Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament

Apr 22, 2019 There is a new trend in live poker, The Big Blind Ante. It speeds up play so you get more hands in each level, which is great, but many people feel uncomfortable about the change in structure. In this video, I will answer all of your questions on the topic and show you when and when not to adjust your strategy! Jonathan Little - Poker Coaching.

  • Big Blind Ante, where big blind in essence puts up 2 big blinds, example sb = 400, bb = 800, +800 from big blind. Overview: $150 buy-in ($12K guarantee, small overlay), basically the only weekly tournament where I live that has any value at all (I can't play online).
  • The big blind ante is rapidly taking the poker tournament world by storm. In the past 3 months alone, I have played tournaments with a big blind ante structures in Las Vegas at the WSOP, in New York at both Turning Stone and Rivers casinos, and at numerous New Hampshire card rooms.

There is a revolution taking place in tournament poker right now in the form of the big blind ante. Started by players in ARIA High Roller events, the concept has expanded to the world’s largest brands and tournaments. The debate on how to best implement the big blind ante has been a major discussion among the poker community on social media. Change doesn’t come easy in the poker world and the big blind ante has stirred up a whole bowl of it.

Ante

What exactly does the big blind ante do?

Have you ever been at a table where there are a few players who need a reminder every hand to put their ante in? The big blind ante solves that issue. Usually tied to the size of the big blind (ex. 2,000/4,000/4,000), the big blind antes for the everyone at the table each hand. The math of the game remains nearly the same.

There are a few small improvements in gameplay the big blind ante solves. Gone are the pesky T25 chips in starting stacks. Instead, players start with levels of 100/100/100 rather than 25/50.

The big blind ante has empirical data showing there are more hands played as a result of the format. Players across all buy-in levels enjoy it as well. Eventually, positie player feedback in High Rollers led to ARIA introducing it into $240 daily events.

Where is the big blind ante in use?

Tournaments using the big blind ante are found across America. ARIA was the first to use the format in 2017 and it has spread since then. The Wynn Poker Room introduced big blind ante across all of its events in 2018 to rave reviews from players.

BB ante tournaments = sliced bread ????. Thank you @WynnPoker for implementing this great format. It speeds up the game quite a bit and makes the dealer’s job easier.

— David Paredes (@gaucho2121) March 4, 2018

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament

Decided to fire the @WynnPoker $600 250k… BB ante is so damn sexy good job as always Wynn

— wretchy (@Wretchy) February 27, 2018

The largest study of the format came in California at the L.A. Poker Classic. A field of close to 4,000 entrants used the big blind in the $350 buy-in opening event. World Poker Tour Executive Director Matt Savage found recreational players taking to the format upon putting it into play at LAPC.

Savage announced last month the WPT will be using the big blind ante in all Main Tour events come Season XVII.

The Borgata is utilizing the format for all of the Spring Poker Open in April. Seminole Hard Rock is following suit for a few events for their Showdown series next month.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Rules

Come this summer, The Venetian is putting the big blind ante into use for 16 tournaments in the DeepStack Extravaganza series from $400 single-day events all the way up to $5,000 buy-ins.

What is the controversy?

Daniel Negreanu made headlines last week over his adamant debate over a facet of the big blind ante structure. A veteran of ARIA High Rollers, Negreanu argues that the “big blind first” rule is best for players of the recreational and professional level.

“Big blind first” means that if a player is a all-in for up to or less than a covering stack when in the big blind, they are eligible to win their amount of chips multiplied by the number of players at the table.

When a player doesn’t have enough to cover the ante and BB the BB is paid first. So if he owes 8k BB 8k Ante but only has 2k. He posts 2k as a BB and there is no ante. He wins 2k x # of players

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 16, 2018

“Ante first” in the same situation prevents a big blind from being posted and a player can only win back the chips they are all-in for, thus having zero additional equity in the hand.

Savage is a proponent of “ante first” and plans to use that definition of a rare all-in situation for the WPT.

