AutoSeat
Let’s cut out some of the steps standing between you and poker.
When you open the Run It Once lobby, you’ll have the option to choose the stakes you’d like to play.
Auto Seat Example
Click on €50* No Limit Hold’em, and a modal will pop up where you can toggle the number of tables you want to join. Click “Okay, Buy In” and you’re at the table.
*Spoiler: We’ve chosen the euro as our in-game currency.
No scouting tables; no seating scripts to contend with or to decide whether to use. Just click twice and you’re playing poker.
“But wait, Phil,” some of you are thinking, “you skipped the part where I choose how much to buy in with.”
Good catch, but actually, I didn’t!
€50 No Limit Hold’em
Many of us refer to €0.25/€0.50 as "€50NL" and €5/€10 as "€1k NL," but on most sites that’s not actually what they mean; the buy-in is variable.
On Run It Once, €50 NL means €50 NL. The blinds are €0.25/€0.50 and the buy-in is €50.
Click on 50
At €1k NL, the blinds are €5/€10 and the buy-in is €1000. Simple enough, right?
This quick, clear buy-in process aligns with the experience we are trying to achieve at Run It Once Poker. I’ve tested it, and it feels good.
Like any policy choice, there are upsides and downsides. The main downside people jump to is “Recs like to buy in short.”
Anecdotally, it does seem that many recreational players, especially the pure beginners, tend to buy-in short. I’m sure they each have their own reasons for it, and I won’t pretend to know what all those reasons are.
I don’t believe that many players will be deterred by clicking on “€50 No Limit Hold’em” and then being forced to buy in for €50. I also don’t expect many to look at the blinds (which will also be shown in the lobby) and say “these are too low” and quit.
I could be wrong about both of these things, and if it becomes a problem, like everything else, we can adjust.
One benefit of a 100bb buy-in is that it forces bankroll management onto the type of recreational player who normally just plays the highest game they’re able to. Rather than 2 tabling with 80-100bb total, they’ll need to drop down in stakes and 2 table with 200 total big blinds. This leads to deposits lasting longer, which for most will mean a better experience. (I concede, some will prefer the quicker gamble of shorter stacks - pros and cons)
Arguably the strongest positive to a fixed buy-in system relates to the removal of the main advantages that come with short-stacking and ratholing; more potential edges that pros have to choose whether or not to take advantage of when sitting at a table that allows a range of buy-in options.
To be clear: there is nothing remotely unethical about shortstacking, and although I find ratholing very annoying personally, if people are operating within the rules to do it, I can’t call it wrong. We just want something different for our playing experience.
We believe in the beauty of poker. We don’t want it to be about deciding whether or not to maximize your edge by exploiting technicalities. We just want you to show up and play.
Pure Poker
On the major sites, players have to make a lot of decisions about what they want to use to increase their advantage and what they’d rather not. These things run the gamut from completely ethical to outright breaking the rules:
Table Selection
Seat Selection
HUDs
Short-stacking
Bumhunting
Seating Scripts
Ratholing
Datamining
Multi-accounting
To the professionals:
Don’t worry about picking the best table, about finding the perfect seat and then buying in for the right amount based on the makeup of the table and your opponents’ stack sizes. Don’t worry about designing a HUD for our games or about whether or not to use a seating script. Don’t spend half of your mental energy staring at the lobby. Don’t fear being exploited by multi-accounters and dataminers.
In the same way that the players torn about how much time to take in MTTs enjoy that burden being lifted by a shot clock, let us handle improving the experience for everyone else so that you don’t need to decide whether or not to play your part.
To the recreational players:
Don’t worry about pros having a huge informational advantage over you, or about your results being made public. Enjoy not being hunted, not being targeted and attacked in the same way you are on other sites. Enjoy the extra information on your opponents and their play styles, all delivered within a nice, clean interface.
To everyone:
Relax and enjoy the ability to focus on what made you love poker in the first place: the actual game of poker. Have fun!
Open our lobby, pick your games, and just play.