Players on partypoker were greeted with a new software update on Thursday. Much of the update added new cosmetic features such as table themes and fixed bugs, but it did add a few new things that player should enjoy. Headlining the update is the option to Run It Twice.
Running it twice should be familiar to anyone who has watched cash games on television, such as on the old favorite, “High Stakes Poker.” The times running it twice occurs are when two players are all-in with cards to come and nobody is left to act. It can be done with more than two players, but two players is the most common situation. It is also most common either pre-flop or post-flop, before the turn.
When a hand is run twice, the remaining board cards are dealt two times. For instance, if two players are all-in after the flop and they decide to run it twice, two separate turn and river cards will be dealt. These combine to form two different boards: the original flop plus the first turn and river and the original flop plus the second turn and river.
The winner of the hand using each set of community cards wins half the pot. If someone wins the hand with both boards, then that person wins the entire pot.
Players new to running twice might think, “Why would I want to do that? What if I win the hand with the first turn and river, which would have been the only turn and river? I don’t want to risk only winning half the pot.”
That’s a valid concern, but what if you would have lost the first board? You would then have a chance to recover with the second board.
The point of running it twice is to reduce variance, which is why you will see it used frequently in high stakes cash games. If two players are all-in with similar probabilities to win, they know the end result is very much dependent on luck, so they often prefer to run it twice to try to smooth out said luck. Both players have to agree to run it twice; while you will see it happen when someone is 90 percent to win, it is less common in that situation than it is when the odds are close.
As in live poker, the choice to Run It Twice is completely optional on partypoker. It will only be done if everyone involved checks the box to agree to it. If everyone wants to go for it, the pot is split in two and the winner of each hand is given one half of the pot.
Right now, Run It Twice is only available in partypoker’s fastforward games on the desktop poker client. It will be rolled out to the mobile client, as well as in other cash games, in the future.
Also of note in this software update is a change to the way chips are arranged on the table when players are all-in. Now, if portion of someone’s bet is uncalled, that uncalled part is returned to the player’s stack so that it is easier to read how many chips are actually in the pot.
Additionally, the in-the-money indicator during tournaments has been improved, giving players a better view of where they stand in relation to the money at a quick glance.
