diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/css/casino/holdem.css b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/css/casino/holdem.css
index c01911a..90424e3 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/css/casino/holdem.css
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/css/casino/holdem.css
@@ -306,8 +306,10 @@ button,
     position: relative;
     width: 100%;
     padding-bottom: 72%;
+    margin: 0 auto;
 }
 
+
 #pokerTable {
     position: absolute;
     inset: 6%;
@@ -627,6 +629,13 @@ button,
     color: #fff7e6;
 }
 
+/* A blind the dealer named by hand rather than one the button handed out. Without
+   the ring the table just looks like it's put the blinds in the wrong place. */
+.blindBadge.blindManual {
+    outline: 1.5px solid #f2f2f2;
+    outline-offset: 1px;
+}
+
 /* ---------- Seat editor panel (sidebar form for the selected seat) ---------- */
 
 .seatEditorPanel {
@@ -1955,8 +1964,13 @@ body.hasActionBar #holdemSidebar {
 
 /* Sit above the action bar rather than on top of it, so an Undo never covers the
    Fold button the dealer is reaching for. */
+/* Sit the toast directly on top of the action bar, whatever height it happens to be.
+   This was a hardcoded 9rem, which is roughly right for the bar at rest and wrong the
+   moment the raise pad opens — and on a short phone it put the toast, Undo button and
+   all, straight over the bottom seats of the table, so a tap meant for a player hit
+   "Undo" instead. */
 body.hasActionBar #toastHost {
-    bottom: calc(9rem + env(safe-area-inset-bottom, 0px));
+    bottom: calc(var(--actionBarHeight, 9rem) + 0.75rem + env(safe-area-inset-bottom, 0px));
 }
 
 .toast {
@@ -2287,8 +2301,13 @@ body.hasActionBar #toastHost {
    seat looks like it did nothing. Inset the ring by half a puck, and float the
    editor up as a bottom sheet over the table. */
 @media (max-width: 700px) {
+    /* The bottom padding has to clear the fixed action bar, plus room for a toast to
+       sit above it. Without it the table just carries on underneath the bar and the
+       lower seats of the oval are behind the Fold button — measured at 360x640, where
+       62px of felt was covered. `--actionBarHeight` is published by actionBar.js and
+       is 0 when no hand is running, so the page doesn't hold a gap it doesn't need. */
     #holdemApp {
-        padding: 1rem 0.75rem 2rem;
+        padding: 1rem 0.75rem calc(var(--actionBarHeight, 0px) + 5rem + env(safe-area-inset-bottom, 0px));
     }
 
