Quote:
Originally Posted by rh300487
About your question. Personally, yeah. with normal (most common) 50/50 deal. I'm rather down to 60K then have 100K and be -40K in makeup.
Cause when we win again, we keep 100% and since we should be profitable enough in the games we select to play, we win more in the long run for this to have a way higher EV.
If you're down from 100k to 60k you need to either drop down in stakes or sell action to bring your risk of ruin back to the level it was when you had 100k, otherwise your expectation drops. The backed player has the same risk of ruin whether he is 40k in makeup or 40k profit, provided his backer has the roll to take on the risk. If he gets too deep in makeup, he may get coached, get a deal to play lower stakes for a reduced makeup figure, get sold for a reduced figure, or dropped all together. In none of these situations does his expectation change for the worse unless he gets dropped or forced to play lower stakes, neither of which are that common under a good backing deal because savvy backers recognize the value of makeup.
I think you guys who believe being backed is more stressful than being on your own are huffing paint or something. I realize we all perceive things differently, but you're saying a proposition with 0 risk of ruin is more stressful than one with a nonzero RoR and that's absurd. Just because a lot of people think it's more stressful doesn't mean it really is. How many of the people complaining about the stresses of being backed can say with high confidence that they can beat the stakes they play with enough volume to make a living (not an existence) after chopping with their backer? For every one guy who walks the walk and talks the talk there's at least ten clowns who have no business being backed complaining about million buy-in downers because they took shots at wcoop, etc. when their abi is $20. Most of the people who are burning the furniture because they're in makeup and have no income probably shouldn't be playing poker for a living.
The majority of people don't get backed because they think it's a sound business decision that aligns with their personal financial goals - they get backed because they are broke and want to play poker or they are too impatient, lazy, and egotistical to play 180s for a couple of months and build a roll. These kinds of people categorically seek opportunities for fast cash, and when backers are willing to put horses in big series' with abi's 8-20 times the horse's usual with 1500-9000 entries, there's going to be a handful of huge winners and the rest are left to grind it out, dreaming of what might have been and anxiously awaiting the next big series so they can get their "one time". This creates askewness which leads people to believe being backed is somehow more stressful. Since the sample of backed players is overwhelmingly populated with people who have financial woes before they even get into the deal, it's not surprising at all that more of them are stressed, depressed, burned out on poker, etc. Combine this with the fact that so many backers are just as ignorant as their horses with regards to game selection/player management, and yeah, backing is stressful. When one person who can't find his ass with both hands goes into business with another with the same ailment, there's going to be a lot of headaches.
It seems like people are assuming backers are inflexible, etc. but that makeup is worth a lot to your backer and if you're getting to the point where you may not be able to continue playing they'll likely work with you if they are made aware of the issue. There's nothing that says the current deal can't be paused or adjusted temporarily to help the horse. But again, the people who get backed are generally not very smart about things, so they won't say anything to their backer about their financial woes until the last minute. Or worse, they'll say nothing and either go broke and force the backer into an awkward spot where he has to support the player or cut him and give up the equity. Or the player will just steal from the backer.
The player who is on his own with 100k, drops 40k, wins 2k one day and cashes it out for expenses is making a number of fundamental risk management errors, and the fact that there are people who really believe and practice that exact philosophy proves MTTs aren't dead.
Last edited by CBorders; 01-03-2013 at 12:32 AM.