Ususual Hold 'em Variant: How to Play?

[Hedge Henderson]

One of the local bartenders is a regular in our Saturday night micro-limit home game. He's invited me to a slightly higher stakes hold 'em game another bartender hosts. While I know I don't have the bankroll (it takes a while to build one at $0.05-$0.10 blinds, even in NL), I am interested in playing. I feel I've got a small amount of poker sense and I know a large number my opponents will be under the influence.

There's a problem, though. If it were a regular game with blinds, I'd play (and play tight) in a heartbeat, but it isn't. It's dollar ante, with everyone seeing the flop for free. Like the fish say, any two cards can win. Betting is $1-$5 on the flop and turn, pot limit on the river.

Assuming you're a poor college student who doesn't want to blow his bankroll, how would you play? Would you only play safe sets and good draws to the nuts, or would you take more chances since ante is so large?

I'm also interested in how you might play a game with this structure in general. For now, I'll probably just call a few rounds with a similar set-up in our home game for practice and play for real only after I know I can cover tuition.