Definition of runner-up
The term runner-up is mostly used in poker tournaments. The player who wins the tournament is the champion and the player who finishes second is the runner-up. Finishing runner-up is a situation that can cause a lot of frustration for poker players. On the one hand, the runner-up finishes in 2nd place in a tournament for a lot of money, so that's good, but on the other hand, finishing as a runner-up makes you feel that you came so close to winning.
Why is it frustrating to finish runner-up?
Let's take the 2019 World Series of Poker main event as an example. In this event, the majority of the money was concentrated on the final table. The majority of the money awarded to the tournament's prize winners was on the final table. The runner-up in this event was Dario Sammartino who won $6 million USD. The winner, Hossein Ensa, took home $10 million USD, almost double! The gap between the first and the second place in terms of poker money is big. Of course, we have to put it into perspective and say that it is a good result to win 6 million dollars in a poker tournament, but when you are so close to the goal...