What does "run it twice" mean in No Limit Poker on the River?

Question

What does "run it twice" mean in No Limit Poker on the River?

Answer 1

This kind of thing happens in high stakes cash games from time to time.

It cannot happen in tournaments (so anyone saying it is joking), and it just isn't tolerated in casino medium to low stakes games because it wastes time.

But basically if two players are in a very large pot and one of them is all in, the players may agree to 'run it twice.'

This can have a variety of meanings, depending on when they discuss doing it, and when they decide to do it.

But you asked about the river.  So let's say they both get all in on the turn and turn over their cards.  They agree to run it twice.  This means that the river card is dealt twice.

The first time the river is dealt, the dealer looks and determines a winner.  Then that card is pushed out of the way, and a second river card is dealt out.

Half the pot goes to the winner of the first board, and half the pot goes to the person who wins, with the second river card.

In an example like this, either one player will win all the money, or they will split the pot.

It is not uncommon for this decision to be made with the turn and river to come (ie on the flop) or even two entire boards if both players are all in pre-flop.

Both players would have to agree on this BEFORE it happens.  Unless both players are in agreement, it cannot happen.

The reason players do this is because sometimes in very high stakes games, there might be $500,000 of real money in the pot.  Even if you are a 60/40 favorite to win, do you really want to risk losing such a massive amount of money on a single hand?  By running cards twice, you reduce the 'luck' factor (or variance) from the situation.  Even if you split the pot 50/50, there is usually additional money in there that other players had put in with antes and blinds.  So you will be better off than if you had not played the hand at all.

High stakes poker players are playing for the long term.  It doesn't really matter what happens on a single night, if they finish the year up one million dollars.  However taking lots of these gambling situations for very large amounts of money can add too much risk and fluctuation to a bank roll.  So while some players are happy to just accept what happens.  Others consider it wiser to run cards more than once, to make their swings smaller.

Answer 2

Is it in a joking manner? Some players who are on a draw and don't hit on the river will jokingly ask a 6th community card to be turned so they can (albeit too late) hit their draw.

Answer 3

Running the river twice means dealing two separate river cards, with each river card contributing to a seperate hand.

For example if the board read 3s 6s 3c 9s with Player1 having Ah3h and Player2 having KsKh and they decided to run the river twice, with one river card being 10s and the other being 2d, Player1 would split the pot with Player2 because both players would have made their hands.

Answer 4

You need to know that before you try playing.