Hart Race Hold \"Em

Introduction

Kevin Hart's Hold 'em is an interesting poker variant from DraftKings where you compete against a digital version of Kevin Hart who always goes all in. As the player, you can choose to go all in or fold at your discretion, but to balance the game, Kevin starts with double your chips.

Rules

The game adheres to the standard Texas Hold 'Em rules, which I expect you are already acquainted with. However, here are some key terms:

• Dealer — The role of the dealer refers to the position that plays last rather than the individual physically distributing the cards.
• Small Blind — This is a mandatory bet. In this game, it involves placing one chip by the player not dealing.
• Big Blind — This is another mandatory wager. In this game, it consists of two chips and is placed by the dealing player.
• All In — This indicates a bet that matches the total number of chips a player has in front of them, minus the chips already in play.

1. The game builds upon the familiar structure of Texas Hold 'Em, which I presume you are aware of.
2. It's set up as a poker tournament format where the objective is to be the player who gathers all the chips first.
3. You will be competing against a video representation of Kevin Hart in this tournament.
4. The player begins with a stack of 80 chips, while Kevin starts with 160.
5. The responsibility for dealing cards alternates randomly between players.
6. The player who is not dealing places a one-chip bet as the small blind, while the dealer contributes two chips as the big blind.
7. If the player is the one dealing, Kevin will always go all in, and the player then has the option to call or fold their two-chip big blind bet.
8. Conversely, if Kevin is the dealer, he too goes all in, allowing the player to decide whether to call or fold on the one-chip small blind.
9. In the case where the player loses with a full house, while both utilize their two hole cards, the player automatically wins the tournament, with payouts allocated as follows:
   • Four of a kind or better — 1000 to 1
   • Full house with three aces — 100 to 1
   • All other full houses — 10 to 1

10. According to the bad beat rule, if a card is considered deprecated, the hand will then count as a standard loss for the player. For example, consider the following scenario:

    • Player: QQ
    • Kevin: KK
    • Board: AAAQ5

    In this instance, the player experiences a bad beat, losing with AAAQQ against AAAKK. However, it’s ambiguous if the player's two queens played a role. Any two of the three queens could contribute to their hand. In this case, one of the player’s queens must have been used, but the other is deprecated, meaning it corresponds to a card on the board; thus it doesn't matter which queen actually determines the best hand. Since both player queens weren't needed to form the winning hand, they don’t qualify for the bad beat payout.

11. Otherwise, barring a win via a bad beat, if the player secures victory in the tournament, their wager returns an even payout.

Strategy

Although this game may appear straightforward, devising the best strategy is quite complex. Several factors must be taken into account:

• Your own cards
• You must consider whether you are playing as the small or big blind (with the latter holding more risk for folding).
• Stack sizes.

To conquer this game—or any tournament where you have an edge—the key is to gradually diminish your opponent's stack by consistently starting with stronger hands. With 240 chips in play, things can get precarious when both players have around half of the total, as Kevin might capitalize on favorable community cards. As the stronger player, you have the luxury of time on your side and should adopt a cautious approach. Conversely, Kevin, as the weaker player, should adopt a more aggressive stance, taking bigger risks in hopes of striking it big.

However, it’s essential to note that the larger your smaller stack is, the more conservatively you should approach the game. If either side is running low on chips, you may not need to be overly selective about the hands you play.

This table below illustrates the likelihood of winning, losing, and tying across all 169 potential starting hand combinations. The expected value represents the chance of winning minus the chance of losing. While it may not point directly to the perfect strategy for this game, consider it as a foundational starting point.

The great news is that DraftKings generously provides tailored strategies based on your hands, stack sizes, and whether you are the small or big blind. You can easily access this information by navigating to settings (the gear icon) and selecting 'pay table.'

-0.060000

The subsequent table, conveniently supplied by DraftKings, outlines the probabilities for all possible outcomes, assuming you follow an optimal strategy. The bottom right cell reveals a house edge of 1.73%.

3/6 unsuited

Enjoy this video showcasing a tournament I participated in.

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• 3/7 unsuited -0.267955
• 3/8 unsuited -0.250324

3/9 unsuited -0.199610