[SheridanCat]

Question 1:

Straddling is making a blind raise from one to the left of the Big Blind before the cards are dealt. So, you will be first to act, you put up a raise without seeing your cards. This usually allows you to act last preflop with the option to raise if someone has called. It's generally a bad thing to do since you're putting in money without knowing your cards. Straddling is a gambler's move, but it has been known to loosen up a table.

If you straddle, the guy next to you, on the left, can also straddle by putting out another blind raise and so on until it's capped.

Question 2:

If someone leaves the table and misses a blind (big, small or both) they receive a "missed blind" button. The button will indicate which blind(s) they missed. When they sit back down, they have to post the blinds to get a hand.

So if someone misses both blinds, and they return after the button has passed them, they post the big blind AND the small blind. In this case, the big blind is live, just like a normal big blind but the small blind is "dead" and is moved to the center of the table and is considered already in the pot.

If the person with the missed blind buttons wishes, she can wait until the big blind comes back around and post the big blind normally and not post the small blind. Think of the blinds as an entry fee you pay to play the next "free" hands.

There are other possiblities such as the person just missing the small blind, just the big blind, etc. The dealer will tell you what to do - I'm not sure on a couple of them since they rarely happen.

Regards,

T