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Three Reasons You Should Embrace Big Blind Ante

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If you’ve followed major live poker events over the last six month, you have heard a lot about Big Blind Ante events. Big Blind Ante games are NL Hold’em games where the big blind posts the ante for the entire table rather than the dealer having to collect a single ante from each player. Since a round of antes is equal to the big blind, it was decided that this method could prove easier than typical ante collection.

While some bemoan the new method of player, many others praise it. If you’re someone that is on the fence about the Big Blind Ante, here’s three reasons why you should embrace it.

It Speeds Up the Game

The biggest complaint about live poker is the speed of the game compared to online poker and part of this is due to the dealer having to conduct operations that are automatic online, and that includes ante collection.

In a standard ante game, a dealer has to collect antes from each player at the table, assuming that every player has remembered to post their ante. Then they have to wait for the players that forgot or are merely stalling. They have to then verify that the amount is right and pull in the antes from everyone.

With Big Blind Ante, the big blind automatically has to put in the ante and the dealer only has to get chips from one player. Since the big blind already knows they have to ante, they are going to put that out there at when they post the blind, thus speeding up the game.

Over time, this results in more hands per hour compared to standard ante games. Of course, that’s assuming you’re not having to wait on hands for the next reason on our list.

Big Blind Ante Generates More Action

The Big Blind Ante doesn’t increase the amount of chips that are put into the pot. However, it does increase the amount that the big blind commits when it is their turn. As such, they are much more likely to stay in the pot as they have more chips committed to the pot.

This is much more likely to happen in pots where an opponent min-raises or does a standard raise. Players are going to feel a bit more pot committed.

Also, once a player has posted the big blind, they don’t have to worry about posting another ante for anywhere from five to eight hands. That may not seem like much, but chips are precious and being able to hold onto the equivalent of a big blind a bit longer will allow players to sometimes pick spots to try and shove for a steal or a double-up with a reasonable hand.

Sometimes being able to wait an extra couple of hands can make all the difference in cashing, moving up the pay ladder, or going on a run to winning a tournament.

Major Event Are Adopting It

The biggest reason you need to start accepting the big blind ante is that in the near future you may not have a choice. Many of the major live tournament circuits are either testing out the concept or are already incorporating it.

The 2018 World Series of Poker had several events featuring a Big Blind Ante and there are rumors that they will start using the BBA on all events sometime in the future. Many high roller events have already adopted the concept and often, high roller concepts trickle down to the rest of the poker world. Short deck poker anyone?

Big Blind Ante is another evolution in the game of poker and a concept change that is likely to stick around for the long haul similar to re-entry events. While some may not like change, sometimes change is the best thing for poker.

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