Endgame Voting Concepts

## Introduction

The details of properly executing and respond to votes can get fairly complex throughout the course of a mafia game. However, in certain scenarios, especially endgame (i.e. LYLO/MYLO) you can learn some concepts/rules of thumb to help you quickly understand and avoid pitfalls that might result in an immediate loss.

While these concepts are framed in the context of endgame scenarios, they are still somewhat applicable in earlier stages of the game, just not as paramount. In early game these help to provide focus and coordination for town. In endgame they help to avoid almost-certain loss.

Hopefully by learning some of these concepts, you will be able to more quickly navigate endgame voting scenarios, and more quickly understand the most common gameplay patterns.

## Concepts

These are some voting concepts that are most commonly useful *and* missed by players:

* Do Not Vote Prematurely
* Don't Vote at the Last Second
* Do Let Voted Players Vote First
* Don't Spread Votes Too Thin
* Do Vote Together with Confirmed Town

### Do Not Vote Prematurely

In LYLO, a single incorrect vote can decide the game. You shouldn't want this to be yourself. While this concept mostly applies to LYLO, it can apply to MYLO as well, but votes can't be hammered as easily without a minimum of two town voting incorrectly as opposed to just one.

Whether you are the first vote or one of the last, never vote before you are sure the vote you are making is one you are comfortable with and willing to end the game on (in the case you are wrong). No matter which order you vote in, your vote could be the last one necessary for the remaining mafia to hammer and decide the day, so you need to treat your vote in LYLO as if it were a final decision.

Sometimes you are able to change your vote, that typically means both votes were either correct, and/or mafia did not feel comfortable/coordinated enough to execute a quickhammer.

Additionally, even when the entirety of town is 100% confident that the current vote is correct, there is value in still continuing to use the remaining time to discuss who should be voted the next day; most of the time one town member is not going to survive into the following day, so everyone should give decisions and ideas assuming the current vote is already going to flip correctly.

### Don't Vote at the Last Second

When votes are held too long, and time pressure becomes relevant, players are more likely to be throwing out a vote without registering and reacting to the context of votes being placed around them. In effect, votes will tend to land in ways that will lead to unfavorable outcomes for town such as mafia might securing their ML with less than a majority vote, or town allowing the vote to be split/tied.

### Do Let Voted Players Vote First

If someone is being voted, then they have the potential to be scum if they haven't already been hammered. Force them to vote first so they don't control the final vote or hammer. If they are scum and they can control when the vote ends, they might be able to coordinate/force a tied vote, ending LYLO with in NL (which is just as good as an ML).

### Don't Spread Votes Too Thin

If someone has already started a vote on another, then you should strongly consider whether you agree with that vote or not before trying to push a separate vote agenda. Make your opinion known on which players you think are scum and are comfortable voting. Try to find a consensus for a common vote between yourself and the people you townread.

The original vote likely contains at least 1 mafia between the voter and the voted. That's **at least** 50% odds and out of everyone else (not including yourself), it is **at best** 50% odds (since it could be mafia trying to bus). If you vote a town then the game can end.

It's possible another player has the same idea as you and votes separately, resulting in a 3-way split. This can be enough disjointed town votes that mafia can control/end the day in an ML or NL.

#### Especially Not With Guns

When guns are in play, it's possible for all the votes to be on mafia, a town holds hammer and can pick which mafia dies, but then that town is shot, ending the day in a vote split. This can happen in both LYLO and MYLO but can be easily avoided by properly agreeing on a single vote as town.

### Do Vote Together with Confirmed Town

Why? **Otherwise two town votes are canceling each other out**. Generally to win in LYLO town needs **all** town players to vote together if mafia is not bussing.

You know someone else is town. You also know you are town. The raw number of votes isn't what decides who dies, but just who has the most votes. It's bad if one of you is voting town and then mafia can quickhammer that. Worse yet, both the mafia and the town are now equally close to death in a scenario where town should have an information advantage. However, now out the remaining players (excluding yourself and the confirmed town), mafia *have a majority* and can thus have increased influence over who ultimately gets condemned that day instead of a town player. Once this has happened, it is now possible *for the total number votes on mafia exceed the total number of votes on town but a town dies anyways*.

There are two viable options (anything else leads the the previously described vote cancelled scenarios):

* Convince the confirmed town to follow your vote.
	+ This is only possible if the confirmed town is amicable to your vote or townreads you anyways.
* Follow the vote of the confirmed town.
	+ When you don't have much else to work with or are under time pressure.

What if the confirmed town is voting town? Then the game is probably lost anyways since mafia can coordinate a hammer on town regardless of who you choose to vote.

It's better to decide on the same vote as town and agree to live or die by a common decision rather than to lose knowing you both had correct votes anyways, lacking the coordination to execute a vote.