1. Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament 2019
2. Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Results
3. Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Payout
4. Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Bracket

The blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-stylepoker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three.

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. (Both the player and the bet may be referred to as big or small blind.)

Big Blind Ante In the later levels of poker tournaments, an ante is introduced to further drive the action besides the incentive to enter the pot formed by the small blind and big blind. 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.

After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act during the first betting round. If any players call the big blind, the big blind is then given an extra opportunity to raise. This is known as a live blind. If the live blind checks, the betting round then ends.

Generally, the 'big blind' is equal to the minimum bet. The 'small blind' is normally half the big blind. In cases where posting exactly half the big blind is impractical due to the big blind being some odd-valued denomination, the small blind is rounded (usually down) to the nearest practical value. For example, if the big blind in a live table game is $3, then the small blind will usually be $1 or $2 since most casinos do not distribute large quantities of $0.50 poker chips.

The blinds exist because Omaha and Texas hold 'em are frequently played without antes, allowing a player to fold his hand without placing a bet. The blind bets introduce a regular cost to take part in the game, thus inducing a player to enter pots in an attempt to compensate for that expense.

It is possible to play without blinds. The minimum bet is then the lowest denomination chip in play, and tossing only one chip is considered as a call. Anything higher than that is considered a raise. Poker without blinds is usually played with everyone posting an ante to receive cards.

Blinds in cash games[edit]

In cash games, otherwise known as ring games, blinds primarily serve to ensure all players are subject to some minimum, ongoing cost for participating in the game. This encourages players to play hands they otherwise might not, thereby increasing the average size of the pots and, by extension, increasing the amount of rake earned by the cardroom hosting the game.

In cash games, the amount of the blinds are normally fixed for each particular table and will not change for the duration of the game. However, many cardrooms will allow blind levels to change in cases where all players unanimously agree to a change. Larger cardrooms will often include tables with different blind levels to give players the option of playing at whatever stakes they are most comfortable with. In online poker, blinds range from as little as one U.S. cent to USD1,000 or more.

The minimum and maximum buy-in at a table is usually set in relation to the big blind. At live games, the minimum buy-in is usually between 20 and 50 big blinds, while the maximum buy-in is usually between 100 and 250 big blinds. Some online cardrooms offer 'short stack' tables where the maximum buy-in is 50 big blinds or less and/or 'deep stack' tables where the minimum buy-in is 100 big blinds or more.

Missed blinds[edit]

In cash games that do not deal cards to players who are absent from the table at the start of the hand (or, in online games, are designated as 'sitting out'), special rules are necessary to deal with players who miss their blinds.

In such a situation, if a player misses his or her big blind, he or she will not be dealt in again until the button has passed. At that point, if the player wishes to rejoin the game, he or she must 'super-post' - he or she must post both the big and small blinds in order to be dealt cards. Of these, only the big blind is considered 'live' while the small blind is 'dead' - it is placed in the center of the pot apart from the big blind and will not count towards calling any additional bets or raises by other players. If the player has only missed the small blind, then the same procedure applies except that the player only has to post the 'dead' small blind to rejoin the game. Most cardrooms allow players to relieve themselves of these obligations if they wait until they are again due to post the big blind before rejoining the game.

Some cardrooms hosting live cash games do not allow players to miss and/or avoid paying blinds in this manner. In these games, all players with chips on the table are dealt in whether or not they are present at the table. Any blinds due will be posted from the player's stack - depending on the cardroom's rules this will be done either by the dealer, another cardroom employee or a nearby player under staff supervision. Whenever a player has not returned to the table by the time it is his turn to act, his or her hand is automatically folded. Under such rules, if a player wishes to be absent from the table then the only way he or she can avoid paying blinds is to cash out and leave the game altogether.

Blinds in tournament play[edit]

In poker tournament play, blinds serve a dual purpose. In addition to the purpose explained above, blinds are also used to control how long the tournament will last. Before the tournament begins, the players will agree to a blinds structure, usually set by the tournament organizer. This structure defines how long each round is and how much the blinds increase per round. Typically, they are increased at a smooth rate of between 25% and 50% per round over the previous round. As the blinds increase, players need to increase their chip counts (or 'stacks') to stay in the game. The blinds will eventually consume all of a player's stack if he or she does not play to win more.

Unlike many cash games, it is not possible for a player to 'miss' blinds in a tournament. If a player is absent from the table, he will continue to have his or her cards dealt and mucked and will have blinds and, if applicable, antes taken from his stack as they are due, either until he or she returns or until his or her stack is completely consumed by blinds and antes. A player who loses his or her chips in this manner is said to have been 'blinded off.'

Goals[edit]

There are two main goals for the blinds structure:

1. Ensure that by the time the desired duration of the tournament is reached, it will be very hard for players with small stacks to stay in the game. This forces players with smaller stacks to play them aggressively, thus increasing their chip count or losing everything quickly.
2. Ensure that players, in general, do not have a large stack relative to the blind level.

If desired, antes can be added to further increase the pressure to win more chips.

Example[edit]

If each player in a tournament starts with 5,000 in chips and after four hours, the big blind is 10,000 (with a small blind of 5,000), it will be very difficult for a player with only 15,000 in chips to stay in the game.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

In the first two parts of our series on what makes the perfect poker tournament, we spoke to five top poker professionals about how many players should sit at a standard poker table and which tournament format the game should take.

This time, we’re speaking to Unibet Poker’s Dara O’Kearney, 888Poker’s Dominik Nitsche, Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov, Winamax's Adrian Mateos, and Niall Farrell about one of the newest innovations in the game - the changing face of the ante. Should the regular ‘everyone pays’ ante be preserved, or should the button ante or big blind ante take over, and if so, which one? Let’s find out.

