Internet Poker / Editor / 10 January 2008 / Leave a Comment

DANIEL Negreanu is talking about "The Ante Effect".

Says the poker pro: "Playing with an ante changes the game significantly and necessitates a change in playing strategy."

Adjust your game. Playing with an ante works well for aggressive play. The game can be faster.

He wonders: "So how can you be successful at both the ante and no ante forms of No Limit Hold'em? Well, it comes down to math and pot odds."

And an example:

"In a No Limit game, the blinds are $400-$800 and there's no ante. You're holding 7d-8h sitting in the big blind. A player from late position raises the bet to $2,400; it will cost you $1,600 more to call.

"Obviously, this isn't a great starting hand. You are, however, getting some pot odds since you already have $800 invested. It will cost you another $1,600 to win $3,600 which calculates to 2.25-to-1 odds on your money. Those odds aren't terrible, but your real concern is that you'll have to play the hand from out of position. As a result, the correct play would be to fold."

Agreed.

But what does the ante do to change the game?

"Exactly the same situation, only this time there's an additional $100 ante posted by each of the nine players at the table. The raiser makes it $2,400; you have to call $1,600 to defend your blind. In this case, the additional antes have changed the pot odds significantly. Now you stand to win $4,500, putting your pot odds at closer to 3-to-1."

He goes on: "When antes are in play, there's simply more incentive to defend your blind with marginal hands. There's also an increased financial reward for playing aggressively to try to steal blinds and antes."

Lesson over.

Now get to work...

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