Explanation of Last Longer
A last longer bet is a wager to see who can last the longest in a knockout tournament. The odds might typically be 1:1, but players can offer any odds they see fit.
This type of wager is made between two individuals and has nothing to do with the tournament prize-pool itself.
Perhaps if the buyin of a tournament is on the low side, two players might decide to make things interesting by placing a sufficiently large last longer bet on the side.
Example of Last Longer used in a sentence -> The stakes of the tournament were quite low so we decided to make a last longer bet to keep things interesting.
How to Use Last Longer as Part of Your Poker Strategy
Last longer bets technically change the strategy that should be employed in a tournament. Last longer bets technically force players into a somewhat complex world where two competing ICM strategies are incentivized. (The regular ICM modelling for the tournament itself and the individual ICM modelling for the last longer bet.)
In other words, sometimes a play might be correct in the context of the tournament, but incorrect in the context of the last longer bet. The play which takes precedent will depend on the relationship between the value of the tournament and the value of the last longer bet.
So for example, if the last longer bet is extremely large relative to the tournament, winning the last longer bet takes precedent. On the other hand, if the last longer bet is miniscule with respect to the ICM value of our tournament chip stack, the correct tournament play needs to be made.
If we find that the value of our tournament life and the value of our last longer bet are similar, we find ourselves in some sort of murky grey area. Then again, this also means it ultimately matters little which of the two we prioritise.
Like all other types of wager, last longer bets should mostly only be considered if we feel we have an edge, or that taking the bet is incentivized by the offered odds. Perhaps last longer bets should be avoided in important tournaments (such as WSOP main event) where players don’t want a conflict of interests preventing them from being able to take down the title (but this is simply a suggestion).
