Strategy question game with only antes

[Mlubin]

Anyone have any idea of an optimal strategy for a game that only includes antes. Most people have about the equivalent to 150 antes on the table. I have no idea what is the optimal way to play like how loose i should be opening. The game plays pretty big because the ante is about 4 dollar and its full ring.

[Degen]

I assume you mean NLHE? And you are saying no blinds, only antes?

That is pretty much the same thing as everybody posting a big blind every hand. You should be open raising to about the size of the pot and you should be raising and re-raising very often...that is an obscene amount of dead money in every pot.

I've never played in a game like this but that is my initial reaction.

You say avg stack $600 and ante $4, so $40 dead money in the pot every hand. If you open for the size of the pot you are making it $40 pre-flop to open...now anybody raising you will call 40 then raise pot to $160...next person just jams if they want to 4 bet.

So in effect this is a rather shallow game. In a standard 100 BB game if you want to get it in PF with pot-pot-pot raising it takes a 5-bet to get it in. Here it only takes a 4-bet. Thats a pretty big difference. You aren't going to see many big river bluffs in a game like this....it will play somewhat more like a tournament. Lots of all in on the flop or turn type situations.

[Degen]

Oh and you are going to need a pretty big bankroll to play this game. Variance will be sick.

If it were ante $1 with $1,000 average stacks, its a whole different game. This is kindof a high variance push fest though

[Mlubin]

yea last time i played in the game the play was awful and all of the players would take money off the table during play, but i wasn't going to get into a fight with some natives from a third world country. everyone in the game played so passively but they were still capable of getting it all in pre with A T or mid pocket pairs in full ring. Last time i played in the game i did really well, but this was before i really played at all online and i was only about 16 at the time. Thanks for the help with the strategy i was just trying to figure out what would be the best way to play, and yea it is an antes only game that is basically fed by the locals.

[LiveStraddle]

I would get them to use blinds, this game sounds awful!?

[Mlubin]

I would get them to use blinds, this game sounds awful!?

the structure is awful but the game is amazing, and my spanish isn't good enough to explain blinds.

[Mlubin]

just a little update to this thread i only got to play 1 night but won about 500 from the game. hopefully next time i will get to play more.