The Hit and Run: Is It Ruining the Game?

Nameless14 · Monday at 9:23 PM

If you win a massive pot within the first 10 minutes of sitting down, do you think it is okay to leave immediately, or is a 'hit and run' bad etiquette? Some people get really furious over 'Hit and Run' are you one of them ? 😵‍💫🤔

fundiver199 · Tuesday at 2:05 AM

I would not do that in a live cash game, but online I dont care. People can just play with someone else, if they "want their money back".

dreamer13 · Tuesday at 2:14 AM

You've already achieved your goal. Why risk it and give it all back?Think about your own benefit, not about other people's emotions.

Luvepoker · Tuesday at 7:36 AM

Is it bad etiquette to hit and run? I believe it is. But there's a way of looking at it too. It's your money. And I have to admit, you know, I've never hit and run like that. But let's say if I sat down to a $300, one two game, sat down with 300 bucks, and I got into a wild hand fairly quick in that 10-minute span. Somehow after the hand is over, I've got, say, 1,300 in front of me. Would I get up and leave? You know, if I had just landed in Vegas, my trip is now paid for. Yeah, I could still spend money and do things, but my hotel, my airfare, you know, I think I would probably get up and leave fairly quick. Would I get up right after the hand? No. I might just sit there and donate the blinds once. But I gotta admit, you know, it may be bad etiquette, but, you know, if the money means something to you, you know, there are people out there who don't make a lot of money. You know, they take one shot and get that. You know, it's hard to begrudge them the hit and run like that. I mean, I'm sorry. You know, we do love this game. But I think we have to understand for some people, something like this could mean something to them.

fundiver199 · Tuesday at 8:12 AM

Luvepoker said:
Is it bad etiquette to hit and run? I believe it is. But there's a way of looking at it too. It's your money. And I have to admit, you know, I've never hit and run like that. But let's say if I sat down to a $300, one two game, sat down with 300 bucks, and I got into a wild hand fairly quick in that 10-minute span. Somehow after the hand is over, I've got, say, 1,300 in front of me. Would I get up and leave? You know, if I had just landed in Vegas, my trip is now paid for. Yeah, I could still spend money and do things, but my hotel, my airfare, you know, I think I would probably get up and leave fairly quick. Would I get up right after the hand? No. I might just sit there and donate the blinds once. But I gotta admit, you know, it may be bad etiquette, but, you know, if the money means something to you, you know, there are people out there who don't make a lot of money. You know, they take one shot and get that. You know, it's hard to begrudge them the hit and run like that. I mean, I'm sorry. You know, we do love this game. But I think we have to understand for some people, something like this could mean something to them.

I think, this might happen a lot in low stakes live cash games. A lot of people play these for fun now and then, and they dont really have a bankroll. So maybe they are willing to risk their original $300 to have some fun, because there is no cheaper game, they can play. But they are not willing to risk $1.300, because that money could actully buy them a new phone or laptop or whatever, and this is more important to them.

And in that case they will get up and leave, regardless if this makes someone else mad. Personally I would probably do, as you suggest, and stay for a few orbits just to make the "hit and run" less obvious and allow the players, who got stacked, some time to get over it emotionally. But if I was not a regular in that game, and it was a public game in a casino, I would definitely not feel any obligation to stay for several hours and play for more money, than I was comfortable with.

skaterick · Tuesday at 11:30 AM

i won't leave a live game right away if my stack gets big quickly . that said , i will tightened up considerably and take off soon after . if a bad player gets lucky and leaves with lots of winnings it will annoy me for sure , unless the game still has lots of crazy gamblers .however , a strong player leaving with winnings would be a blessing in my view .

WrongUsername · Tuesday at 11:50 AM

it´s the person option if they want run or not.

monkeytilter · Tuesday at 12:07 PM

I think live it's a very bad thing, at least play a few "courtesy" orbits.
I'd imagine if you hit and run regularly in live games you'd get a reputation and quite possibly a car park confrontation eventually.

Online, don't the sites take measures to prevent hit and running? Like reseating you with your departing stack if you return within a certain time?
I'm not sure how it works for rush/zoom - will it result in a T&C/TOS breach if taken too far?

eberetta1 · Tuesday at 12:09 PM

I would stay an orbit or two. A white lie would not hurt either. Something along the line of... 'my wife is gonna kill me for being out this long. I am supposed to be on my way back to the hotel room with her food 20 minutes ago'. You get the idea.

finaltable1 · Tuesday at 12:12 PM

A few years ago, I was playing live poker at a casino in Innsbruck, Austria, with €2-5 blinds.

To get a sense of what the game was like.. it was NL500, but most players sat down at with 1.5-2K, with average opening at 10 BBs or more
I was there like some sort of homeless with just a 100 BB buy-in.

my 3rd or 4th hand at the table... I got JQs in a 4way pot, and I flopped a spade flush

vs AK with K of spades
vs AQ and A of spades
vs TT who hit a set

There was a lot of action on the flop I pushed all-in on the turn, and the biard was fun.. just two brick on the turn and river.
So I played about 10 more hands and walked away with a profit of about 1.5K..
On the ext day, around the same time ))) I went there again for more food... )))))))
these Austrian fellas greeted me with something like "Hello mr Firefly" and continued calling me Firefly all evening!
Later when I got up from the table, my friends translated what Fahrerflucht means = hit and run...
I think they still remember me, just like I remember those who did it, but it's part of the game, there's nothing good or bad about it, it's just that some players might do it to irritate others.

