Big Blind Ante

In games with a big blind ante, the player in the big blind posts an ante for the entire table. This amount will be listed in the structure for the game or tournament, but is usually the amount of the big blind.

Tournaments utilizing a big blind ante will also list the number of players at which the ante will be reduced, usually to the amount of the small blind. At BARGE 2024, this was at four players.

This rule tends to differ from poker room to poker room, so it is important to check the structure sheet.

Discussion

Traditionally in no-limit Texas Hold’em tournaments, the blind structure used was that two players posted blinds (the small blind and big blind) each hand. Additionally, most tournaments featured an ante that would be posted by each player before every hand, typically starting a few levels into the tournament. This is done to further drive the action by increasing the amount of chips and thus the incentive to enter the pot.

One of the disadvantages of having every player make an individual ante is time, in terms of having the dealer gather up the antes, make change, remind forgetful players to ante, and to deal with disagreements about unposted antes.

In the 2010s, a new idea known as the big blind ante was introduced in tournament poker and quickly became the standard, where the player in the big blind would post an ante for the entire table. One should think of the big blind ante as a shared ante that all players take turn in paying rather than an extra “penalty” for being in the big blind. The reason why the big blind ante is not assigned to another position, such as the button, is that every hand will have a player in the big blind but sometimes there will be a dead button.

Some controversies about the big blind ante include: (a) how large should it be; (b) should the size of the big blind ante be reduced in short-handed situations; and (c) how should the situation be handled where the player in the big blind does not have sufficient chips to post both the ante and the big blind. One should always consult the structure sheet and/or the tournament director to verify how any particular tournament is handling the big blind.

TDA Recommended Procedure-11 recommends that the big blind ante amount not be reduced. BARGE prefers the rule described above.

The "which comes first" problem has been contentious for many years among the TDA. In 2024, the TDA changed RP-11 and recommended that the blinds would come first. Previously, in 2022, there was no recommendation, and in 2019, they recommended the ante came first.