Is the hit and run strategy considered bad etiquette?

That's the other thing I guess - if you're hit and running, you're not really showing a great deal of confidence in your own playing ability. Surely having a bigger stack will give you a better chance to keep winning chips? If it puts you above the maximum buy-in for the table, you've got an instant advantage over anyone new that sits down.

If you hit big then stay at the table - you will find players show more respect to your bets and raises! Like yesterday, I went to 2 5/10 table and built up a roll of about $50/$60 at each table and found people were respecting my bets more allowing me to get away with more!

The only way I will leave the table straight away after hitting big is if I donk chips as you will loose table respect!

I personally wouldnt wait, and I never understood why you would.
Unless you are stupid your not going to give them a chance to win it back, that would just be silly.
They can piss and moan all they want, I would too, but only b/c I lost that much to a stupid player who shouldnt have been in the hand in the first place. Not b/c they wouldnt give it back....

See, this is what I don't understand: what you're effectively saying is that you don't think you're capable of using what you've won already to win even more.

Surely if you were good enough to win one big lump of cash from a table, you're good enough to win another one. Why does it have to be inevitable that you end up giving them their money back if you stay at the table?

Maybe it's a cash game player thing that I'll never understand because I'm a tournament hack?

I couldn't agree with you more, Oz. When I'm at a table and someone hits a big pot and takes off, the first thing that crosses my mind is, "Well, I guess he figures that's as good as it gets, so he better take off before he gives it all back." And if all the defenders of the hit-and-run here in this thread were honest, that's exactly what's going through their minds, too, when they bolt the table. It's just another mark of the donk, in my book. You're not good enough to sustain your winnings, and you know it. Now that you've pulled the quick vanishing act, so does everyone else.

Here is a thought thread: I am playing with donks and just hit it lucky. If I stay around they are going to go all in again with 72 and take my winnings back. I can't rat-hole, but if I leave and start another table with my original stack, I have put the winnings in the bank. There are PLENTY of on-line tables.

If you're "playing with donks" and "just hit it lucky", I would take a long, hard look in the mirror. Why would you have to get lucky to drag a pot from donks? You can't take candy from babies? A table full of donks is a real poker player's dream! You don't leave it, you exploit it.

The kryptonite for the donks, and the key to snowballing that "lucky" pot, is to sit tight, play tight, don't put any moves on those upon whom they're wasted, wait for the big hand, and enjoy the turkey shoot. If the cards go ice cold on you, and you can't find a spot to play in three or four orbits, move on.

I didn't exactly hit and run, but I decided to play PLO .25/.50 for about an hour or so to waste time before I head off to bed. Well, after sitting I got a low wrap first hand and I hit my straight, turn made a boat, river made my opponents flush and he sent $20 my way. Two hands later I had AAJT-ds... same opponent had KK in hand and wanted me heads up... so there came the rest of his $30 stack. So I was sitting with over $70 after 3 hands.

I decided it was time for me to leave.

The only reason hit-and-running could be +EV is if you're a bad deepstack player. Otherwise, whether you hit and run 50 times over 5 hours or stay at a table for 5 hours at a time, your EV will be almost completely unchanged (assuming external factors such as quality of opponent and tiredness remain constant).

The thing is, you want to be playing deepstacked against bad players who themselves have deep stacks, for the obvious reason that you're playing for more money when playing for stacks, and when playing bad players you're more likely to be ahead than not.

If you're hit-and-running, I wouldn't worry too much about etiquette (and although I agree with people who have said it's an asshole-ish move I'm not going to lecture anyone, heh), and worry more about exactly why you're hit-and-running. Do you find yourself uncomfortable with such a big stack after doubling up? Maybe you're playing under-bankrolled. Do you not know how to play with >200BB effective stacks? Read up on deepstack theory.

Its not that you dont think you can win more, its odds. kinda like NO WHAMMY NO WHAMMY STOP!!! Odds are the more hands that you win in a row the closer you are to a losing streak.

