[Big_Ham]

This is where Dan Harrington's M method comes into play. M = SB + BB + all antes (if applicable). The second you're at M=4, you're in pure push or fold mode.

Antes help to weed out the rocks. We had too many unskilled pure rocks making it way too far in our tourneys. The second we put some antes in, they made it far, but they cash way less often as more skill/theory is involved than just playing premiums when you know antes are sucking chips out of your stack too ...

Basically, when the antes kick in, you just need to make a raise bigger than 3x if you want to weed out other players. Make a pot sized bet instead of a 3x. I know this is basic math, but that's what makes me scratch my head over this post and the big stink over antes?

That said, I'm not opposed to tourneys without antes either, but I feel the main thing they do is create opportunities for and reward people who know the game and are paying attention.