Ante tables trialled at low stakes Zoom
If you are a regular at Zoom you might have noticed the game has changed this week, as PokerStars are trialling antes at the lower limits.
On top of the Small and Big Blind, everyone at the table puts in an ante every hand between 10% and 50% of a Big Blind. At the lowest stakes the ante is literally the same size as the Small Blind, $0.01/$0.02 with an $0.01 ante.
The current trial is at NL2, PLO2, NL5, PLO5, NL10 and PLO10, full ring and six max. It was introduced on Monday and a message in the Zoom lobby confirms it is a trial:
An ante is being trialled at the NLHE and PLO Zoom games of $0.01/$0.02, $0.02/$0.05 and $0.05/$0.10 stakes, excluding Heads Up. We hope that the introduction of the ante will encourage more battles leading to bigger pots and, overall, a more exciting playing experience for everyone.
The purpose of antes is to encourage action by making the pots bigger and worth fighting for, though critics of PokerStars have argued that this is an attempt to collect more rake by making the pots bigger.
PokerStars are not the first operator to introduce antes to cash games, however. They have been commonplace in live cash games for years and partypoker recently tried something similar in their own Fast Forward games.
PokerStars have a tendency to trial new formats and features in smaller locations and/or stake levels before rolling them out globally, so if this proves successful for them expect to see ante games at all the Zoom stakes.
Do you like additional antes in cash games? Let us know in the comments:
