Antes and bring in

I was poking around in the twoplustwo archives and ran across this old post by Ray Zee.

Posted by: Ray Zee
Posted on: Wednesday, 2 September 1998, at 12:40 a.m.

Shultz,

A $2 bring in with no ante per player is exactly the same as a 25 cent ante with 7 players and a 25 cent bring in. The difference is that with bad players they tend to come in more often when they have an ante as they already feel part of the pot. A no ante bring in game really has an ante that changes in relation to the number of players taking a hand. In your game the ante is fairly small so tight play should get the money if the rake is not too high. Straight and flush cards do well in multi-way pots and highest upcard that is a pair will win money when your cards are live and you improve or can narrow the field down to just a few people. You should play tighter than the good poker books recommend at least until you can get a better grasp of the game. Good Luck.

I don't really know Ray Zee so I don't know if he's an idiot or has a drinking problem or just has a habit of spouting off nonsense without thinking. It's probably the not thinking option.

Of course his two examples are different -- different in a huge way. With the bringin and no ante a caller is getting even money on the call. With the smaller bringin and an ante a caller is getting 8 to 1 on a call.

Of course you'll get more callers with the ante, and not because the callers are bad players who think the ante has tied them to the pot. You'll get more callers because you pretty much have to be insane not to call with that structure.