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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.
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Tags: blind bets, limit game, live games, online poker
One consideration when playing from the small blind is the limit of the game and the size of the small blind. In most Texas Hold'em games the small blind is half the size of the minimum bet but there are some low limit games where they are less than half. In a $2 / $4 game the small blind is $1. In a $4/$8 game the small blind is $2.
In these games, to call from the small blind you will only be putting in a half of a bet. In this situation, with an unraised pot you can play a little looser. You can play all of the late position hands. You can also play hands that include any two suited cards, smaller suited unsuit-ed connectors or one gapped hands. In the small blind in an unraised pot you can also play any Ace or King. This does not mean that you would play a completely hopeless hand. A starting hand of deuce-7 off suit is still the worst hand in Hold'em whether you are in the small blind or not.
In the $3/$6 game the small blind is only $1 in most card-rooms. This means that you would have to put in two-thirds of a bet if you want to call. If this is the game you are playing, you should treat the small blind as if you were playing from late position. Just remember that you will have to act first after the flop. In a multiway pot you can also play small gapped hands.
Here is a quick reference for the small blind.
Hand Call—# Players If Raised
T-7s Call—5 or more Fold
9-6s Call—5 or more Fold
8-6s Call—5 or more Fold
7-5s Call—5 or more Fold
J-8 Call—5 or more Fold
T-8 Call—5 or more Fold
When I first started playing $3/$6 Texas Hold'em, I would routinely play almost all of the hands from the small blind. I soon discovered that this was eroding my session bankroll. In most cases, I would not hit the flop and I would have to check then fold. Many times I made only small pairs which would not hold up. Consider this, if the small blind is $1 and you fold your poor hands, you have saved $2. That money saved will cover your next two small blinds. In poker many times the money you save is as good as money you have won.
When the pot has been raised before you, don't think that you should immediately call just because you have a partial bet in the pot. In the $3/$6 game it will cost $5 to call a raise. Why would you want to invest $5 on a hand that you would not call a $3 bet with just because you already put $1 into the pot? With a raised pot, you should play the small blind as you would if you were playing from middle or late position.
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