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THE HIT AND RUN FOLLIES
It took me a while to realize how smart they were. I’m talking about the hit and run specialists. How clever, how sensible, and so admirably disciplined are these poker players! They’ve really got it figured out. They get ahead by a nice little chunk of money, then ..lock it up.
No need to get greedy. Leave with the money and have a guaranteed win for the day. No way to do that if they play on, risking a big downswing. Have you seen the light and joined this knowing crowd? If you do you can increase your percentage of winning sessions dramatically. Now that I have looked closely at how these wise players operate, I can even provide you with a simple rule of thumb to assist you in your hit and run ventures. Always quit a session when you’re ahead by nine big bets. When you’re nine bets ahead for the day. Using this method a lousy player I know has won in 31 of his last 40 sessions – a pretty good record for a bad poker player. Yes, it took me a while to realize how smart the hit and run players are: Not very.
The bad players I know finds it odd that his cumulative results reveal that he has continued to lose money over those 40 sessions. Perhaps I could point out to him that he would win even more often if he quit whenever he had won just five bets. Unfortunately he would continue to lose. But wait, that’s not the optimum setting for his system. He could truly maximize his winning percentage by always quitting the second he got even one chip ahead. Are you starting to see the folly in all of this? The important thing the lousy player doesn’t realize is that his method of “stop wins” can do nothing to improve his hourly rate. As with all players, and as with you, his hourly rate, multiplied by hours played, is all that really matters.
It alone will determine how much he wins or loses over any number of hours played. It is folly to think you can improve your long run results by even one little speck through any sort of stop win, hitting and running, locking up a win, or whatever you care to call it. It is folly to think you are helping your results by quitting two hours earlier than you need to in a session just because you’re ahead by some arbitrary amount of money I am not the first to point out the nonsense in stop wins. If you’ve done your reading, then you’ve done your reading, then you’ve heard this, and seen similar critiques of “money management ” ideas from other writers. But, I still see winning poker players who clearly use a hit and run approach, setting “stop wins” for themselves, or simply by quitting whenever they have put together a modest win.
I further see poker discussion sites on the Internet continue to espouse the benefits of locking up a win of a certain size. I am therefore compelled to offer my own take on it. I hope I can prompt a few more players to think though the poker literature of the issue a bit more clearly.
"The Best Player I' ve Ever Seen " / The Hit and Run Follies / An Illusory Winner /
On Randomness, Rushes, Hot Seats, and Bad Luck Dealers / Bad Beat? Think Again
Why Learn to Beat Tougher Games? / Practicing Game Preservation
Short-Handed Play: Don’t Miss out / How I Learned Poker: Part I
How I Learned Poker : Part II