The old coin-flip debate

[PrayingMantis]

What you're saying is correct, but in a way it is (or should be) embodied in Hero's $EV (or rather: the $EV of calling / folding). Because the "general" $EV the whole field (all 4 players) gains by a specific move done by any player, is always 0. Therefore, if you're making a -$EV, the rest of the field (i.e, all others, as a "collective"), has gained, since it's by definition +$EV for them (however, it's possible, of course, that it's +$EV for some of them, but -$EV for others).

An implication from your point, goes something like this:

When you're making a -EV move at a certain point (by folding, in the cases we're taking about), you are making it based on the assumption that some other player will "soon enough" make a bigger -EV mistake, or you, for that matter, will get an opportunity to make a higher EV move (by applying aggression, for instance). But how much can you wait? How many negative EV decisions can you make against these equally skilled, equally stacked, players, during the bubble time? (also notice, that if the stacks were equal at the begining of the hand, and if everyone included you folded to the aggressor, at the end of the hand he has the chip lead. If you were on the BB, for instance, you're now 4th stack.)