Because you win the entire ante when not in the BB plus chips you have x players in the pot, cannot have it both ways @DBuzgon@TabDuchateauhttps://t.co/gp67dhcFXi

— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) March 16, 2018

The debate among Savage, Negreanu, and the poker community at large has netted out to a common denominator: the big blind ante is a popular choice among players.

Olivier Busquet summed up the argument for using big blind ante best when comparing to the current style of all players anteing.

If you’re unsure about the bb ante, imagine that bb ante were the status quo and the discussion were to change it to the current system. It would be absurd – break the ante up into small pieces and force each player every hand to do it?? This helps show status quo bias.

— Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet) March 16, 2018

Where does the trend go from here?

The big blind ante is popular across high roller events and is going to be in use at the Super High Roller Bowl and Big One for One Drop this summer. One Drop is the only World Series of Poker event to adopt the big blind ante so far but that should change come 2019.

The WSOP Circuit is tinkering with use in events and the growing popularity among players might be too much to pass up.

More venues and series are making the big blind ante the rule. SugarHouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is using the concept in a $150 tournament next month.

$100,000 Guaranteed.
$150 Buy In#BBANTE

April 8th – April 15th https://t.co/5RG45z73qipic.twitter.com/UpTkaOgL8d

— SugarHouse Poker (@sugarhousepoker) March 16, 2018

It’s only a matter of time before the days of every player putting in an ante is a thing of the past.

Lead image courtesy of World Poker Tour/Flickr

What are poker blinds ?

Ante

Based on the limit of the poker game the player to the left of the dealer’s button (small blind) and the player two to the left of the dealer (big blind) are required to place mandatory bets in the pot before cards are dealt (Small blind has to put half of the big blinds amount). These bets count toward the first round of betting. So if the pot is not raised pre-flop, small blind will only have to put half a bet to call and big blind has the option of raising or just checking.

In a poker tournament, blinds go up gradually. This is to ensure that the tournament finishes on a timely manner. (the higher the blinds get the more players tend to get eliminated).

Blinds usually go up after predetermined periods of time. (for example every 15 or 20 minutes).

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Bracket

Two main factors determine blind structure of the game:

  • Starting chip amount
  • How long you want the tournament to last.

Poker Blind Structure Tips

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament 2020

  • The first big blind should be 1/50 of the starting chip amount. (or the starting chip amount should be 50 times the starting big blind). So if everyone starts with 1000 in chips the first big blind should be 10/20.
  • Blind period is the time each blind lasts:
  • Typical tournament blind periods are 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 minutes.
  • Blinds period should be the same for every blind.
  • The faster the blind period is the faster the tournament ends and the more luck involves. So it’s a good idea to have slightly longer blind periods at your house game. 15 or 20 minute blind periods are good choices. Blinds in online websites tend to go up faster. This is because online poker action is much faster than live poker.
  • Blinds typically double after each round. If the first big blind is 10/20, the next one should be 20/40.

Calculate Blind Structure

Follow these simple steps to create blind structure that best fits your game:

  • Decide your starting chip amount.
  • Divide it by 50. This should be your first big blind.
  • Make your final big blind (when the tournament should finish) equal to your starting chip amount.
  • Arrange the middle level blinds so that they gradually increase from your first big blind to the last one. It is best to keep the first couple blind periods low.
  • Add the period (times) together. If it seems too long takes couple levels off the chart, and if it seems short add couple level to the chart.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Results

Sample Tournament Blind Structure Chart

Following is a chart of recommended blind structures based on different starting chip stacks :

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Payout

Blind
Period 		Chip Stack
100100025005000
11/210/2025/5050/100
22/420/4050/100100/200
33/630/6075/150150/300
45/1050/100100/200200/400
510/2075/150200/400300/600
615/30100/200300/600500/1000
725/50150/300500/1000750/1500
850/100200/400750/15001000/2000
975/150300/6001000/20001500/3000
10100/200400/8001500/30002000/4000
11150/300500/10002000/40003000/6000
12200/4001000/20002500/50005000/10000