Running It Twice and Insurance

[binions]

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Insurance is letting someone off for a bit worse price than they get in the long run. Say we go allin and you have 28% equity.... I let you keep 25% of the pot without showdown. You are glad since you are going to bust 72% of the time and now you have some chips left. I am happy, because I just made a little more than I should have in the long run and didn't give you a chance to suck out.

It's mathematically ok to give insurance, but never to take it (unless you have no bankroll left if you lose and have to eat, but in that case you did something else wrong). Most pokerplayers don't do insurance either way, I believe.

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Either I am confused by your post or you are. The person in the lead pays a premium to insure his hand. If your foe has 8 outs on the river, he has ~16% equity, but it costs you 3:1 to insure. In other words, for every dollar you insure, whoever accepts the insurance (the house or the player who is drawing) gets 25% equity instead of 16%.

So, when you want to avoid a suckout when in the lead, it is going to cost you plenty to insure.