A complete is when the small blind calls rather than folding or raising, paying the remaining half a big blind to see a flop. The word exists because the small blind is already partly in, so the action completes the bet rather than making a new one.
It looks like the cheapest call in poker and it produces some of the most expensive pots, because everything after it is played out of position for the rest of the hand.
Why the discount is misleading
The price is genuinely good. You are getting a large discount to see a flop, often three or four to one on the call.
What the price does not buy is position. You will act first on every street against every opponent, in a multiway pot, with a hand you were not willing to raise. That combination turns marginal wins into small ones and marginal losses into large ones.
The half a blind is not the cost of the decision. The cost is the three streets that follow it.
When completing is right
Against limpers, with a hand that plays well multiway and can make a hand worth stacking off with.
Suited connectors, suited aces and small pairs all qualify. They flop either something strong or nothing, which is exactly what you want when playing out of position: clear decisions rather than marginal ones.
Completing is also right when the big blind is passive and unlikely to raise. A cheap flop against somebody who will check along is a different proposition from a cheap flop against somebody who will punish your weakness.
When it is a leak
With offsuit broadways and weak aces, which flop top pair with a kicker problem and then have to play three streets out of position with a hand too good to fold and not good enough to bet three times.
With any hand when the big blind is aggressive, since your completing range is capped by definition and a competent player will attack it relentlessly.
And as a default. Players who complete every unraised pot because the price is good are paying a small amount very frequently to enter pots they play badly, which is exactly the shape of a slow leak.
Raise more than you complete
The most common small-blind mistake is having no raising range at all against limpers.
When two players limp and you hold a decent hand in the small blind, raising is often better than completing even though you will be out of position. You fold out the big blind, you narrow the field, and you take the initiative into a pot where your range is stronger than anybody's.
Size it larger than a normal open, around 4bb plus a big blind for each limper, for the same reason open sizing goes up against loose fields: you are trying to fold out several players rather than one.
A worked hand
Full ring, 100bb effective. Two players limp. We are in the small blind with 8h7h.
Complete. This is the hand type completing exists for: suited and connected, it plays well multiway, and it will flop either a strong draw or nothing at all, which keeps our decisions clean out of position.
Flop is 9h 6c 2h. We have a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw, which is a monster draw rather than a marginal holding.
We lead for around 60% of the pot. Out of position with a big draw, betting is better than checking: it builds the pot while we have the equity and it takes the initiative in a hand where checking would let three opponents see a free card.
Now change the hand to AhTc in the same spot. Completing there is the leak: we flop top pair with a weak kicker often enough to be tempted, and then play three streets out of position against two opponents with a hand that cannot comfortably bet or fold.
What this looks like in our clubs
Limped pots are far more common in club-app fields than in a tough online room, because open-limping is one of the defining habits of a recreational pool. That makes the small blind a more frequent decision than it would be elsewhere.
It also makes raising over limps more profitable than the textbook suggests. In a pool where limpers fold to raises far too often and call far too wide when they do continue, the raising option is underused by almost everybody.
Our guide to getting value from weak players covers the isolation side of that in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
What does complete mean in poker?
Calling from the small blind, paying the remaining half a big blind to see the flop. It only exists as a term because the small blind has already posted part of the bet.
Should I always complete with a good price?
No. The price ignores position, and you will play every street first with a hand you were not willing to raise. Complete with hands that flop clearly, and fold the ones that flop marginally.
Which hands are good to complete with?
Suited connectors, suited aces and small pairs. They make either strong hands or nothing, which keeps decisions simple out of position.
Is completing the same as limping?
Mechanically similar, positionally worse. A limper acts after the blinds preflop and often has position postflop; the small blind acts first for the entire hand.
Should I ever raise instead of completing?
Often, especially over limpers. Raising folds out the big blind, narrows the field and gives you the initiative, which partly compensates for playing out of position.
Where to start
For one session, complete only with suited and connected hands, and raise or fold everything else from the small blind. Most players find that removes a surprising number of uncomfortable flops.
If limped pots dominate your games and you are unsure whether that is good or bad for you, message @rpunion and say what you play, or compare the fields across the apps we run clubs in.
18+. Play within your means.