Time Pot Mathematics

[2ndGoat]

Whether you pay time pot or someone else pays time pot is immaterial, assuming the rest of the table agrees to pay when it is their responsibility to repay half of the time pot. Otherwise your disadvantage is equal to the chances you have of getting stiffed by someone.

If you participate in a time pot rather than paying your own time, you will pay less rake over time if you are tighter than the table average, and more if you are looser.

In general it is correct to play tighter while you are waiting for a time bank to go off, since any pot you win will be raked huge. At high limit games, this is less significant.

If anyone else at the table paid their own time when you are part of a time pot, you lose some of the advantage in playing tighter, since the non-time pot people at the table will be able to theoretically exploit your temporary tightness.

Thus many people choose to only play a timepot if the entire table agrees to it, or perhaps if only one player is out.

2nd