If you’re getting on a bit, the term ‘rabbit hunting’ probably takes you back to the old kid’s cartoons.
Remember Elmer Fudd trying desperately to turn Bug’s Bunny into a ‘wabbit stew’?
Needless to say, a rabbit hunt in poker involves slightly fewer carrots.
What Is Rabbit Hunting Poker?
A Rabbit hunt is a simple idea involving the five community cards in Texas Hold’em.
As those familiar with the game will know, these cards are revealed over three betting rounds: the flop, turn, and river.
But there are many pots that don’t involve a full 5-card poker board.
If everyone folds to a flop bet, for example, just three community cards would have been revealed, and the hand would be over. The dealer will then collect and shuffle the deck for the next hand, and the turn and river will remain a mystery forever.
Well, officially, anyway…
However, there’s a way to peak at the rest of the board after a hand is finished. This feature is a ‘rabbit hunt’ and allows players to see what cards would have come had the hand continued.
Since the hand is over, there are no betting rounds during a rabbit hunt. The result of the hand will not change, even if a player outdraws another.
Rabbit Hunting in Casinos
Although rabbit hunting is new in the online poker world, it's not a new idea, having been around for a long time in live games. Here, players can ask the dealer to run the rest of the board; if nobody minds, the dealer will do so.
While casinos facilitate it, there isn’t an official rabbit hunt poker rule. It is more of a ‘gentleman’s agreement’. If the winner of the hand doesn’t want to see the rest of the board (or let the other players see it), they can say no.
The dealer will keep the cards concealed, shuffle the deck and move on to the next poker hand.
Declining a rabbit hunt doesn't make you too many friends, though.
Why Play Rabbit Hunt Poker?
Since the cards are inconsequential, rabbit hunts might seem like a waste of time, so why do so many players enjoy them?
Though you might see players betting on rabbit hunt poker cards occasionally, most people rabbit hunt in poker to validate their decisions or settle their curiosity.
As H.P Lovecraft said,” …the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown". So much in poker involves incomplete information.
- Did you make the right fold?
- Would you have hit a flush?
- Could you have won a huge pot?
These questions can torment many players, especially with real money on the line. Rabbit hunting allows them to get a sense of closure, which can help some people feel better.
When You Have a Draw
You’ll mostly see people playing rabbit hunting poker when they have a big draw, and for good reason.
Picture this: You played 69s for a laugh, and the flop has a sense of humour. You count on your fingers, "Six, seven, eight, nine…" You're open-ended, and your belly starts fizzing!
Like walking through your university arches for the first time, you’re overcome with a sense of excitement and potential. The world is your oyster if you can just ca….. never mind!
Your opponent just jammed for 3x the pot; Time to fold.
Annoying right? Like relatives at Christmas, stubbing a toe, or paying taxes, having to fold a good draw is one of the most annoying things a poker player can do.
There’s just something so seductive about making a straight or flush – a straight flush could even put you in the running for a bad beat jackpot. Rabbit hunting allows you to see whether you would have done so.
A draw will usually be an underdog, so you'll usually miss it and feel better about your fold.
The Dangers of Rabbit Hunting
Rabbit hunting poker can be dangerous for people who struggle with tilt or have a poor understanding of the game’s maths.
Though a rabbit hunt doesn’t change the result, some players lose their minds if they discover they would have hit their draw. They’ll begrudge missing the chance to win a big pot, even if they made the right decision in folding.
Therefore, playing rabbit hunt poker is a double-edged sword for many amateur players.
Why It Doesn’t Matter If You Would Have Won
Undoubtedly, a rabbit hunt can be comforting if the runout supports your decision. But how do you handle missing an opportunity to win a huge pot?
The best way to deal with this outcome is to familiarise yourself with poker maths. That’s not something we’re going to go into too much now.
The short answer is that poker is all about the long term, and the results of any specific hand are just one small part of it.
Results can vary a lot over a few hands, but they will even out in time.
Say you were asked to bet on the colour of the ball you’d pull out of a bag with two red balls and one yellow ball. The right decision would be to bet on red since it would win 67% of the time.
Even if you were to pull yellow and lose the bet, you'd still have made the right decision. The most likely events happen more often, so you'd usually pick a red ball in this game.
The times you win and lose in any rabbit hunt are proportionate to what is expected in the long term. If you kept replacing the ball from the example above and repeated the bet forever, you’d win 67% of the time, making a lot of money in the process.
This is how poker works and how the pros consistently win big world poker tournaments.
In each situation in poker, there are a range of possible runouts, and they all have to happen at some time.
As Murphy’s Law states, ‘anything that can go wrong, will go wrong’, and strong players know this.
They understand that losing is part of the process and that they will outdraw their opponent as often as mathematically determined. They appreciate that the hand was over as soon as they folded, and the turn and river only matter when they are in play.
Rabbit hunting is pointless to strong players. While they might take a look out of curiosity, their focus is on the quality of their decisions.
Goods decision will outdraw any poker variance and win them more money in the long run.
How to Gain an Advantage from Rabbit Hunting
In the live arena, a request for a rabbit hunt can be an opportunity for better players to tilt their opposition and gain an advantage. Declining tends to annoy people, which can compound the doubts they have about their decision in the hand.
This action can get into their heads and make them easier to beat, especially if they take it personally. It can cause them to play poorly against you specifically.
May the rabbit-rabbit poker gods be with you!
See Also
Fish, Turn, River, Community Cards, Draw