     #holdemHeader {
@@ -2560,3 +2579,96 @@ body.hasActionBar #toastHost {
         justify-content: center;
     }
 }
+
+/* ---------- A phone on its side ----------
+   Deliberately last in the file. The felt is an aspect-ratio box whose height comes
+   from `padding-bottom`, and the `max-width: 900px` block above re-sets that to 100%
+   — so a landscape rule placed any earlier is overridden at equal specificity and
+   does nothing, which is exactly what happened on the first attempt.
+
+   Landscape is where this layout falls apart worst: sized from width, the table came
+   out 765px tall in a 390px-tall window, putting six of the nine seats below the fold
+   and the rest behind the action bar. Sizing it from the height that's actually left
+   makes every seat reachable without scrolling. The table ends up small, but a seat
+   you have to go hunting for is worse than a seat that's small. */
+@media (orientation: landscape) and (max-height: 560px) {
+    /* Set outright rather than via padding-bottom: a percentage padding resolves
+       against the containing block's width, not the element's own, so narrowing the
+       wrap on its own left it full height regardless. */
+    #pokerTableWrap {
+        --feltRoom: calc(100vh - var(--actionBarHeight, 0px) - 8.5rem);
+        width: min(100%, calc(var(--feltRoom) / 0.72));
+        height: var(--feltRoom);
+        padding-bottom: 0;
+    }
+
+    /* The header ate 148px of a 390px-tall window, which was most of the reason the
+       table started below the fold. Here it only needs to be a title bar. */
+    #holdemHeader {
+        margin-bottom: 0.4rem;
+        gap: 0.35rem;
+    }
+
+    #holdemHeader h1 {
+        font-size: 1.05rem;
+        padding-bottom: 0.15rem;
+    }
+
+    .holdemSubtitle {
+        display: none;
+    }
+
+    /* There's no vertical room left, but plenty either side of a table this narrow,
+       so the toast moves out of the middle and sits beside the felt instead of on
+       top of it. Centred, it was covering up to six seats at once — and it carries
+       an Undo button, so a tap meant for a player was landing on "Undo". */
+    body.hasActionBar #toastHost,
+    #toastHost {
+        left: auto;
+        right: 0.5rem;
+        max-width: 17rem;
+        bottom: calc(var(--actionBarHeight, 0px) + 0.5rem + env(safe-area-inset-bottom, 0px));
+    }
+
+    /* Nine seats around a table this small overlap each other, so they shrink to suit. */
+    .seat {
+        width: 62px;
+        min-height: 40px;
+    }
+}
+
+/* ---------- Short phones, upright ----------
+   A 640px-tall screen spends ~150px on the header before the felt even starts, which
+   left the bottom of the table sitting behind the action bar until you scrolled. The
+   header carries no information a dealer needs mid-hand, so it gives the space up. */
+@media (max-height: 700px) {
+    /* Nowhere on a screen this short is the toast clear of both the table and the
+       action bar, so it overlaps the one that costs least: it sits over the bar's
+       status line, which is information a dealer can re-read a second later, rather
+       than over the seats and buttons, which are things they need to hit. Overlapping
+       a readout beats covering a control. */
+    body.hasActionBar #toastHost {
+        bottom: calc(var(--actionBarHeight, 0px) - 3.1rem);
+    }
+
+    .toast {
+        padding: 0.5rem 0.7rem;
+        font-size: 0.78rem;
+    }
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 700px) and (max-height: 700px) {
+    #holdemHeader {
+        margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
+        gap: 0.4rem;
+    }
+
+    #holdemHeader h1 {
+        font-size: 1.15rem;
+        padding-bottom: 0.2rem;
+    }
+
+    .holdemSubtitle {
+        display: none;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/actionBar.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/actionBar.js
index 3673f21..6029bcc 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/actionBar.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/actionBar.js
@@ -11,9 +11,35 @@ const ActionBar = {
     mount(state, hooks) {
         this.state = state;
         this.hooks = hooks;
+        this.watchHeight();
         this.render();
     },
 
+    // The bar is fixed to the bottom of the screen, so everything else has to know how
+    // tall it is or the table simply runs underneath it — on a 640px-tall phone the
+    // bottom seats of the oval were sitting behind the Fold button. Its height isn't a
+    // constant either: opening the raise pad grows it. Publishing the measured height
+    // as a custom property lets the layout and the toast both stay clear of it without
+    // anyone guessing a number.
+    watchHeight() {
+        const host = document.getElementById("actionBar");
+        if (!host || this.heightWatcher) return;
+
+        const publish = () => {
+            const visible = !host.hidden;
+            const height = visible ? host.getBoundingClientRect().height : 0;
+            document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--actionBarHeight", `${Math.round(height)}px`);
+        };
+
+        if (typeof ResizeObserver === "function") {
+            this.heightWatcher = new ResizeObserver(publish);
+            this.heightWatcher.observe(host);
+        }
+        window.addEventListener("resize", publish);
+        window.addEventListener("orientationchange", publish);
+        publish();
+    },
+
     // Anything to act on? A hand with nobody dealt in doesn't get a bar.
     isRunning() {
         return Betting.liveSeats(this.state).length > 0;
@@ -27,6 +53,7 @@ const ActionBar = {
         if (!this.isRunning()) {
             host.hidden = true;
             document.body.classList.remove("hasActionBar");
+            document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--actionBarHeight", "0px");
             this.stopTankTimer();
             this.tankSeatIndex = null;
             return;
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/betting.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/betting.js
index ff13cce..3c928ed 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/betting.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/betting.js
@@ -243,6 +243,28 @@ const Betting = {
         return this.liveSeats(state).length > 1 && !this.canStillBet(state);
     },
 
