value, and it is where the surprise is.
| Hand | Blind pays | Hands in 133,784,560 | One in | Share of the schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500 to 1 | 4,324 | 30,940 | 7.5% |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 | 37,260 | 3,591 | 6.4% |
| Four of a kind | 10 to 1 | 224,848 | 595 | 7.8% |
| Full house | 3 to 1 | 3,473,184 | 39 | 36.0% |
| Flush | 3 to 2 | 4,047,644 | 33 | 21.0% |
| Straight | 1 to 1 | 6,180,020 | 22 | 21.4% |
The whole bonus schedule is worth 21.64% of the bet
Multiply each rung by how often it arrives and the entire Blind schedule comes to 21.64% of one unit. That figure is a ceiling, not a return: it assumes you beat the dealer every single time, which nobody does. The real number is lower by whatever fraction of those hands you lose, and that fraction needs the same three-decision game tree the main game's house edge needs, which this site does not solve and does not pretend to.
Read the last column of the table instead. The full house line alone contributes 36.0% of the schedule's value, more than the royal flush, the straight flush and the four of a kind lines put together (21.7%). The 500 to 1 that the felt advertises is worth 7.5%, because it arrives once in 30,940 hands.
What this means at the table
The Blind is not a bet you choose, so there is no decision to get right about it. What it changes is how the rest of the hand should be read. Because the Blind pays nothing on 89.56% of hands, the money it can return is concentrated in the rare ones, and a marginal raise decision made to "protect the Blind" is protecting a line that mostly pushes.
It also explains the shape of the game. The Ante and the Blind are equal and mandatory, and a dealer who fails to qualify pushes the Ante while the Blind still plays on its own terms. The bet that most resembles the Blind in structure is the Let It Ride family: a schedule paid on your own cards, with the large numbers at the top doing the advertising and the small ones in the middle doing the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you win the Blind bet in Ultimate Texas Hold'em?
- Two things have to happen together. You must beat the dealer, and your five-card hand must be a straight or better. Beat the dealer with less than a straight and the Blind pushes; lose to the dealer and the Blind loses, whatever you were holding.
- What does the Blind bet pay?
- On the common schedule: 500 to 1 for a royal flush, 50 to 1 for a straight flush, 10 to 1 for four of a kind, 3 to 1 for a full house, 3 to 2 for a flush and 1 to 1 for a straight. Anything below a straight pushes.
- How often does the Blind reach a paying hand?
- On 10.44% of hands, about one in 9.6, counted across all 133,784,560 seven-card hands. Whether you also beat the dealer is a separate condition this site does not derive.
- Is the Blind bet optional?
- No. The Ante and the Blind are both mandatory and must be equal. Trips is the optional side bet, and it is computed separately.
- Why is the 500 to 1 royal line worth so little?
- Because a royal appears in one hand in 30,940. It contributes 7.5% of the schedule's 21.64% value, while the full house line, one hand in 39 at 3 to 1, contributes 36.0%. The biggest number on the felt is the least valuable line on it.
The rung frequencies are produced by
seven_card_math.py, which enumerates all 133,784,560
seven-card hands and checks its nine category counts against the
published frequencies before this page is written. The schedule value is
exact rational arithmetic over those counts. No house edge is stated for
the Blind, because deriving one needs the dealer-comparison the main game
needs. Last computed September 2026.