Running it twice...

This has become under a lot of scrutiny recently over at 2+2 because of HSP and playing some monster pots and the players negotiate deals and run it multiple times. I personally think its foolish.... to not run it twice in coin flip situations and when you're in preflop. I play at a few games around town and it's all dependant upon the feel of the game. At my usual spot its really unheard of because most of those guys have plenty of money and they really don't care. Plus, they can only, and I mean ONLY see the money IF they win but never really consider what if they loose. Then they whine about being a favorite to win but still lose. Last time I checked unless you have the check mark next to your name with 100% at the bottom of the screen, it's never a guarantee. Now at a couple other games I play and deal at, its pretty standard to give the option to run it twice even when you're a huge favorite. Example, last week I was dealing the game and one guy made a move with 83o. Given the situation is was a great play b/c of his stack vs the other player's stack and table image, blah blah blah. However he ran against Ks. 9 out of 10 times that would have been a great play but he got caught. They ended up running it twice b/c that would have been the sickest beat of the night and no need to just let dumbass luck prevail. Scott won both hands so the world is right as we know it. But other then that odd hand, its usually standard with bottom set vs top two pair, flush draw vs pairs/sets/straights and so on.

The biggest advantage of running it twice or even making other deals is that it keeps the game running longer and skill plays more of role during the session rather than dumb luck. Trust me, I'm the unluckiest player out there even thought I put my money in good a lot (not all) of the time. Now some would counter saying that it creates a soft game and its easy for collusion to take place. It might. But guess what, the tougher the game the more collusion takes place and sometimes its not as easy to spot. In a game that more hands are shown up, the easy it is to spot who might be playing soft on one player or so on and who might work together. Take that knowledge to the tough games and you'll notice that they take it easy on each other there and you can have an edge on the table. And its like anything else, if you don't like it, then find somewhere else to play or shut up and deal with it.