+    // True while nothing has happened in this hand except the blinds going in. Up to
+    // that point the dealer can still move the button or rename the blinds and have
+    // it cost nothing — which is the state a home game spends a lot of time in,
+    // arguing about whose turn it is before the cards come out.
+    onlyBlindsIn(state) {
+        return (state.street || "preflop") === "preflop" && state.seats.every(p => !p.hasActed);
+    },
+
+    // Pulls the blinds back off the table and posts them again from wherever the
+    // button and the blind assignment now say they belong. Refunding first is what
+    // keeps the chip count straight when the button gets passed round three or four
+    // times before anybody is happy with it.
+    repostBlinds(state) {
+        state.seats.forEach(player => {
+            const back = this.committed(player);
+            if (back > 0) player.stack = this.round(this.stackOf(state, player) + back);
+            player.committed = 0;
+            player.hasActed = false;
+        });
+        this.beginHand(state);
+    },
+
     // Deals a fresh betting round: blinds posted, action to the seat after the big
     // blind, which is where a dealer expects to be looking when the cards go out.
     beginHand(state) {
@@ -250,6 +272,11 @@ const Betting = {
         state.currentBet = 0;
         state.lastRaiseSize = 0;
 
+        // Position is read off the button all through the hand, so it has to be on
+        // somebody before the blinds are worked out — not on the empty seat 1 a
+        // brand-new table starts on.
+        HoldemState.ensureButtonOnPlayer(state);
+
         state.seats.forEach(player => {
             player.committed = 0;
             player.hasActed = false;
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/main.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/main.js
index 5c8a1c2..aea2b0d 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/main.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/main.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
         },
 
         onSeatLongPress: index => SeatMenu.open(state, seatMenuHooks, index),
+        onGiveButton: index => seatMenuHooks.makeDealer(index),
     };
 
     const seatMenuHooks = {
@@ -59,13 +60,71 @@ document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
         unfold: index => seatAction(index, `${nameOf(index)} is back in the hand.`, p => { p.folded = false; }),
         allIn: index => seatAction(index, `${nameOf(index)} is all-in.`, () => Betting.allIn(state, index)),
         toggleDealtIn: index => {
-            const dealtIn = state.seats[index].inHand;
-            seatAction(index, dealtIn ? `${nameOf(index)} sits out.` : `${nameOf(index)} is dealt in.`, p => {
+            const player = state.seats[index];
+            const dealtIn = player.inHand;
+            const handRunning = !Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state) || Betting.potSoFar(state) > 0;
+            const alreadyIn = Betting.handTotal(player);
+
+            // Somebody walking away mid-hand doesn't get their chips back — they're
+            // dead money the winner collects. Say so, because the pot total pointedly
+            // does not go down and a dealer needs to know that's deliberate.
+            const message = dealtIn
+                ? (alreadyIn > 0
+                    ? `${nameOf(index)} is out — their ${Money.format(alreadyIn)} stays in the pot.`
+                    : `${nameOf(index)} sits out.`)
+                : (handRunning
+                    ? `${nameOf(index)} is in from the next hand.`
+                    : `${nameOf(index)} is dealt in.`);
+
+            seatAction(index, message, p => {
                 p.inHand = !dealtIn;
-                if (!p.inHand) p.folded = false;
+                if (!p.inHand) {
+                    // Their chips stay put; only the fold flag is cleared, since being
+                    // out of the hand already covers not winning it.
+                    p.folded = false;
+                    if (state.actingSeatIndex === index) Betting.passAction(state, index);
+                } else if (handRunning) {
+                    // Joining a hand already in progress means sitting this one out —
+                    // you can't buy into a pot you haven't been paying for. `folded`
+                    // is exactly that state, and the next hand clears it.
+                    p.folded = true;
+                }
             });
         },
-        makeDealer: index => seatAction(index, `Button on ${nameOf(index)}.`, () => { state.dealerSeatIndex = index; }),
+
+        makeDealer: index => seatAction(index, `Button on ${nameOf(index)}.`, () => {
+            state.dealerSeatIndex = index;
+            // Before anyone has acted the blinds are still just sitting there, so
+            // moving the button moves them too — a home game passes it round several
+            // times before the cards come out, and the posted chips have to follow.
+            if (Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state)) Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+        }),
+
+        assignBlind: (index, which) => {
+            const blinds = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+            const other = which === "sb" ? blinds.bbIndex : blinds.sbIndex;
+            // Naming one blind pins the other where it already is, so the dealer only
+            // has to state the part they're changing. If that would land both on one
+            // player, the other blind moves to the next seat along.
+            let partner = other !== null && other !== undefined && other !== index
+                ? other
+                : Betting.nextLiveIndex(state, index);
+            if (partner === index || partner === null) partner = Betting.nextLiveIndex(state, index);
+
+            const label = which === "sb" ? "small blind" : "big blind";
+            seatAction(index, `${nameOf(index)} posts the ${label}.`, () => {
+                state.blindOverride = which === "sb"
+                    ? { sbIndex: index, bbIndex: partner }
+                    : { sbIndex: partner, bbIndex: index };
+                if (Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state)) Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+            });
+        },
+
+        clearBlindOverride: () => seatAction(state.dealerSeatIndex, "Blinds follow the button again.", () => {
+            state.blindOverride = null;
+            if (Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state)) Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+        }),
+
         editSeat: index => Render.toggleSeatEditor(index),
 
