What is Blind Rollback or Roll Forward?

Blind Rollback (reducing the blinds) or Roll Forward (increasing the blinds) refers to the adjustment of blinds, which is done to keep the gameplay balanced and competitive by maintaining a healthy ratio between average chip stacks and the blinds.

When is a Blind Rollback or Roll Forward Done?

These adjustments are done only at the Final Table of a tournament when:

• The total number of tournament entries is 100 or more
• The average stack at the Final Table is outside the range of 40–100 big blinds

How Is Blind Rollback & Roll Forward Done?

Below, we’ll explain the Blind Rollback and Roll Forward, so you can understand exactly why these features help tournament players.

Blind Rollback – (Blinds Get Lower)

A Blind Rollback will be applied if the average chip stack at the Final Table is below 40 big blinds (40BB).
To correct this, the blind level is reduced so the average stack of the table increases to just above 40 big blinds — improving strategic depth and reducing high variance all-in play.
Example:
If the average stack is 200,000 and the big blind is 10,000 (i.e., 20 big blinds), the blind will be rolled back to 5,000 to increase the average stack to 40 big blinds.

Blind Roll Forward – (Blinds Get Higher)

A Blind Rollback will be applied if the average chip stack at the Final Table is below 40 big blinds (40BB).
To correct this, the blind level is reduced so the average stack of the table increases to just above 40 big blinds — improving strategic depth and reducing high variance all-in play.
Example:
If the average stack is 200,000 and the big blind is 10,000 (i.e., 20 big blinds), the blind will be rolled back to 5,000 to increase the average stack to 40 big blinds.

How Blind Rollback & Roll Forward Helps Players

Adjusting the blind level at the Final Table of tournaments:

• Encourages strategic play (reduces all-ins)
• Prevents excessively long/short tournament runs
• Makes your deep run feel truly rewarding
• Optimizes competitive playability
• Balances fairness for all finalists