Here’s the secret hidden in plain sight: there’s more money in the pot when antes kick in; obvious, right? But the key to the treasure chest is in the ante to small blind ratio; it is crucial in tournament poker. In general you will see blind-to-ante ratios between a favorable 4:1 (100:25) and an unfavorable 6:1 (100:15). Having a basic understanding of this is necessary; but mastering this “ante effect” can make you a much better player.

When the ratio is 4:1 a standard raise will give you the opportunity to play for a larger pot, than if the ratio were 6:1. If the level is 100/200 with a 25 ante, a bet of 600 can take down profit from an uncontested pot of around 525. The same raise, at the same level, but with only an ante of 15, would result in 435 in profit, 20% less than with the higher antes. If you learn nothing else from this article, slightly widening your opening range with a favorable ratio and in contrast tightening them with a bad ratio (shifting gears) should make you more profitable. Take note of when you're getting the best value for your money invested in each pot and incorporate it into your normal decision making process.

There are some other major advantages to understanding the ante effect. The introduction of the ante drastically changes the relationship of the average chip stack to the pot, decreasing your relative chip stack. By understanding how this affects your opponents, you can either give (or take away) odds. This allows you to influence your opponent’s decisions by controlling the size of the pot as well as influencing the size of your bets.

With the introduction of the antes, our opponents are likely already opening up the range of starting hands they are playing, or defending their blinds lighter because their pot odds. Since antes make the average pot larger and by comparison the sizes of the average stack smaller; then we should understand it is now much easier to become “pot committed” in a hand. If we take our opponents relative stack size into consideration, we can bet to make him more likely to commit his entire stack, or avoid situations where an opponent might reship lighter when we have a somewhat weaker hand.

Say, for instance, you’re on the button and the big blind is slightly low on chips and right around the trouble zone. This differs per opponent but for example sake let's assume our opponent would be entering the trouble zone with an M of around 13. Being cautious might be a good idea because we know a raise is now giving irresistible odds to shove over the top. At the same time, this situation would be very profitable if our opponent was in “push/fold mode” and we held a monster. A raise would certainly induce an all-in bet or fold as opposed to a call; this is why it’s crucial to pay attention to the relative stack size as well as the implied odds you are getting in every hand as a result of your opponent’s stack size. Realizing that its “time for him to make a move” can help make your decision easier next time as it should help define your opponents range as being much wider.

If you don’t live under a rock then you’re certainly aware of the popularity of the “three bet steal.” Most good players will tell you that from time to time you have to make a move such as this with very modest holdings in order to maintain (or accumulate) your chip stack once the blinds begin to get a bit higher. It sets up like this; you’re on the button and the similar stacked player to your immediate right has made a standard raise. You’ve been paying attention and know that he’s raising quite a few hands from late position. Here’s your golden opportunity, if you re-raise him from the button it would be very hard for him to call. After all, you now have position and he’s been pretty loose so chances are his hand isn’t that strong. You re-raise, he Hollywood’s briefly, folds, and leaves you a friendly and positive comment in the chat box. Congratulation’s you’ve performed a successful three bet steal, but why did it work and what does it have to do with the ante effect?

The relative chip stack decrease that we discussed earlier is the key to this play. Because you have the ante’s building the pot your three bet can be much larger than if they were not present. This larger bet requires our opponent to commit a much larger percentage of his stack to continue with this hand, which he must then play out of position as we have the button. You don’t have to be Phil Ivey to know that committing a large portion of your stack to a mediocre hand out of position is bad poker. In addition to that your opponent will often be pot committed pre-flop if they call, which really means that the only two real choices for our opponent are, do I shove or fold? We know our opponent has been raising very light from late position and will most likely not want to put his tournament on the line with what is often a weak hand.

Be sure to pay attention to the ratio as, all other things being equal, a favorable ratio (4/1) will result in your play being more profitable. Anyone can use this information, and most aware players will. Bet sizing/timing to influence your opponents into making the decision you want them to and understanding how the structure of a tournament effects your ability to do that is key in tournament poker. Once you understand the concept, adapt it for your game. As always, good luck on the green mile.