         addChips: index => AddChips.open(state, index, (seatIndex, amount) => {
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/potWizard.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/potWizard.js
index 866658c..f9d23fe 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/potWizard.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/potWizard.js
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ const PotWizard = {
         const contributions = players.map(p => ({
             id: p.id,
             contribution: HoldemState.computeContribution(p, state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount),
-            folded: p.folded,
+            // A seat switched off mid-hand still has its chips in the pot, but it
+            // can no more win them than a folded one can — same dead money, and the
+            // wizard must not offer it as a winner.
+            folded: p.folded || HoldemState.isDeadMoney(p),
         }));
         this.entries = PotCalculator.buildEntries(contributions);
         // Kept so the wizard can show the whole breakdown up front, not just the layer
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/render.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/render.js
index d25950f..92af29c 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/render.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/render.js
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ const Render = {
         const layer = document.getElementById("seatsLayer");
         layer.innerHTML = "";
         const template = document.getElementById("seatTemplate");
-        const { dealerIndex, sbIndex, bbIndex } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(this.state);
+        const { dealerIndex, sbIndex, bbIndex, manual: manualBlinds } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(this.state);
 
         this.state.seats.forEach((player, index) => {
             const node = template.content.firstElementChild.cloneNode(true);
@@ -172,15 +172,26 @@ const Render = {
             const dealerChip = node.querySelector(".dealerChip");
             dealerChip.classList.toggle("active", index === dealerIndex);
             dealerChip.classList.toggle("hidden", !!this.state.dedicatedDealer);
+            // Tapping the puck is the same act as "Give the button" in the seat menu,
+            // so it goes through the same hook — otherwise this one path would move
+            // the button without moving the blinds that follow it.
             dealerChip.addEventListener("click", e => {
                 e.stopPropagation();
-                this.state.dealerSeatIndex = index;
-                this.hooks.save(this.state);
-                this.renderSeats();
+                this.hooks.onGiveButton(index);
             });
 
-            node.querySelector(".sbBadge").classList.toggle("visible", index === sbIndex);
-            node.querySelector(".bbBadge").classList.toggle("visible", index === bbIndex);
+            const sbBadge = node.querySelector(".sbBadge");
+            const bbBadge = node.querySelector(".bbBadge");
+            sbBadge.classList.toggle("visible", index === sbIndex);
+            bbBadge.classList.toggle("visible", index === bbIndex);
+            // A blind the dealer named by hand isn't where the button would have put
+            // it, so it's marked — otherwise the table looks like it's just wrong.
+            // The `!!` matters: getBlindSeats leaves `manual` undefined when the
+            // blinds are positional, and classList.toggle with an undefined second
+            // argument *flips* the class instead of clearing it, so the marker
+            // appeared and disappeared on alternate renders.
+            sbBadge.classList.toggle("blindManual", !!manualBlinds && index === sbIndex);
+            bbBadge.classList.toggle("blindManual", !!manualBlinds && index === bbIndex);
 
             this.updatePuckContent(node, player, index);
             node.classList.toggle("seatSelected", index === this.selectedSeatIndex);
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/seatMenu.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/seatMenu.js
index 7c05825..e80d900 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/seatMenu.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/seatMenu.js
@@ -45,6 +45,24 @@ const SeatMenu = {
             actions.push({ label: "Give the button", run: () => this.hooks.makeDealer(index) });
         }
 
