[jldecarlo]

Does anybody use antes in a small (8-10) player home tourney?

We played our first T10000 tourny last weekend with my new pharos, and I set up the blind structure with antes begining about 2 hours into the game. They seemed like a pain to me. Even with only five players left, we could never really remember who had ante'd and who hadn't (since the antes were in the middle of the table and not in front of each player). Also, they didn't seem to change the game much.

Thoughts?

L

[jojobinks]

tweaking the blinds would probably achieve the desired effect.

but my tip: if you're doing antes, have players keep them in front. the dealer (or TD) is responsible for making sure they're all there, and then gathering them in.

[BPTDirector]

I agree with JoJo - train all players to keep all bets in front of them until they are dragged into the pot by the dealer. Once everyone get's used to this they really like it because it takes the mystery away on who's paid and not paid for ante's or bets.

BPT

[Spaceman Spiff]

Antes can have a nice acceleration effect if that's what you're looking for. It pushes the action just a little harder. Or at least it should since the initial pots are more valuable. I think 2 hours into the game is about right. Currently I start my antes in the last level of hour 3. With my new structure, my games have been leaking more toward the 3 1/2 hour mark and I want to pull them back closer to 3. I'm considering adding in some extra ante levels to achieve this.

Getting everyone to put their bets out front can be a painful task, but it's so much easier once you get everyone trained. I'm down to just a few stragglers now that like to splash. Repeated use of the phrase, "Quit splashing my pot," followed by pulling their bet out and placing it in front of them has worked pretty well for me. For the antes, don't even deal the cards until the antes are accounted for from everyone. Pull them all into the middle and then deal.

[OnTheButton]

We don't use antes on tournaments that are under 16 players/2 tables.

They get annoying, and unless you have a dedicated dealer that is paying attention at each table, it can get confusing with making chip change, keeping smaller denom chips available, etc.

When under 16 players, we just push the action with the blind schedule.

When over 16 players, (and I act as the TD) as some players start to get knocked out, we ask them to deal for the remaining tables and then we implement antes if it feels like everyone is dragging their feet in the middle rounds of play.

Also having a "race track" table or one with a bet line really helps. This way, once those chips cross that line, they are officially in play. And with antes you can look over the table, count the chips in the middle (even if splashed) and then start the cards a pitchin'.

[jldecarlo]

I see two basic answers to my question:

You don't really need antes in a small tourney.

You need to teach the other players not to splash the pot with the antes.


I probably knew both of these answers, but this confirms my opinions. For now, I may alternate with/withou antes until I decide which system I prefer and work on getting everyone to put their bets in front of them.

Thanks

L

[SpaceMonkey]

I have antes in my annual ToC (1 table), and had them in my big 2 day 16 man tournament. Almost consistantly only a few players seem to remeber to post them every hand. These same players are almost always the ones who make it ITM.

[2_hotty]

We always play with them, and I love em. It puts a little more money in the pot, but more importantly it keeps everyone paying attention to the game. Because of this, I will always use them. We also don't let people splash the pot, so we know who has, and who hasn't posted.

[dad604]

I tell players who splash the pot to count out the pot and make up any shortfalls. If two or more players splash they will split the shortfall between them.

That has taken care of anyone splashing the pot.

[JM]

We tried antes a few times and found them to be a major pain in the b@lls. You've got the 'who didn't ante' problem, and then you've also got the problem later in the tourney of more chip management going on than poker playing. Particularly when it gets down to heads up, you gotta ante & post a blind every hand, since most hands heads up never make the river, there's alot of wasted time moving chips around.

I'd suggest if you're going to do antes, do them in the early rounds, then stop them later in the game rather than the reverse.