Station_Master · 2026-08-19T13:28:26-0400

dreamer13 said:
You've already achieved your goal. Why risk it and give it all back?Think about your own benefit, not about other people's emotions.

Because there is no reason to think you would give it back on average as a winning player. Also you might just give it back next session. Cash games are just one long session, so the hit and run makes no sense anyway

my_world_myway9 · 2026-08-19T17:41:06-0400

imho, If I needed to get up after wining a big hand, I wouldn't care what they thought! You are not there to care about their feelings and you know they wouldn't care about yours! Also, the suggestions about staying for a few hands, I disagree because that will be when you will get KK and it will be hard to fold and they will something like A 6 os and hit an A on the river! So no no, get up and run if you want they will get over it and you probably will never see them again anyways! good luck!

Nameless14 · 2026-08-20T03:39:24-0400

Luvepoker said:
Is it bad etiquette to hit and run? I believe it is. But there's a way of looking at it too. It's your money. And I have to admit, you know, I've never hit and run like that. But let's say if I sat down to a $300, one two game, sat down with 300 bucks, and I got into a wild hand fairly quick in that 10-minute span. Somehow after the hand is over, I've got, say, 1,300 in front of me. Would I get up and leave? You know, if I had just landed in Vegas, my trip is now paid for. Yeah, I could still spend money and do things, but my hotel, my airfare, you know, I think I would probably get up and leave fairly quick. Would I get up right after the hand? No. I might just sit there and donate the blinds once. But I gotta admit, you know, it may be bad etiquette, but, you know, if the money means something to you, you know, there are people out there who don't make a lot of money. You know, they take one shot and get that. You know, it's hard to begrudge them the hit and run like that. I mean, I'm sorry. You know, we do love this game. But I think we have to understand for some people, something like this could mean something to them.

I can see your point. Winning this kind of prize is a life changing sum, so I can see how you would defend it if it was yours. I know I'd stick around for a bit to see how it played out before I left. It's your money though, so it's your call to make in the end. 😄♠️

Nameless14 · 2026-08-20T03:42:48-0400

finaltable1 said:
A few years ago, I was playing live poker at a casino in Innsbruck, Austria, with €2-5 blinds.

To get a sense of what the game was like.. it was NL500, but most players sat down at with 1.5-2K, with average opening at 10 BBs or more
I was there like some sort of homeless with just a 100 BB buy-in.

my 3rd or 4th hand at the table... I got JQs in a 4way pot, and I flopped a spade flush

vs AK with K of spades
vs AQ and A of spades
vs TT who hit a set

There was a lot of action on the flop I pushed all-in on the turn, and the biard was fun.. just two brick on the turn and river.
So I played about 10 more hands and walked away with a profit of about 1.5K..
On the ext day, around the same time ))) I went there again for more food... )))))))
these Austrian fellas greeted me with something like "Hello mr Firefly" and continued calling me Firefly all evening!
Later when I got up from the table, my friends translated what Fahrerflucht means = hit and run...
I think they still remember me, just like I remember those who did it, but it's part of the game, there's nothing good or bad about it, it's just that some players might do it to irritate others.

Haha yeah that's a good story 😂. I love that they gave you a nickname for it without telling you what it stood for. Probably helped that you just played another ten hands before laying low but after you had got that pot I can't blame you for taking the profit home. Seems like they definitley remembered you! 😄♠️

Bitmaniac · 2026-08-20T04:16:37-0400

Wow I always hit and run even when I'm not satisfied cause I know I'm going to lose all back cause after a bad beat consider all gone

Oxinthewater · 2026-08-20T05:49:59-0400

I think it's 100% your choice, assuming you're talking a public setting like a casino. I'd probably stay on for a few courtesy orbits as others have suggested, but I don't think you owe the table anything.

For a private game where people are expecting on people playing, it's obviously different and I think it'd be off here to leave straight away. That said, I've always played private games in tournament format anyway.

fundiver199 · 2026-08-20T06:25:03-0400

Station_Master said:
Because there is no reason to think you would give it back on average as a winning player. Also you might just give it back next session. Cash games are just one long session, so the hit and run makes no sense anyway

I agree, that winning players should not think about the result of individual sessions including "locking up a win". But it can still make sense to leave a table, if we end up playing very deep against tough players on our left but shallow against the fish, because they bought in for the minimum. So even for a winning player with plenty of bankroll a "hit and run" might sometimes be a good strategy. It could also be, that the players, you stacked, were the weakest at the table, and now there are only strong players left.

Bipin07 · 2026-08-20T07:05:54-0400

Im not one of them.n

yes, it can hurt the game by reducing action and trust. Just a thought

The Hit and Run: Is It Ruining the Game?

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