+        // Naming a blind by hand. Only offered while nothing but the blinds are in —
+        // once somebody has called, moving a blind would mean unpicking a bet that
+        // has already been answered, and that's a decision for the dealer's mouth,
+        // not a menu item. Which blind a seat already has is shown rather than
+        // offered again.
+        if (dealtIn && Betting.onlyBlindsIn(this.state)) {
+            const blinds = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(this.state);
+            if (blinds.sbIndex !== index) {
+                actions.push({ label: "Make small blind", run: () => this.hooks.assignBlind(index, "sb") });
+            }
+            if (blinds.bbIndex !== index) {
+                actions.push({ label: "Make big blind", run: () => this.hooks.assignBlind(index, "bb") });
+            }
+            if (this.state.blindOverride) {
+                actions.push({ label: "Blinds follow the button again", run: () => this.hooks.clearBlindOverride() });
+            }
+        }
+
         actions.push({ label: "Edit seat…", run: () => this.hooks.editSeat(index) });
         return actions;
     },
diff --git a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/state.js b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/state.js
index 9ae4830..9eac9b8 100644
--- a/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/state.js
+++ b/JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/state.js
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ const HoldemState = {
             currentBet: 0,
             lastRaiseSize: 0,
             actingSeatIndex: null,
+            // Set when the dealer names the blinds by hand instead of letting them
+            // follow the button — { sbIndex, bbIndex }. Home games do this constantly
+            // ("you had it last time", someone arriving late owing a blind), and the
+            // button order is the wrong answer often enough that it has to be
+            // overridable. Cleared at the start of every hand.
+            blindOverride: null,
         };
     },
 
@@ -73,7 +79,8 @@ const HoldemState = {
             // Tables saved before live betting existed are missing its fields; fill
             // them in rather than making the dealer reset a table mid-session.
             const defaults = this.createDefault();
-            ["smallBlind", "bigBlind", "defaultStack", "street", "currentBet", "lastRaiseSize", "actingSeatIndex"]
+            ["smallBlind", "bigBlind", "defaultStack", "street", "currentBet", "lastRaiseSize",
+                "actingSeatIndex", "blindOverride"]
                 .forEach(key => {
                     if (parsed[key] === undefined) parsed[key] = defaults[key];
                 });
@@ -124,9 +131,14 @@ const HoldemState = {
     },
 
     // Contribution the table calculator will treat this player as having put in.
+    //
+    // Chips already pushed into the middle count whether or not the player is still
+    // in the hand. Someone who storms off, gets taken out by the dealer, or is
+    // dealt out mid-hand leaves their money on the felt — it's dead money owed to
+    // whoever wins, and it is not theirs to take back. Reading `inHand` first is
+    // how those chips used to disappear out of the pot the instant a seat was
+    // switched off, quietly shrinking the payout by whatever they had posted.
     computeContribution(player, chipLegend, basePotAmount) {
-        if (!player.inHand) return 0;
-
         const override = player.amountOverride;
         if (override !== null && override !== undefined && String(override).trim() !== "") {
             const parsed = Number(override);
@@ -139,10 +151,22 @@ const HoldemState = {
         }, 0);
         if (chipTotal > 0) return chipTotal;
 
+        // The table-wide default is the one thing that stays tied to being dealt in:
+        // it's a stand-in for "everyone put the same amount in", so applying it to
+        // empty chairs would invent a contribution from every seat nobody is using.
+        if (!player.inHand) return 0;
+
         const base = Number(basePotAmount);
         return Number.isNaN(base) ? 0 : Math.max(0, base);
     },
 
