Posts Tagged ‘live games’
There will be times when all the players fold and the players in the blinds are the only ones left to act. In this situation there is an option called "chopping" which is allowed in most cardrooms. Chopping entails the big and small blinds folding their hands and taking back their blind bets. The hand is over, the button is moved and the next hand begins. Chopping is a personal decision that you must make. I have heard arguments on both sides as to whether or not a player should or should not chop. Some players always chop, while other players never chop.
The argument for chopping in a low-limit game is that there is not enough money with just the blinds to make it worthwhile to play out the hand. In a $3/$6 game there is only $4 in the pot. There is only $3 in a $2/$4 game. Some players feel that this is not worth the time or the risk to play the hand out.
There are some players, however, who never chop. Players who regularly play tournaments don't like to chop in live games because they feel that this heads up play will give them experience when they make it to the final table in a tournament. This is a valid point on their part.
Whether you decide to chop or not, you should stick with your choice for the entire session. I was playing in a game and one player chopped the pot on two occasions and then the third time he announced that he didn't want to chop this time and wanted to play it out. The big blind reminded him that he chopped on the two previous occasions and the player said he did not care and didn't want to chop this time. The big blind did not say another word about it but, instead of the folding as the small blind had hoped for, he raised. The small blind reraised and the big blind called.
The flop was all small, unsuited cards, and the small blind bet and the big blind called. Another small card came on the turn, and this time, when the small blind bet, his opponent raised him. Looking at the board cards the small blind reraised and the big blind called again. The river card again was small and no help. There were no straight or flush possibilities and the small blind bet and was raised. This time he just called. The big blind turned over pocket Aces. The small blind reluctantly showed his pocket Kings. Instead of stealing the $3 from the big blind, it had cost him a few dollars because he demanded to play the hand out.
Most of the players at the table felt that the small blind should have chopped this time since he had done so on the other occasions. They felt it was bad etiquette on his part to demand that the hand be played out. All of the players, with the exception of the small blind, were quite pleased with the outcome of the hand. They thought he was a poor sport for refusing to chop in this situation.
Online Casinos 320% Welcome BonusHoldem Poker Online Poker Blog
Tags: blind bets, limit game, live games, online poker