How do I play a no-ante 7cs game differently than an ante game?

[binki]

Just got back from Laughlin NV where I played 1-5 7cs. The game was no ante and basically no action. Many pots only a few dollars. I tried to break things open with some bets/raises but everyone just shut down. It was so bad that if there was only one caller to the bring-in one player would fold and the winner would toss his dollar back to him.

What gives? Is it just the location or the absense of an ante that stops the action here? How should I change to play this game over an ante game?

[iamastud]

It is pointless to waste one's time playing a poker game that does not have an antee. Even as a child, when we played 5 cents/10 cent poker, we had a 5 cent ante. $1-$5 stud with no ante is simply a waste of time. You are better off playing low limit holdem if there are no either limit stud games offered.

[Truthiness24]

How lame. Those guys were almost surely locals waiting for someone loose to come along to fleece.

With no antes, you have no incentive to play anything except the nuts. The locals know this and wait for tourists to come along and play less than the nuts. The tourists effectively ARE the ante.

[Andy B]

Life is too short to play in a game like this. Play so tight it hurts. I'd be playing hold'em.

[binki]

Thanks. I moved to an O8 full kill. Much more action in that one. Just didn't know if I was missing something.

[PokrLikeItsProse]

I think that 7CSFAP suggests that in a spread-limit game you can play more hands for just the bring-in because of the implied odds, but I don't know if the authors were considering a game with no antes.

So it wouldn't be worth it to play in a rock garden, but it sounds like a profitable game if you have some players giving action.

[Andy B]

They are talking about a no-ante game in 7CS4AP.

[Tha Stunna]

I've never played that game, but it could be profitable if players let you sneak in cheaply. If you have buried jacks with an underkicker against someone's kings, you could extract a lot of money from them over 4 more streets if your opponents can't figure out how to release a good hand when you hit buried trips, and you could maybe bluff when you catch an overcard. If they will release their hand or protect it on 3rd, then you may as well beat your head against a wall and have more fun that way.
I suppose you could think of it as being easy to play under the fundamental theorem of poker against really tight players, as long as you have implied odds.