+    // Anyone whose chips are in the pot, whether or not they're still in the hand.
+    // A seat that's been switched off mid-hand is dead money: it counts towards the
+    // pot but can never be picked as a winner, exactly like a fold.
+    isDeadMoney(player) {
+        return !player.inHand;
+    },
+
     totalPot(state) {
         return state.seats.reduce(
             (sum, p) => sum + this.computeContribution(p, state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount),
@@ -188,12 +212,52 @@ const HoldemState = {
         return order;
     },
 
+    // A button sitting on an empty chair is only cosmetic until you try to read
+    // position off it. On the very first hand of a fresh table it starts on seat 1
+    // whether or not anybody is sitting there, and a table that empties out around it
+    // leaves it stranded. Move it to a real player before a hand is dealt.
+    ensureButtonOnPlayer(state) {
+        if (state.seats[state.dealerSeatIndex] && state.seats[state.dealerSeatIndex].inHand) return;
+        for (let step = 0; step < state.seatCount; step++) {
+            const index = this.nextSeatIndex(state, state.dealerSeatIndex, step);
+            if (state.seats[index].inHand) {
+                state.dealerSeatIndex = index;
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+    },
+
+    // A hand-picked blind is only usable if that seat is actually in the hand — a
+    // dealer who names a blind and then deals that player out shouldn't have the
+    // table quietly post to nobody.
+    validBlindOverride(state) {
+        const o = state.blindOverride;
+        if (!o) return null;
+        const ok = i => Number.isInteger(i) && i >= 0 && i < state.seatCount && state.seats[i] && state.seats[i].inHand;
+        if (!ok(o.sbIndex) || !ok(o.bbIndex) || o.sbIndex === o.bbIndex) return null;
+        return o;
+    },
+
     // Who posts what. Heads-up is its own rule: with two players the button posts the
     // small blind, which is the opposite of the usual order.
     getBlindSeats(state) {
         const live = this.liveOrderFromButton(state);
         const dealerIndex = state.dealerSeatIndex;
 
+        // A blind the dealer named by hand wins over anything positional. Heads-up is
+        // still reported honestly so the betting order stays right — who posts what
+        // is the dealer's call, but two-handed play acting in reverse is a rule.
+        const override = this.validBlindOverride(state);
+        if (override) {
+            return {
+                dealerIndex,
+                sbIndex: override.sbIndex,
+                bbIndex: override.bbIndex,
+                headsUp: live.length === 2,
+                manual: true,
+            };
+        }
+
         if (live.length < 2) {
             return { dealerIndex, sbIndex: null, bbIndex: null, headsUp: false };
         }
@@ -210,6 +274,10 @@ const HoldemState = {
 
     startNextHand(state) {
         this.advanceButton(state);
+        // A hand-picked blind applies to the hand it was picked for. Carrying it into
+        // the next one would freeze the blinds on two players for the rest of the
+        // night, which is the opposite of what naming them once is for.
+        state.blindOverride = null;
         state.seats.forEach(p => {
             p.folded = false;
             p.cards = ["", ""];
@@ -218,6 +286,8 @@ const HoldemState = {
             p.committed = 0;
             p.hasActed = false;
         });
+        // Anyone who joined mid-hand is a full player again from here.
+        this.ensureButtonOnPlayer(state);
     },
 
