Standard Ante rates, questions.

[OrianasDaad]

I'm a newbie to 7CS. Heck, I've only played three hands at a real money table because I wasn't exactly sure how the betting structure worked.

Another post for micro-limit 7CS/8 listed the ante as the same amount as the bring-in. This seems incredibly high, with a cost of 25BB/100 hands just to play. Compared this to HE, where at a full micro-limit .5/1 table you can be expected to pay around 15BB/100 hands in forced blinds, sometimes a bit more, but not much. At a full (10-handed) table, I'd say it's probably not more than 17BB/100. The high ante for this particular .5/1 7CS game would make it equivalent to a .5/1 HE game with a small blind of about $.83 and a big blind of $1.66, assuming a full game.

A different site has an ante which works out to 10BB/100, which seems like an incredible deal for a new player.

I don't have Mason's Poker Essays, which I've heard discusses this topic in some detail. I'll be getting them soon enough, but between 7CSFAP and SS2 (my two new books), I won't be getting this one for a month or so. It has moved to the top of my list, however. I do have a few questions regarding the Ante, and online 7CS in general.

1. What is the "standard" ante for a game? Certainly there must be some barometer for a "high" and "low" ante.

2. Is there a site that lists (ala bonuswhores) the antes for multiple online sites? If not, I'd be willing to throw something like this together, along with a "grade", and possibly some game availibility ratings. I might require some input from the experienced 7CS posters here.

3. Is the .5/1 game with the .25 ante and .25 bring-in even worth playing? It's micro-limit, so the players are probably terrible, but the ante is so high that you can't afford to play tight enough to beat them in the long-term. Seems like a crapshoot to me.

4. Is the .5/1 game with a .10 ante a great game where a newbie can sit back and play extra tight, in order to gain some experience? Are there better games at this limit if I look?

[greenage]

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1. What is the "standard" ante for a game? Certainly there must be some barometer for a "high" and "low" ante.

[/ QUOTE ]

This might be a good thread to link in the FAQ...

Evaluating stud ante structure

[Andy B]

Your assessment of the overhead doesn't take the bring-in into account.

This is subjective, but some rough guidelines:

Over-ante:
Party's $.50/1.00 game with a $.25 ante
Foxwoods' $1-3 game with a $.50 ante

High ante:
Canterbury Park's $2/4 game with a $.50 ante
$75/150 with a $15 ante (Foxwoods, Taj, and other places

Medium ante:
$3/6 with a $.50 ante (CP, Party)
$15/30 with a $2 ante
$30/60 with a $5 ante (CP, Stars)

Low ante:
$5/10 with a $.50 ante (found everywhere)
$10/20 with a $1 ante (found everywhere)
PokerStars' $3/6 game with a $.25 ante

It is my opinion that the structure for $30/60 is ideal.

As for whether you should play the $.50/1.00 game on Party, it should be plenty beatable because the players are so bad. Remember that they're paying the same overhead. A couple of ways that you can gain an edge over your opponents are tossing dead hands when they won't, and extracting value from good draws which most people will just check and call with.

The structure of Party's $.50/1.00 game is so out-of-whack that I would think that it would skew your perception of how stud is played, and that might be a hinderance if you want to move up in limits.

$.10 is actually still a pretty high ante for a $.50/1.00 game. PokerStars has a $.05 ante in their $.50/1.00 game. I'm writing this on a Sunday morning, and there are three tables going right now, so I'm guessing that game goes more or less all the time.

Hi Daad,

I started at PokerStars. I've played at Party to take advantage of a bonus. I left as soon as I made the bonus because the higher antes bugged me to no end. As you did, I thought about the BB/100 hands penalty and the looseness this imposes.

If you're going to be playing .5/1 and basing yourself upon 7cs4ap, I would temper the aggression a bit to a lot. The moves you are trying will often be ineffective at lower limits.

[Andy B]

If sitting around and waiting for the nuts is your idea of a good time, I was just reminded that the $.50/1.00 game on Paradise has no ante.