Comments on: To Run it Twice, or Not

By: Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:31:27 +0000

I think an important point was left out of the article. As a player who likes to run it twice when I am ahead (I actually prefer 3 times so that there is rarely a chopped pot, allowing for the reduction in variance and still for someone to come out ahead) one reason to NOT run it more than once is that some players will use the knowledge that you are willing to run multiple boards to alter their play against you. They will shove all in with draws etc knowing that they have additional outs to make their hand. Something that they may think twice about if you are known as a one board player.

I am not suggesting that this should lead to a firm stance one way or the other but simply that it is a player dependent situation that needs to be factored into your overall strategy, so that it can’t be exploited.

By: jason batteiger

jason batteiger — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:23:17 +0000

there is one addendum, and it deals with the “running it multiple isn’t fun” part: those that are underbankrolled (for game size) tend to correlate with the not very good players. keeping those guys in the game certainly is fun for our bottom lines. also, running it multiple since it lessens the variance it likely convinces them that they are risking less with their all ins, since they are so many chops, leading to more action than they might’ve otherwise put out.

By: jason batteiger

jason batteiger — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:11:14 +0000

only easy to find reason(s) why people do this is at least one of these:
– they only physically have x buy ins on their person in a live game, and getting more would require loans or them leaving the game to get more, so they’re lowering variance (and allowing themselves to play that session for longer).

– they can’t actually afford the game they are in, and want to play for longer, so upping the chances of not going broke (in the short term, as playing in games you can’t afford, you’d just be putting going broke off (kicking the can down the road, even if that means 1 hand) longer.

– they are in a game where running it multiple times is standard social practice, so they do it to fit in (same as playing bomb pots when you don’t really want to), they might for their own sake be completely indifferent (which they should be, since the math is the same).

– even somebody who’s bankrolled just fine (both overall for the game size and in the short term for buy ins if needed for that session), and isn’t in a socially engineered session that lends itself to running it multiple still might, and it’s from them knowing themselves (and humans in general) to know that losing all in pots/buy ins in the short term causes psychological distress (money lost worth 3 times more than same money won to a human for “feelings”/emotional state) for them, so dodging that while breaking even on EV seems enough reason to do it. esp those that know or suspect they themselves play worse (and/or others play better against them when they are) when losing, and running it multiple times in the short term lessens chances of losing buy ins (it also of course lesson chances of winning full all in pots of course).