The Future of the Ante in Poker Tournaments

Farrell: As we go forward, we should be constantly progressing to make it as close as possible to a perfect poker experience. Things take a little while and there are a lot of people who are afraid of change.

Farrell: “The reason people play poker is they want to sit down and see some flops, they want to play some hands.”

Is the poker ante - an additional amount of chips that each player adds each hand to get the action going - an area where change could come quicker than even we might have imagined? This year, we’ve seen big blind or button ante tournaments sprout up everywhere. Unibet Poker’s Dara O’ Kearney believes that it’s an inevitable progression from an outdated system.

O’Kearney: I think there are some small problems with button ante and big blind ante, but what you gain in terms of the speed and the dealer not having to chase people for antes all the time, more than compensates. I feel like the traditional ante is just going to disappear over the next year or two and big blind ante or button ante will take over.

Kurganov: In live tournaments, the regular ante is bad. Too much time is wasted, it’s big blind or button ante.

Farrell: At the World Series, you have inexperienced dealers and you’re playing a 10-handed $1k with a lot of recreational players. People are on their phones forgetting to ante.

You play so many more hands with one person paying the ante. Anything that speeds up the game is just a far superior system, it cuts out so much shit like people arguing over who paid their ante. The reason people play poker is they want to sit down and see some flops, they want to play some hands.

Mateos: I played three years ago in London when everyone had to ante, and it was strange for me. It was the last tournament I played without it being big blind ante because they have tournament antes like this these days. It was really strange, and I can’t think why we played like this for many years.

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Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament 2019

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If the regular ante is so outdated, which should replace it, big blind ante or button ante? There are merits to both systems, and players remain divided on which one is best.

Kurganov: “So what? You have to make adjustments. What’s bad about that? Screw that, deal with a new environment.”

O’Kearney: If I had to put my money on either one of them right now, I’d say big blind ante would be the one that’ll win out.

Let’s say you’ve just been crippled and don’t have enough to pay a full ante and you’re on the button. With the button ante, you’ve obviously all-in and if you bust, that’s fine from a procedural point of view, but I think people have a hard time accepting that’s all they can win back.

Some tournaments follow a rule where the ante is posted first, then the big blinds. With others, it's blind first. If it’s blinds first, then you can end up tripling up or quadrupling up depending on the number of players in. That makes for a better recreational experience. Big blind ante where blinds are posted first then the ante just seems fairer. I feel like long term, that’s the best solution and hopefully, the one that’ll catch on.

Kurganov: Both have been tried. It seems like the downside of big blind ante is only the perceptual difference that they now have to pay double. The slight adjustments that you have to make are under-the-gun or UTG+1. So what? You have to make adjustments. What’s bad about that? Screw that, deal with a new environment. It’s actually good. People cannot just use their pre-earned ranges which is an advantage to have against players who haven’t done that.

Farrell: I think big blind ante is much better than a button blind ante. You never have a dead big blind but you can have a dead button, that’s reason enough make it the big blind. It’s much quicker, much smoother for everyone, it’s a massive net positive on the game.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Results

Anything that keeps the game going smoothly by default makes it a better experience; everyone’s in a better mood. 8-handed with no-one having to ante all the time [makes] the game much more enjoyable. It all stems from there as an overall much nicer experience. Playing an eight-handed Aria event with a one-person ante, for example; there’s lots of room, the game flows. If you make it a nicer, more fun thing to do, more people will do it.

No system is perfect, and it would seem that the button ante game model has more issues than paying a big blind ante.

Nitsche: “Why would you ever act quickly in the small blind if you could make the blinds go up on your button?”

Mateos: Big Blind ante is better than button ante because only two people need to put money in. You want to speed it up, and it’s better to have two people pay rather than three. Button ante has one big problem, that is when player busts. Sometimes, the button is dead and that’s a big problem because you have a hand with no ante and it changes the dynamics. It’s a big mistake; big blind ante is much better.”

Nitsche: I'm fine with big blind ante. I still have concerns that people use it to ‘angle’ as well as waste time. Why would you ever act quickly in the small blind if you could make the blinds go up on your button? If enough people do this, then big blind ante is suddenly slower than regular ante. It also creates unfair situations on final tables where people could really abuse blind jumps to make the blinds go up on short stacked opponents.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Payout

Kurganov: The downside of a button ante is having no ante in the hand when someone busts. It’s really odd and the button is then like an empty seat. That’s a bigger downside I think rather than the big blind having to play twice, which is fair on everyone. Yeah, the button ante is also fair in that there is no ante, but that doesn’t emulate the idea of shortening the anteing-in process. That’s the initial idea of shortening the process of posting the ante, the big blind or button ante, of keeping alive the system that a full ante exists every hand. The button ante doesn’t achieve that and is therefore wrong.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament Bracket

Igor Kurganov’s passion on this subject extends to a slight tweak for final table play, something only he mentioned among our poker luminaries.

Kurganov: Regarding what size it should be, I don’t think you should have a full big blind ante in heads-up, three-handed or four-handed game, because it’s to emulate the otherwise-existing ante-per-player and that would be smaller, so we should just half it in those spots. I think it’s about keeping the idea alive and making it very doable. I’d only cut it down to half-ante at the final table, not two or three tables left, as that becomes very weird.”

VERDICT: Button or big blind antes seem destined to take over from the traditional ante that has been around for so long. The big blind ante is likely to win out over the button ante, purely for the flow to the game of poker it helps to maintain. But the pros still have some concerns, with both the button ante and the big blind ante.

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  Dominik NitscheIgor KurganovAdrian MateosNiall FarrellDara O'Kearney

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  Dominik NitscheIgor KurganovNiall FarrellAdrian Mateos