What Is Big Blind Ante In Poker?
2 minutes
Last Updated: December 17, 2023
In poker, the term “big blind ante” refers to a structure where a player sitting in the big blind must post the BB itself and an ante equal to the size of the big blind. Essentially posting two big blinds.
A big blind ante was introduced instead of a regular ante, where every player at the table had to post ante to play the hand when required.
This way of posting the ante has become increasingly popular because it has significantly sped up the game, particularly in the later stages of tournaments when the blinds and antes are high.
Here are some of the reasons why this ante structure speeds up the game:
- It eliminates delay – it can take a significant amount of time for the dealer to collect all of the antes in structures where each player posts a small ante, resulting in game delays.
- It reduces chip shuffling – in ante structures where each player posts an ante, players are required to shuffle and manage additional chips, which can slow down the game.
- It eliminates confusion – when every player has to post an ante, they usually just throw it. Sometimes it creates confusion about who posted the ante and who didn’t, leading to disputes and additional time wasting.
Overall, the big blind ante is a superior structure in which every player posts an ante to speed up the game and eliminate delays and confusion.
Big blind ante is mostly used in tournaments but is sometimes also introduced in cash games. As for cash games, another interesting bet is Mississippi Straddle.
Poker Big Blind Ante Example:
Let’s say you are playing a Texas Holdem tournament and are sitting in the big blind with 50,000 chips at the 1000/2000 blind level with ten players at the table.
In the traditional structure, the small blind would post 1,000 chips, you would post 2,000 chips, and every player at the table would post 200 chips making a total pot of 5,000.
In the big blind ante game, the small blind would still post 1,000 chips, and you would post 2,000 for the big blind and an additional 2,000 to cover the antes. The pot remains at 5,000.
As you see, the size of the pot hasn’t changed, and since the big blind moves clockwise and changes every hand, everyone gets to post the big blind ante. Therefore, it evens out in the long run and saves a lot of time in the process.
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