Balancing Risk and Reward In Poker

Balance is very significant in playing poker. You should know if a reward is worth it if the risk involve is so high. Sometimes an excellent reward came with a very high and dangerous risk, so you need to think twice before making a decision. Take this two examples in mind:

Example 1 – A very affluent man approach you and ask you to play a round of Russian roulette for him. He is offering you $1,000,000 just to play it.

A million is good enough for you in order not to work anymore and still live affluently. But getting it through this method is insane I know you have a big chance of winning it but what about 1 out 6 chances of you ending up dead just because you agreed with the man? Is it worth it?

Example 2 – You’re one lucky person ‘coz you won $5,000,000 in the lottery. At this point the same man at example 1 challenge you to a coin flipping contest. If the coin toss results will be head then he will give you $10,000,00, double your money and if its a tail then you’ll give him $5,000,000.

A good chance to win ten million dollars because of the 2 to 1 odds. But if you lose, you’re 5 million won’t see the light of day again. If the well-to-do man offers the same rewards for a lesser amount of money, I think you’ll accept the offer quickly. But an all or nothing reward is a different story.

The example above are not really the same in playing poker but there are sort of the same. Sometimes just ti make a good decision you’re going to give up a positive EV.

One example would be this:

You’re one fortunate person because you got a free entrance to the WSOP (World Series of Poker). You find yourself in a situation wherein you don’t have enough chips in the table and you’re also one player away from the bubble. If you’ll make the money you’ll get $50,000 – quiet a big amount for you. Another player has been eliminated from the tournament but if you lose the present hand you will be out of the money since you are short stack compared to the other player.

At that time you have pocket Aces as your hole card. With this hand if you decide to fold you’ll get $50,000. But if you play and lose the hand you’ll get nothing. But if you play and win, you’re going to double or triple your chips.

The thing is that even if you play and win the hand, you still have a little chance to move up on the tournament ladder. And also if you try to play then you’ll also take the risk in losing $50,000.

There will be times like this wherein you’ll have to weigh the risk involve even if the rewards are super high. Check out the odds of you, winning and losing. Sometimes the rewards is not worth the risk involve. So always think twice before you make any move.

Remember that in a tournament especially if you are deep stacked, there is always a better time to win a pot. So that’s where you have to place the money.