I became an instant fan of the button ante.
Personally, I prefer the latter, but individual preferences may vary. I have seen reference to other tournaments using a “big blind” ante (doubling the big blind) instead of the button ante. The button amount is treated exactly like any ante, as it is swept in by the dealer and does not mean that the player is in the hand. Later it went up to the size of a big blind. Early in the tournament, the ante was the size of the small blind. At the Playground, the amount was static regardless of the number of players sitting at the table. When a button ante is used, the player on the button pays the ante for the entire table. The button ante has appeared on the radar recently, so I thought I would share my experience with it.
When visiting the Playground Poker Club outside Montreal last week, I played in a tournament which employed a button ante.