     // Appends a resolved-pot record to the running session log a dealer can point to
diff --git a/tests/holdem/messyTables.test.js b/tests/holdem/messyTables.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e9fc13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/holdem/messyTables.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+// Home games are messy. People walk up mid-hand, storm off mid-hand, argue about
+// whose blind it is, and pass the button round three times before anyone deals.
+// These are the cases the positional rules quietly get wrong.
+const { test, describe } = require("node:test");
+const assert = require("node:assert/strict");
+const { Betting, HoldemState, PotCalculator, Money, makeTable, chipsOnTable, contributions } = require("./load");
+
+const potOf = state => HoldemState.totalPot(state);
+
+describe("a player leaves in the middle of a hand", () => {
+    test("their chips stay in the pot", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        Betting.call(state, 3); Betting.call(state, 0); Betting.call(state, 1); Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        const before = potOf(state);
+        assert.equal(before, 8);
+
+        state.seats[1].inHand = false; // dealer takes them out
+
+        assert.equal(potOf(state), before, "the pot must not shrink when a player is taken out");
+    });
+
+    test("they cannot be paid out of a pot they walked away from", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        Betting.call(state, 0); Betting.call(state, 1); Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        state.seats[1].inHand = false;
+
+        const players = state.seats
+            .filter(p => HoldemState.computeContribution(p, state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount) > 0)
+            .map(p => ({
+                id: p.id,
+                contribution: HoldemState.computeContribution(p, state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount),
+                folded: p.folded || HoldemState.isDeadMoney(p),
+            }));
+
+        const layers = PotCalculator.layers(players);
+        assert.ok(!layers[0].eligible.includes(state.seats[1].id), "a departed player can't win");
+        assert.equal(layers.reduce((s, l) => s + l.amount, 0), 6, "but their money is still being played for");
+    });
+
+    test("taking out the player who is to act moves the action on", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        const acting = state.actingSeatIndex;
+
+        state.seats[acting].inHand = false;
+        Betting.passAction(state, acting);
+
+        assert.notEqual(state.actingSeatIndex, acting, "the table can't wait on somebody who left");
+        assert.ok(state.actingSeatIndex === null || state.seats[state.actingSeatIndex].inHand);
+    });
+
+    test("an empty chair still contributes nothing, base pot or not", () => {
+        // The table-wide default must not be read as an ante from seats nobody is in.
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.basePotAmount = 25;
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.computeContribution(state.seats[4], state.chipLegend, 25), 0);
+    });
+});
+
+describe("a player joins in the middle of a hand", () => {
+    test("they sit the hand out rather than joining a pot they never paid into", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        Betting.call(state, 0); Betting.call(state, 1); Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        // Walks up and is dealt in — the app marks them folded for this hand.
+        state.seats[4].inHand = true;
+        state.seats[4].stack = 100;
+        state.seats[4].folded = true;
+
+        assert.ok(!Betting.liveSeats(state).some(s => s.index === 4), "not live this hand");
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.computeContribution(state.seats[4], state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount), 0);
+    });
+
+    test("they are a full player again on the next hand", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        state.seats[4].inHand = true;
+        state.seats[4].stack = 100;
+        state.seats[4].folded = true;
+
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        assert.equal(state.seats[4].folded, false);
+        assert.ok(Betting.liveSeats(state).some(s => s.index === 4), "dealt in like anyone else");
+    });
+});
+
+describe("passing the button around before the cards come out", () => {
+    test("moving the button re-posts the blinds and keeps the chip count straight", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        const startingChips = chipsOnTable(state);
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        assert.equal(state.seats[1].committed, 1);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[2].committed, 2);
+
+        state.dealerSeatIndex = 2;
+        Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+
+        assert.equal(state.seats[1].committed, 0, "the old small blind got their chip back");
+        assert.equal(state.seats[3].committed, 1, "and the new one has posted");
+        assert.equal(state.seats[0].committed, 2);
+        assert.equal(chipsOnTable(state), startingChips, "no chips created or lost in the shuffle");
+    });
+
+    test("passing it round many times still balances", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 8, seated: [0, 2, 3, 5, 7], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        const startingChips = chipsOnTable(state);
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        [2, 5, 7, 3, 0, 5].forEach(seat => {
+            state.dealerSeatIndex = seat;
+            Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+            assert.equal(chipsOnTable(state), startingChips, `chips drifted after passing to seat ${seat}`);
+        });
+
