The Top Set dilemma

[Buzz]

[ QUOTE ]
What you are saying about two half-pot wins not being as good as one scoop is true due to losing half of current and future bets, but is irrelevant in pot equity calculations because you count the sum total of all bets, including your own, and then compare it to your equity to figure out if you are in a +EV situation.

[/ QUOTE ]Jai - I appreciate your trying to explain this to me. I really do. But it's not irrelevant in my pot equity calculations.

If you and I were playing a hand of Texas hold 'em and we decided to settle, rather than finish the hand, I'd want my fair settlement to be the amount in the pot multiplied by the probability I'd win the pot.

Thus it seems to me as though the total amount in the pot multiplied by the probability you'll win the pot is your "pot equity."

It sounds like you're thinking of "pot equity" as meaning something else or in a more contorted way than I am.

I figure "expected value" (also known as "E.V.") to be the net you expect to win (if positive) or lose (if negative). In Texas hold 'em, that's based on the probability you'll win the hand, how much will be in the pot when you win, and what it will cost you to see the showdown.

In Omaha-8 (or any split pot game) the issue is complicated by the split pot nature of the game. The plain truth, and you seem to clearly recognize it, is that <font color="red">when you scoop a pot, you actually win more than twice as much as when you win half a pot</font>. And because of this you CAN NOT simply multiply your half pot wins by two and add them to your scoop wins and use the combined total to correctly get your E.V.

One scoop win is only equivalent to two half pot wins in a simulation, where actually you are counting
one scoop win + one total loss as equal to two half pot wins (and no loss).

In Omaha-8 (or other split pot games) how much you win when you win part of the pot varies with and depends on how many players are involved in the split. (Everyone you split with can be thought of as getting part of your contribution, with you getting part of theirs).

Think of it this way, when you're playing heads-up and you split evenly for high and low, you win nothing. Two times nothing is nothing.

Buzz