Explanation of Up the ante
As a quick recap, an ante is a mandatory investment made preflop by all players at the table in both cash games and tournaments.
Most cash games do not make use of antes while most tournaments do in the later stages.
It’s most common for a tournament to start without antes but then introduce them in the later stages to help drive the action.
After the antes have been introduced in a tournament setting they will typically increase with every blind level.
Find more information in the glossary entry under ante.
Example of Up the Ante used in a sentence -> He was used to playing micro-stakes cash games online but decided it was time to up the ante.
How to Use Up the ante as Part of Your Poker Strategy
As a general rule, antes incentivize the following.
1. Stealing wider preflop in an attempt to capitalize on the extra dead money.
2. Defending the big blind wider due to better preflop odds.
It is hence important to take into account the antes when deciding on preflop open raising strategies and sizing.
