How Does Big Blind Ante Work

Posted on4/12/2022by admin

How Does Big Blind Ante Work Average ratng: 8,2/10 6714 votes

What is the Big Blind Ante?

Check out Matt Savage's recent article as he explains the benefits and rules of the new Big Blind Ante structure and why the World Poker Tour is adopting it.

So... what strategic adjustments should you be making because of the new BB Ante format?

The big blind is the full 'ante' for the round. The small blind is a smaller sum. The blinds are bet before cards are dealt, but after seeing the initial cards, players can either fold, pay so that they have equaled the big blind, or place a higher bet.

BLINDS - There are two 'blind' players after the button (clockwise) - Small and Big Blind. The big blind is the call price of the round and small blind is half of that. These are forced bets that the players in question need to put out to build a pot, irrelevant of their hand. For those not familiar with the format, it works as follows: In variants with an ante, instead of each player posting an ante each hand, the player in the Big Blind will post an amount equal to the Big Blind. For example, with blinds at 500-1,000, the player in the Big Blind will post 1,000 for his/her Big Blind, followed by 1,000 for the Ante.

The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is then posted by the next player to the left. The one exception is when there are only two players (a ' heads-up ' game), when the player on the button is the small blind, and the other player is the big blind.
But with the big-blind ante, Balaisis would have that same 6,000 every hand until he reached the big blind. When the big blind came around to him, Balaisis was forced all in for the 6,000 ante (link to the hand), which became the main pot. What this meant is that even if everyone else at the table played the hand, Balaisis was only eligible to.

The answer might surprise you....

Watch the below preview of LearnWPT Strategy Episode 237 as Nick Binger answers a Member submitted question from our Ask a Pro feature regarding adjustments for the new Big Blind Ante structure:

Some key take away's from Matt Savages' article regarding the new Big Blind Ante structure all players should know:

There will be one single ante posted for the whole table by the player in the Big Blind.
The ante is posted first and players from any position will be eligible to win the entire ante regardless of chip stack.
Antes never reduce until end of tournament.
In regards to payouts, if two players are all-in at same table and one is in the Big Blind, (a) the Big Blind gets credit for ante first, (b) the player out of the big blind gets full credit for ante, and (c) the ante is considered dead in the pot.
Dealers, staff, and players alike have universally claimed how much easier and more efficient it is. Dealers do not have to remind distracted players to post their antes every hand.
More hands are being dealt, allowing structures to remain deeper for longer portions of tournaments.
There are less chips in play and less need to make change.

'The TDA and I share a mantra of consistency and, whether or not you personally agree, you should live with the change to be consistent for the benefit of the players. I know that big blind ante is a great change to no-limit hold’em poker tournaments. The big blind ante is here to stay! The bottom line is that BBA is faster and downright better!'

- Matt Savage

Members can send us any questions or hands they've played using the BBA and receive expert answers and analysis from the LearnWPT Instructors using the popular Ask a Pro feature and Hand Input Tool.

What do you think of the new Big Blind Ante?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!

We created LearnWPT with the goal to provide a place that empowers players to ask questions, help get them focused, and provide a solid game-plan to bring to the table every time they sit down.

How Does A Big Blind Ante Work