Tourney Ante structure (1 Viewer)

[Berry9]

Hi all,

Sorry if a noob question,

but I have a question related to ante structures. Any insight on the below example appreciated.
Say if I base the ante off 20% BB value, any my lowest chip is 10. Blinds start out at:

1. 20/40 (20% = 8) Ante 0?
2. 30/60 (20% = 12) Ante 10?
3. 40/80 (20% = 16) Ante 20?
4. 50/100 (20% = 20) Ante 20
5. 80/160 (20% = 32) Ante 30?

What is the general format with Antes, does it get rounded off like the above? Or brought into effect later in the rounds when no rounding off required?
Also what is the general % the ante is calculated at? 10-20%? Is it generally fixed or variable through the game?

I'm still a little new to the concept but looking to start using it for home games, thanks for the help

 

[BKisback]

It doesn't have to be a fixed amount or percentage, it can be chip-based. I prefer an ante to be one-quarter to one-third of a small blind, so with a 10 chip being the smallest value:

20-40
30-60
30-60 10 ante
40-80 10
50-100 10
80-160 20

It's a little funky with a 10 chip as opposed to 5s and 25s, and I'd prefer a big blind ante anyway, but the above is what you'd get in most tourneys, to scale.

 

[TheRealStephen12]

Usually antes are roughly 10-12.5% of the BB. With regular antes, usually they don't start immediately, starting once the blinds catch up to them. You also need a lot of chips to cover them, so starting at 50/100 or 100/200 blinds might be more ideal. You can also try a big blind ante (BBA), which requires fewer chips and is much simpler to keep track of.

 

[stuamurr]

Per player ante is usually no bigger than 1/6th the Big blind for a strong ante 1/8th for moderate and 1/10th for loose/casual

 

[Berry9]

Thanks guys

 

[TheUnseen]

In my experience antes always slow down the game. Always a few people you have to remind.

I'm a fan of doing a big blind ante. Keeps everything moving faster.

 

[MattyBoy2311]

Hi all,

Sorry if a noob question,

but I have a question related to ante structures. Any insight on the below example appreciated.
Say if I base the ante off 20% BB value, any my lowest chip is 10. Blinds start out at:

1. 20/40 (20% = 8) Ante 0?
2. 30/60 (20% = 12) Ante 10?
3. 40/80 (20% = 16) Ante 20?
4. 50/100 (20% = 20) Ante 20
5. 80/160 (20% = 32) Ante 30?

What is the general format with Antes, does it get rounded off like the above? Or brought into effect later in the rounds when no rounding off required?
Also what is the general % the ante is calculated at? 10-20%? Is it generally fixed or variable through the game?

I'm still a little new to the concept but looking to start using it for home games, thanks for the help

Hey Berry9

In my experience it’s easier to do a big blind ante instead of having an ante for every player. It’s very easy to loose track who payed the ante and who didn’t.

But all in all it’s personal preference. I would put the ante at around 12%
So if you hit blinds of 100/200 you’d have a 25 chip ante.

Just try around a bit as well. That’s the easiest way to find out what you like and what you don’t like

 

[PokerDogDoc]

I'm a fan of doing a big blind ante. Keeps everything moving faster.

This is why every casino now uses a BB ante in their tournaments. It works out to basically the same as an individual ante when 8-9 handed without the hassle of making change, prompting everyone to ante, etc.

It’s also what I’ve used for my home game tourneys for 3 years. It took a few games for everyone to adjust, but in the end everyone got onboard — and many appreciated it as it prepared them for when they do play casino tourneys.

Some argue that when it gets down to 4 or fewer players that it becomes disproportionately large compared to the number of players, but that just means opening hand ranges should be adjusted appropriately (wider) to take advantage of the dead money.

It also tends to have players make a deal to chop due to the higher variance and greater chip risk that always comes with 3 or fewer players… not a bad thing, in my opinion.

Go for the BB ante and don’t look back!

 

[BPTDirector]

I’d do BB ante, it’s easier to keep track of plus it makes Rocks move if you know what I mean. If I didn’t have antes or speed up the blinds at my game it would last longer than a cricket match.

 

[buffalojim]

And what happens if a player is low on chips and can't cover ante, what happens then? Are they just out?

 

[stuamurr]

Used to be the case, however TDA rules have moved to posting the Big Blind before the Ante so a short stacked player can win a reasonable portion of the pot

And what happens if a player is low on chips and can't cover ante, what happens then? Are they just out?

 

[buffalojim]

Used to be the case, however TDA rules have moved to posting the Big Blind before the Ante so a short stacked player can win a reasonable portion of the pot

Interesting. I'd love to know the ins and out of the different scenarios that could occur and how the money works, but maybe I'll start a new thread for that someday.

 

[MeridianFC]

Interesting. I'd love to know the ins and out of the different scenarios that could occur and how the money works, but maybe I'll start a new thread for that someday.

There are several threads on the various ins and outs of BBA, including all in scenarios. Just give a look in this forum.

 

[buffalojim]

There are several threads on the various ins and outs of BBA, including all in scenarios. Just give a look in this forum.

Will do, cheers!

 

[buzzmonkey]

I do a BB Ante the size of the BB until a table gets down to four players. Then the size of the ante becomes the size of the SB. Since we do 8 max with a 9 person final table, the ante only ever drops when the whole tournament is down to four players.

 

[BGinGA]

Imo, the best table-ante approach:

1) table ante is posted by the SB player (worst table position)
2) the SB player posts the SB before the table ante amount (if player has insufficient chips to cover both)
3) table ante amount is equal to the BB size for table sizes of 6-10 players, and equal to the SB size for table size of 2-5 players (optionally eliminated once heads-up)

Solves nearly all of the drawbacks/inequities of BBA vs individually-posted antes.

 

[buffalojim]

Imo, the best table-ante approach:

1) table ante is posted by the SB player (worst table position)
2) the SB player posts the SB before the table ante amount (if player has insufficient chips to cover both)
3) table ante amount is equal to the BB size for table sizes of 6-10 players, and equal to the SB size for table size of 2-5 players (optionally eliminated once heads-up)

Solves nearly all of the drawbacks/inequities of BBA vs individually-posted antes.

Dead small there'd just be no ante that hand?

 

[BPTDirector]

And what happens if a player is low on chips and can't cover ante, what happens then? Are they just out?

You are all in that hand, just like calling a big bet with a short stack. Keep it simple.

 

[BPTDirector]

Everyone else plays the hand as normal. You only can win a side pot equal to however many chips you have.