Quote:
Originally Posted by ledn
Not sure why the regs would soft play each other after the whale folded. Regs arent incentivized to softplay in a 4 handed reg war why would it be any different if the whale folded utg or something? Theres no extra downside to getting stacked reg v reg, you just reload.
I think the understanding is the regs are of somewhat equal skill. So, if 5 equally skilled reg players and a whale are playing against each other, by definition when the regs play against each other postflop they are not increasing their win rate, they are just increasing their variance.
Getting stacked reg vs reg has huge downside when variance is considered. Reducing variance with no drop in win rate is huge for a reg.
When it is 5 regs and a whale, it is natural for the regs to start to softplay each other. It reduces variance. Why wouldn't they want to reduce variance?
Note, softplay doesn't have to be extreme. It doesn't mean always checking it down if the whale isn't involved. Also, it us unspoken. If some regs do not participate then the others are savy enough to pick up on that and play back. It just means less bluffing, smaller bets,etc. Why play hard in situations that by definition you are EV neutral and are just increasing rake and variance?