Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyBizzle
Playground has been doing button antes this series and it's gotten really positive reviews from what I've heard (I'm also a big fan). It speeds up the game, and by not making antes dependent on the smallest chip on the table, antes never double and the structure smooths out (ie, going from 500 to 1000 or 5k to 10k).
Here is structure from Playground. Their button ante is equal to the big blind. If 9 handed, then ante is 22.22% of the value of the small blind. Similar to the 25% value of the ante if level was 400-800 with 100 ante which seems about optimal.
Greg brings up an interesting point where if table is short at 7 handed, does button still ante for a full 9 players. I guess the simple answer would be yes since 88.88x7= 622.22 in example level above and 22.22 in chips is not available. Also, if down to 19 players and 3 tables near end, then you would have tables of 6,6,7 with full ante being equal to $133.33 per player at 6 handed table vs $100 standard as it is now without button ante. (at 400-800/100 level)
As for button being 300 short of 800 full ante and winning back only the 500 he put in.... it might seem like he is not winning anything, but he gets a round of ante free hands until his bb hits, and he would have been anted down to less than 500 if not for the button posting the antes, so it is a wash.
Playground Casino button ante structure sheet:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Z...otRFhrUE0/view