The Muck: Is Missing a Single Hand in a Tournament a Big Deal?

July 04, 2018

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Matt Savage knows a thing or two about poker. The lauded tournament director has had a storied career in the poker industry and is one of ten nominees for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame. However, there’s one question he hasn’t figured out.

Many poker players feel like missing a single hand in a tournament is a big deal, why?
— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker)

Savage took a break from his tournament director duties to fire the 2018 WSOP Main Event where he was a part of the largest single-day flight in series history. He was also freerolling in a way as the night before he took down Matt Stout’s Charity Series of Poker event at Planet Hollywood for a smooth $10,000, the amount it costs to buy into the WSOP Main Event.

If you’re a player you’ve no doubt been hesitant to leave the table. Maybe you’ve held it so long that when the break rolls around you’re the guy or gal making a mad dash for the restroom only to find a line already forming of those players who did skip a hand to duck out early.

A lot of players and industry veterans have come to appreciate taking a hand or two off if it means more comfort.

“I’ve long felt that most poker players undervalue intangible factors gained by leaving for the break 5 mins early,” BJ Nemeth offered. “No line for the bathrooms and a less-rushed dinner break.”

Keith Block, who came from New York to fire the Main Event, subscribed to that view.

“I hate waiting on bathrooms so badly that I find time even during the tournament, maybe when I’m two spots away from the blinds when I can skip out and take a break,” he told PokerNews. “In early position the range of hands I’ll be playing is small, a lower percentage, I’m going to be folding a lot of hands. Those are the spots that aren’t as profitable, they’re kind of neutral, so that’s a good time to take a quick break.”

Haxton: "One missed hand costs you something like 1% of a buy-in."

On the flip side, there are players like two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand, who hate missing a hand.

“I think I’ve missed a hand once in my life because I really had to go, I just ran and came back, but I try to stay as long as I can without missing a hand,” he told PokerNews on a break from the Main Event. “It’s not a luck thing, it’s just one hand could be a big hand. I think when I did go I left when I was UTG+1 so I was gone in my out-od-position hands.”

For most missing a hand is a matter of preference, but for a top pro like Ike Haxton it’s actually a mathematical calculation.

“One hand dealt to you in middle position might be worth something like 0.1bb in expectation. Day two, avg stack = 50bb = 5x starting, one missed hand costs you something like 1% of a buyin. $100 in a 10k. Can be much more later in tournament if you miss BB or BU. It matters.”

Eric Froehlich approached it in a similar manner:

@SavagePoker most people are foolish, but it's fair for the people who are there to give it 100%. If you're +EV in… https://t.co/I931VQZT6D
— eric froehlich (@efropoker)

George Danzer, the 2014 WSOP Player of the Year, was also in that boat: “Second last levele of day one at the Main Event – depending on stack sizes and players on your table you ae missing out on up to $50/hand as a decent player. Would you pay $100 to jump the piss line?”

Perhaps Brandon Shack-Harris put it best when he said: “I ascribe to the ‘Do what makes you happy’ movement.”

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