The Idaho Straddle, Explained

Most straddle explainers stop at the basics: post double the big blind before cards are dealt, get live action when it comes back around. That's the standard UTG straddle, and it's not what this is about.

The rule, precisely

Some poker rooms — including the Idaho home games this site is named after — allow a straddle from UTG or the button, and then a restraddle from anywhere else at the table. Small blind, MP1, doesn't matter. Whichever straddle is posted last gets ultimate last action, but only for the preflop street. Normal position and action order resumes for the flop, turn, and river.

That's the whole rule. It's simple once you've seen it once, and it's genuinely different from what most players assume "restraddle" means.

Why this trips people up

The word "restraddle" already has a common meaning — the escalating version, where UTG straddles to 2x, the next seat restraddles to 4x, the next to 8x, each one bigger and each one in strict position order. That's real, and it's the definition most glossaries lead with.

The Idaho Straddle isn't that. It's not about size escalation at all — every restraddle here is still just double the big blind. It's about position flexibility (anywhere, not just the next seat) and a last-action mechanic (whoever's straddle lands last acts last preflop, no matter where they're sitting).

It's also not the same as a Mississippi straddle, which allows a straddle from any position but doesn't have the restraddle-chaining or last-action wrinkle at all.

Running it at your table

If you're introducing this to a home game that's never played it:

• Confirm explicitly whether restraddles are capped at one, or can keep chaining until someone declines.
• Make sure everyone agrees the last-action rule is preflop only — this is the detail that gets misremembered most, usually toward "the straddle acts last the whole hand," which isn't the rule.
• Post it clearly, verbally, before the hand starts. This is a rule variant that rewards being explicit, not assumed.

Once it clicks, it's one of the more interesting variance-adding house rules you can run without touching the actual game being played.