What is an Ante?
A poker ante is a situation where all players are forced to bet equal
amounts and put 👍 this into the poker pot before the start of the game.
What is an
Ante?
A poker anti is usually either a 👍 single unit, which will be a 1-value or the
smallest value in the game, or another type of small amount. 👍 The latter is often a
quarter or a dollar bill. A poker ante minimum it is also a common choice. 👍 The idea
behind the ante that’s played by all players, is that it makes sure that poker players
who tend 👍 to fold during every round will end up losing money slowly but surely. This
will in turn ensure that players 👍 will all have a small incentive to rather play hands
than to just throw everything in once the starting bet 👍 reaches them.
Where will you
Find an Ante?
Poker antes are the most commonly found forced bets in stud poker and
draw 👍 poker but are not usually found in games that features blind bets (please see our
article on poker blinds). Having 👍 said that, there are some tournament formats where you
will find games with blinds that have an ante, as this 👍 tends to discourage very tight
play. Without an ante a poker player who has also not paid for a blind 👍 can throw in his
or her hand at no cost. In other words, the poker ante makes sure that regular 👍 hands
will not necessarily be a good idea.
Poker antes cause more players to stay in the
hand, and this in 👍 turn increases pot size and leads to some interesting game play. As
you can imagine, this is especially important during 👍 those televised tournament
games.
Poker Dealer Ante Games
This is applicable to poker games where the person who
acts as dealer keeps 👍 changing. In this case players usually decide that they want the
poker dealer (or some other person in a position 👍 close to the poker button) to give the
ante for every player. The idea of poker dealer ante games is 👍 that it simplifies
betting. The downside to this is that it can cause small inequities if some of the
players 👍 either miss or turn or come and go during the game. During these types of poker
games, a player can 👍 get a special poker button that indicates the need to pay an ante
to the poker pot when they return. 👍 This is also called posting.
Poker Ante: Other
Forced Bets
Every poker game needs some type of forced bets to take place 👍 to ensure
that everyone is betting something towards the pot. The betting limits and betting
requirements for forced bets are 👍 referred to collectively as the game's betting
structure.
Poker blinds are when poker players are forced to place bets. These players
👍 are on the left side of the dealer, and it usually takes place in flop-style poker card
games.
