@the9813
Besides the mind game differences, there is also a difference in probability.
In the 2nd round, these are the main outcomes as the player vs the banker:
If you duel:
1) You win because the Banker thought you would certain pass, and picked your 1st round direction.
2) You win because the Banker picked the other dueling option you had.
3) You lose because the Banker picked the dueling option you picked.
If you certain pass:
1) You win because the Banker picked the first of your two dueling options, so you get another certain pass for round 3.
2) You win because the Banker picked the second of your two dueling options, so you get another certain pass for round 3.
3) You have to duel in a 50/50 scenario in the 3rd round because the Banker picked your 1st round direction.
Assuming the Banker picks options equally (ignoring mind games), this means:
Choosing to duel = you get a 66% chance to win, if you fail, you lose.
Choosing the certain pass = you get a 66% chance to win, if you fail, you get another 50% chance to win in the 3rd round.
So choosing the certain pass is better, which is probably why everyone was so surprised at BK not choosing it in the first round.
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@Jonui
Referee Ikon mentioned earlier that he would make sure that the bios bet won't go over the banker's wallet.
For banker strategies, I was actually thinking of a way to improve BK's strategy, which already has close to a 75% win rate, to get it to 100%, and I came up with this:
What if BK makes a deal with the banker and promises to leak the top player's direction, and in exchange, makes the Banker promise not to choose his directions? So he'll get a 100% win rate, and the 'price' would be, the difference in bios bet from the top player and BK. This would make it so BK would always win. Though the top player will get suspicious if he always loses in the 1st round, and also the top player would need to bet a bit more in order to make it worthwhile for the banker.
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@Bosscrab
That would be a pretty good strategy! It doesn't seem like it's against the rules, but even if it is, I don't think Ikon is even looking at the other slaves behind the banker, so he probably wouldn't be able to catch it.
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PS: Batch should be starting by tomorrow latest!