What is an Ante in Poker?

The ante in poker is a really simple thing to understand, but a term which amateur players are often unfamiliar with.

Simply put, a poker ante is a required bet that is put up by a player before receiving cards.

But when do you have to pay your ante? And what’s its purpose? Let’s explore everything you need to know about poker antes.

What is a Poker Ante?

A poker ante is a bet which you need to put in before you’re dealt your cards, swelling the size of the pot.

It’s there to give players a reason to battle for every pot, rather than waiting around all day for the very best poker hands.

In fact, if there were no blinds or antes, then you could legitimately fold every single hand except for pocket aces as it wouldn’t be profitable to play anything else.

Poker antes aren’t compulsory, some games have them and others don’t. In certain types of poker events, like a lengthy tournament involving many players, you’ll often start off with no ante before one is introduced later on.

Online poker antes are generally taken automatically from all players before every hand.

This is different to most live poker tournaments which require the big blind to pay everyone’s ante in addition to the big blind itself. This is to speed up play and save confusion for dealers and players when collecting multiple antes and is called the ‘big blind ante’.

Poker Ante vs Poker Blinds

If you’re still learning how to play poker and wondering what the difference is between ante and blinds in poker, the key is that the ante is either paid by the entire table or the big blind to put chips in the middle before the hand is deal.

Meanwhile, only one or two players pay the blinds each hand.

In the most common Texas Hold’em poker games, there’s a small blind and a big blind. The blinds put in some chips before seeing their cards (hence the term “blind”). This incentivizes those players in particular to try and remain in the pot, as they have some of their chips on the line.

After each hand, the position of the blinds moves clockwise one place, keeping things fair.

With poker antes, it’s not just one or two of you paying up. Instead, every player puts chips in the pot before the hand begins or, when playing big blind antes, the big blind puts an additional big blind in the middle.

Thanks to the blinds and antes, every player has a motive to try and win every pot, as they’re guaranteed to lose chips whenever they fold – which might alter the poker strategy of the players and lead to more aggressive play.

How Poker Ante Works

When you play cash games, the stakes will be fixed, so the poker ante remains the same. If you’re in a tournament, the ante will probably increase over time as the levels progress.

In live poker, things are a little different. You’ll need to put the chips in yourself, although the dealer will remind you if you forget.

Dutifully posting your blinds and antes is one of the unwritten rules of poker, but it’s natural to zone out every now and then – so don’t worry too much.

Again, there are exceptions when the dealer might ask just one player to post the ante for all players at the table, almost like a single big blind that moves clockwise after each hand. As we explained above, this is called a big blind ante.

Though this seems like a more casual arrangement it is common in large live poker tournaments as it speeds up play.

Examples of Ante in Poker

Imagine you’re playing an online poker tournament and doing quite well. The blinds started at 25/50, and have been steadily progressing. Then, the next time the blinds go up, you see this:

The first number is the small blind, the second is the big blind, and the third is the introduction of a poker ante.

With nine players at the table, every pot will have 1,200 chips in it before a card is dealt.

That’s 250 from the small blind, 500 from the big blind, and 50 from each of the nine players (including the players in the blind positions).

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