+        const { sbIndex, bbIndex } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.equal(Betting.committed(state.seats[sbIndex]), 1);
+        assert.equal(Betting.committed(state.seats[bbIndex]), 2);
+    });
+
+    test("once somebody has acted, the blinds are settled", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        assert.equal(Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state), true, "nothing but blinds so far");
+
+        Betting.call(state, 3);
+        assert.equal(Betting.onlyBlindsIn(state), false, "a call means the blinds are set where they are");
+    });
+});
+
+describe("naming the blinds by hand", () => {
+    test("a named blind wins over the button order", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.blindOverride = { sbIndex: 3, bbIndex: 0 };
+
+        const { sbIndex, bbIndex, manual } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.equal(sbIndex, 3);
+        assert.equal(bbIndex, 0);
+        assert.equal(manual, true);
+
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[3].committed, 1);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[0].committed, 2);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[1].committed, 0, "the positional small blind posts nothing");
+    });
+
+    test("a named blind on a player who isn't dealt in is ignored", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.blindOverride = { sbIndex: 4, bbIndex: 0 }; // seat 4 is an empty chair
+
+        const { sbIndex, manual } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.ok(!manual, "falls back to the button order rather than posting to nobody");
+        assert.ok(state.seats[sbIndex].inHand);
+    });
+
+    test("both blinds on one player is refused", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.blindOverride = { sbIndex: 1, bbIndex: 1 };
+        const { sbIndex, bbIndex } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.notEqual(sbIndex, bbIndex);
+    });
+
+    test("naming blinds heads-up still acts in the right order", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [2, 5], dealerSeatIndex: 2 });
+        state.blindOverride = { sbIndex: 5, bbIndex: 2 }; // deliberately the reverse
+
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[5].committed, 1);
+        assert.equal(state.seats[2].committed, 2);
+        assert.equal(state.actingSeatIndex, 5, "the small blind acts first pre-flop heads-up");
+
+        Betting.call(state, 5);
+        Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.closeStreet(state);
+        assert.equal(state.actingSeatIndex, 2, "and the big blind leads after the flop");
+    });
+
+    test("the naming only lasts the hand it was made for", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.blindOverride = { sbIndex: 3, bbIndex: 0 };
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+        assert.equal(state.blindOverride, null, "blinds go back to following the button");
+    });
+});
+
+describe("the first hand on a fresh table", () => {
+    test("the button never starts on an empty chair", () => {
+        const state = HoldemState.createDefault();
+        HoldemState.resizeSeats(state, 9);
+        [4, 6, 7].forEach(i => { state.seats[i].inHand = true; state.seats[i].stack = 100; });
+        assert.equal(state.dealerSeatIndex, 0, "a fresh table starts the button on seat 1");
+        assert.equal(state.seats[0].inHand, false, "which nobody is sitting in");
+
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        assert.ok(state.seats[state.dealerSeatIndex].inHand, "the button moved to a real player");
+        const { sbIndex, bbIndex } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.ok(state.seats[sbIndex].inHand);
+        assert.ok(state.seats[bbIndex].inHand);
+        assert.notEqual(sbIndex, bbIndex);
+    });
+
+    test("a table that empties out around the button recovers", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 3 });
+        state.seats[3].inHand = false; // the player holding the button leaves
+        HoldemState.ensureButtonOnPlayer(state);
+        assert.ok(state.seats[state.dealerSeatIndex].inHand);
+    });
+
+    test("two players left after everyone else walks is heads-up, blinds reversed", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        [2, 3].forEach(i => { state.seats[i].inHand = false; });
+
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+
+        const { sbIndex, headsUp } = HoldemState.getBlindSeats(state);
+        assert.equal(headsUp, true);
+        assert.equal(sbIndex, state.dealerSeatIndex, "heads-up the button posts the small blind");
+    });
+});
+
+describe("chips survive a messy table", () => {
+    test("joining, leaving and passing the button never changes the chip count", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 8, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], stack: 100, dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.seats[6].stack = 100; // sitting down but not dealt in yet
+        const startingChips = chipsOnTable(state);
+
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        state.dealerSeatIndex = 2;
+        Betting.repostBlinds(state);
+
+        state.seats[6].inHand = true;   // walks up mid-hand
+        state.seats[6].folded = true;
+        assert.equal(chipsOnTable(state), startingChips);
+
+        Betting.call(state, state.actingSeatIndex);
+        state.seats[1].inHand = false;  // and someone storms off
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        assert.equal(chipsOnTable(state), startingChips, "every chip is still accounted for");
+        assert.equal(
+            Money.toCents(potOf(state) + state.seats.reduce((s, p) => s + (Number(p.stack) || 0), 0)),
+            Money.toCents(startingChips),
+            "and the pot plus the stacks is the whole table"
+        );
+    });
+});