So you stayed in to win more money right, then you get pocket aces (since you are only playing good hands), the person in front of you goes all in... with say sevens... you call, two sevens flop and your done for. now sure, you had more than they did and it didnt take you down to bad but you lost.... sometimes you dont have control over it, and if you think you do you havent played enough poker.

That is great and all, but what if you are in a tourney and can't leave the table?

Too many (among them decent players) here seem to be saying "Thou shalt not hit and run."

This, I think is coming from those who are looking at "the problem" in the light of long-term, serious cash game poker sessions.

For me, there are at least 3 times when the hit and run strategy is perfectly acceptable:

1) When your all-in aggressive play wipes out the stacks of all the fish/bad players - who then leave the table - and you have stayed long enough to realise that the other players are solid.

2) When you realise 100% that you are playing badly (usually when you are tired) and are gambling away some loose change at the micro/low-limit tables.

3) Precisely because you believe that you are out of your depth, just got frustrated and then lucky and really really shouldn't have just gone all-in with those pair of 3s in middle position pre-flop.

I usually dont hit and run but if you do I see no problem with it, I dont pay attention to people names long enough to know who does it and hell I got pokertracker to keep track of the important stuff about the players anyway.

so I did hit in run in a 1/2 game today and a .25/.50 game, both times I doubled up and left buying in at the bare minimum of $10 and $40 respectivly. I have been trying the shortstack strategy and see how it goes, I could buy in deeper but like I said was trying something. If someone wants to take it personal that is their problem. I know I could care less if someone hits and runs on me, I will either search them out or just forget about it. There are tons of players online why get mad about one that hits and runs?

Leaving when all the bad players have no more money and all that is left are rocks is not hit and run, it's good table selection. Leaving when you are tired and feel that you are not your peak is also good discipline/table selection (mybe you'll just switch game or go to bed).

Leaving because you are afraid of losing the big pot you just took down is cowardly and disrespectful, especially at highish stakes (5/10 PLO). At a limit table (unless nosebleed HU), it's not much of a hassle since villain will get 7-8BB max from you if he wins while he'll be more likely to stay if he is losing and will donate way more than that.

I agree that at micros, plenty of fish to go around so why bother. And people tend to play for shorter amounts of time too, so maybe they're not really hit and running on you.

Sorry, but this makes no sense. Your pocket aces have the same odds of winning regardless of what happened on the last hand: odds don't have an inbuilt sense of fairness and equality. What you've said is the equivalent of "the roulette ball is going to land on black next, because it landed on red last time"

If you hang around are you going to get sucked out on some of the time? Of course. But it's no more or less likely just because you took a big pot off someone on the previous orbit.

if youre playing live cash game and you like double up on the first hand i doubt you would pack up and leave.. But online games are much different , youll never see any1 again probably..

First of all, very nice pot. It's always nice to add a big one to the bankroll. Your first priority is to keep your money ( Because now it IS your money )
I play more stud poker than holdem so Im seeing the same people again and again. Im inclined to sit awhile, see what cards I can cheaply and enjoy the game. People who see you as a good player who doesnt bail out right off will be more inclined to give you some more of thier money next time. If I play back 10% conservatively, I gain the respect and Im out way ahead both now and at a future time.

Zackery - what's the saying? You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once

i made a post about it didnt get much feedback but i will say it depends on what you want to do really when you got a small bank roll of like 20-30 thats what i would do if you play limits 0.01/0.02 i found that it is pretty good but once you get to the 0.05/0.10 its pretty good just to sit and relax and play premium hands. if you got a 300 dollar bank roll i would mabey try to hit and run off the 0.25/0.50 tables that may be usefull too i dont know i just started to do it off of a low bankroll on pokerstars it's good doing it there like i said im not sure about 0.25/0.50 i know the 0.01/0.02 are easy to get 10 cents to do a hit and run but higher limits i dont know you can also try to play good hands play 30 hands if your up go a head and leave hit and runs don't mean you gatta do it on just one hand you can just wait till your up even allitle and play many hands. like i said i also am new to this whole hit and run thing so good luck.