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Some questions about hedging in tournaments

Posted By: Rich Munitz
Date: Thursday, 26 February 2009, at 3:25 a.m.

In Response To: Some questions about hedging in tournaments (David Rockwell)

"4. Is it frowned upon when the clearly weaker player asks the clearly stronger player to hedge? Should only the stronger player be the one suggesting a hedge, if at all?

I think it is always OK to ask - once. Pressuring someone who has said no should certainly be frowned upon. "

I had an interesting experience of this nature at the World Championships two years ago. It was the quarterfinals. The winner was guaranteed E13000 plus more for further advancement. The loser was guaranteed nothing. My opponent who I knew to be a weaker player asked to hedge. I told him no thank you I was not interested. He kept pushing and pushing. Finally I offered to hedge with odds. It was a 21 point match and I told him I thought 2:1 odds were fair. He asked me to explain and after I did, HE got insulted. At that point I said - I'm not forcing you to bet with me, if you want to hedge go find out from the bookies what odds they'd give you for a bet on me. He sent his friend and shortly Morten Holm arrived at our table. My opponent soon found himself in a state of shock when he found out that the book also considered me a 2:1 favorite in the match. He was furious. However, he discovered that as a result of his underdog status, he could get better than even money on himself. He'll show everyone. So he pulled E500 out of his pocket handed it to Morton and bet on himself. In the end, he lost the match, got nothing, and was out an additional 500 Euro.

I generally don't hedge as it avoids any issue of what is fair. The fairest, most equitable hedge is no hedge, just as the fairest settlement of a backgammon position is to play the game to conclusion. It is simply the most volatile arrangement. But unless two players agree that they are very close in skill, or one of the players is motivated to make a concession, odds on a hedge are reasonable for discussion. The issue is whether the two players can agree on the odds.

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