Antes are an important part of many poker games, especially tournaments, and when they come into the picture, you need to make a change in how you play.
Professional poker players realize this. They have different game plans for games that have high ante structures as opposed to games where no antes are involved. Here are a few tips on how to play those games where, besides blinds, you will be faced with the need to ante up.
Depending on the size of the ante, to give yourself the best chance to win, you will have to loosen up your hand requirements. You will also have work around the edges to steal more pots, and that includes the antes.
I don't play in limit games as high as $100-200. But in such games, the ante per player could range from $10 to $25. That means in a nine-handed game; there could be as much $500 on the table waiting to be picked up by a person in late position.
If there is no ante in your game and you are in early position, you can raise with hands ranging from a pair of 7s to the best hands -- A-K, aces, kings, queens, etc.
But when there is an ante, you can raise with all pairs and down to k-q and all suited cards 10 and higher. That is how much a difference an ante can make in your game.
Calling stations rarely win in poker. Tight passive players may break even, but they will rarely take home a lot of money. The big winners will be the aggressive players who know when to strike.
If nobody has entered the pot and you are in late position, you can control the pot by raising with any pair, or reasonable hand, including one or two gaped straights and flushes.
This is the kind of attitude you must bring into a poker tournament, by the way. You simply cannot afford to wait around for a perfect hand. The blinds and antes will devour your stack.
I watch a lot of poker on television and I am often baffled by the way poker pros raise with weak cards. But when I stop to think about it, I realize they are playing position and probability. They don't want to give away anything to the opposition.
If there were no antes or blinds, every player could just wait until they received pocket aces or kings to play a hand. But this is not the case. Sometimes you are forced to gamble.
Suited connectors can turn into big hands in no-limit poker. And when you are in late position, even suited connectors with one or two gaps could give you the hand you need to double up your stack or to bust another player.
For beginning players, betting on a two-gap suited connector like 10-8 or a 9-6 might make you nervous. If that is the case, don't do it. Wait until you feel more comfortable because you could get into a lot of trouble by over-playing a hand. Folding a hand is never a big mistake for a new player.
If you are the small blind and it's just you and the big blind, you can raise with any hand that includes an ace, along with all other playable hands. And if you have a short stack with the blinds at $100-200 and you only have $2,100, just go all-in. That is the most solid play to steal the pot. You have very little to lose with such a play.
This is the best strategy for a beginning player to compete against tougher players, by the way. They won't be able to outfox you.
Here's another tip. If a pot-size bet would take one-fourth or more of your chips, go all-lin.
If you have a drawing hand to a flush or straight, why not make a semi-bluff? Even if another player calls, you have a decent chance of winning if you hit your hand.
Don't try to bluff a losing player. Wait until you get a reasonable hand before you go after him. Bad luck often follows a loser and you should end up in good shape.
The higher the antes get, the more you can relax your starting hand requirements. If you are lucky enough to make the final table in a tournament, remember that and act accordingly.. When the final table is down to three or four players, you can go all-in on almost any two high cards or a hand containing an ace.
Keep studying the other players until you know them better than you know yourself. After a while, the right play will come to you almost automatically. Then you can call yourself a poker player.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
