[Andy B]

[ QUOTE ]
if you are playing in a $40/$80 game with a $10 ante, you are practically forced to play any pair, any flush any strt, regardless of the strenth of that holding. You cannot sit and wait for premium hands casue the antes will eat you up.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you play that way in a $40/80 game, you're going to get eaten up by more than the antes. If you really play as you suggest, then yes, this is a big adjustment from my usual strategy. I am suggesting that the necessary adjustments are less extreme.

Even in the high-ante game, if the King is held by a very straightforward player, you're probably best off folding (J4)J. The $90 initial pot does not justify risking $320 or so when you're almost a 2:1 dog.

It's true that a $40/80 player is a lot less likely to be that straightforward. Against many of those folks, (J4)J is going to be strong enough that you should at least call the $40. But even in a $10/20 game, if a loose, wild player raises with a King door card, you're going to play against him as well. So whether or not you play when the bigger door card raises depends heavily on how likely it is that the other guy is raising light. This is not completely unrelated to the ante size, of course, but most of your decisions are going to be the same whether the ante is $5 or $10.