STRADDLE and RUN IT TWICE
The Straddle move in Poker
Straddle is an optional and voluntary bet made by the Poker player higher than the blind bet. Straddle in Poker can be twice or more than the Big Blind.
Usually, it is the player to the left of the big blind who straddles. All players following must call or raise the amount of the straddle bet.
Pros and Cons
- Poker Player opting for straddle bet, can gain control of the game. The other players will be left with two options to call or match the straddle value.
- Most players surrender and fold if they do not have a good Poker hand. Thus, it increases your chances of winning the pot.
- A player with a better hand than you can steal ‘your’ pot from under your nose.
- Professional players do not believe in straddling as they think, it’s a random shot in the dark.
- It tends to lead to wilder action and larger pots. Allowing them can improve quality, strength and viability of weak or boring games
- Straddle should be announced by the player before the cards are dealt
The perfect straddle time
Make the move only if you have a great hand. If you have good hand and you make this right move, the chance of winning the pot increases.
The two most common types of straddles are: The classic UTG( Under the Gun) straddle and The Mississippi straddle
UTG: “Under the gun” (or “UTG”) refers to the position to the immediate left of the big blind in Hold’em and Omaha. The under-the-gun player is the first to act before the flop. The term refers to the pressure that goes along with having to act before anyone else in the hand. This is also called Live straddle.
Mississippi Straddle
A Mississippi straddle is similar to a live straddle and can be applied from any position at the table and forces the first player to the left of the straddle into being first to act.
RUN IT TWICE – POKER
In Poker “Run it twice” befalls when two players are all-in before the river and decide to deal the remaining cards twice.
Run it twice can be done either after the flop or the turn, but can only be done, after one of the two players is fully all-in. Both players must agree to run it twice in order for the procedure to be allowed.
Why Run it twice?
The primary reason to perform this move is to reduce variance impact of very large pots on their win rate. During Big Bets in Poker online, there are possibilities that a player’s semi bluff gets called by a player who currently has a better hand.
Both players may decide to reduce their risk by running it twice, rather than letting a huge pot depend on a single turn of cards, which makes the odds of winning get closer.
When a player doesn’t have multiple buy-ins, run it twice reduces the probabilities of them being knocked out of the game completely by any single hand.
Terms and Conditions
- Only two players can be in the pot with live hands
- One of the players must be all-in
- Both players must agree to run it twice
- The river card must not have yet been dealt
- Not permissible in Tournaments