Antes
Some games begin with forced blinds (Hold’em and Omaha), others have each player ‘ante’ a small bet (Stud). In No Limit Hold’em tournaments, antes are usually added at some point along with the blinds.
The idea for both blinds and antes is to create a pot before the first player to act makes a decision to play or not to play. Try playing without either of these and you will find the game slows down and gets very conservative and quite frankly boring. You need something to compete for and the “seeded pot” that results from blinds and antes does that.
Now there is something very important to consider about tournaments with antes that kick in after several rounds. Let me illustrate. You are playing in round four of a tournament with blinds of 100/200. The player first to act need only call 200 in order to play for a pot of 500 (300 in blinds and the 200 call). A minimum raise to 400 by one player means the Big Blind would only need to call 200 more to be playing for a pot of 900. If one player raises to 400 and another calls, the Big Blind now needs to call 200 to be playing for 1300. So the blinds stimulate action by giving players “odds” to play.
In the next round of this same tournament, the blinds remain at 100/200 but a 25 ante is added for each player. This means at a full ten seat table the “dead money” in the pot from blinds and antes is raised from 300 to 550. Now you only need to call 200 to be playing for a pot of 750. Antes add incentive for players to enter pots and to attempt to steal the blinds and antes.
You must be aware when the antes kick in during a tournament. Good players will more aggressively enter a pot because of the increased reward. Many professionals fel the “real” tournament begins when the antes begin.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #58
