To chop or not to chop (apologies to Shakespeare)

[Gutshot Gus]

I have often chopped. Take the money and run!
I know that a lot of the purists don't like this because it's not "proper."
I am able to be humble and take a payday and don't have to be The #1 at the top of the list.
When it comes down to it, it's about skins on the wall, and some people could care less about the money. They want the skin on the wall.
Making some money and knowing that I played well is satisfaction enough for me.

 

[MF.Brn]

I think it depends on the situation, if I see that in the next few rounds someone is going to leave or the player is not that good, I wouldn't cut, but if the players were on the same level, all tired of playing I have no problem cutting. And in the case mentioned, where the player refused to cut I would go all the way, he had his chance to cut.

 

[black and]

I recently played a live tournament, where 3 out of the 4 of us remaining at the final table wanted to chop (it was getting late). The chip leader didn't. So we continued to play. I was lucky to get to heads up play with the player who hadn't wanted to chop earlier. I again asked if he wanted to chop. He was still the chip leader and said he didn't want to chop. Again, we continue to play. Then I won a big hand and had the decisive chip lead. He immediately asked to chop.

This made me wonder about chopping and the different approaches to it. When is it worth doing? Under what conditions would you chop at a final tournament table (live or online)? Or are you a "never chop, play to the end" player?

If my opponents are strong players, better than me, I will generally try to make a deal. If my opponents are weak players, I will try to beat them, but in general I will also be open to discussing options for a deal.

 

[BillyR23]

When is it worth doing? Under what conditions would you chop at a final tournament table (live or online)? Or are you a "never chop, play to the end" player?

My rule of thumb is to never chop, but if it's a similar situation like you've described- it's getting really late and/ or we're still really deep and this might take quite some time to finish, I might consider a deal but again it's a bit tricky as this depends on the stacks the remaining players have, the skills of the players, the type of the game(for sure I won't consider chopping in a PKO) etc... I mean, you won't be in a situation to win the big prize in a tournament very often and when this opportunity arrives, IMO, you kinda want to try and get the big prize for 1st place...

GLGL all at the tables 💸💸💸

 

[Falzee]

Plain and simple, it's bad practice! Play your game, play to win, and let the choppers get chopped. Why spend hours playing, and then waste all of that time that you spent playing the chop game?

 

[Sebbour]

I recently played a live tournament, where 3 out of the 4 of us remaining at the final table wanted to chop (it was getting late). The chip leader didn't. So we continued to play. I was lucky to get to heads up play with the player who hadn't wanted to chop earlier. I again asked if he wanted to chop. He was still the chip leader and said he didn't want to chop. Again, we continue to play. Then I won a big hand and had the decisive chip lead. He immediately asked to chop.

This made me wonder about chopping and the different approaches to it. When is it worth doing? Under what conditions would you chop at a final tournament table (live or online)? Or are you a "never chop, play to the end" player?

It depends on the situation but if someone offers me higher prize than my current chip stack I would accept it. I would also consider chopping if I'm really tired or for instance I'm at level in chips size with other players and there is no bigger swings (in chips sizes) for a longer period of play.

 

[x patrice x]

Originally, hacking was an absurdity for me and incompatible with me.

I saw this as a destructive cut in the integrity of the game - the resulting influence on tactics and game behavior, especially the “fair game” between the players at the final table and the fundamental competitiveness towards all participants.

Because you have to remember - with the elimination of the 'heads-up', the game is no longer the game!


Meanwhile, due to the experience of having to weigh up a deal agreement and the idea that there is a huge amount of profit involved, I can't make a decision beforehand.

 

[infonazar]

I am always ready to make a deal. If my opponents agree to this, then I will definitely not be against it. If the opponents do not want to conclude an agreement, then I will not insist.

 

[steve01991]

i have chopped once , and i did not initiate , he was barely the chip leader and he explained he was not greedy, so i agreed.

 

[Roobz75]

Definitely chop but depends on the ratio of win. We chop all the time at our live league, yet again, we all know each other so the circumstances could be different towards a table you don't know.

 

[WrongUsername]

u should chop if the deal is good for u and the money really matters for u

 

[MikeCarasone]

iCM in my poker is huge. Sometimes you have better odds by chopping but if I’m leading or there’s many low low stacks trying to chop I may opt to wait them out. Variance in poker is very real so securing the better cash for some bank rolls is understandable. One big hand can turn a chip leader into a low stack at a final table. Often if the opponent wants to chop I will look at the very least. I can go either way. If I have opportunities to chop and it is what they want I probably will, but usually I am willing to play it out. I will never be the one to initiate a chop but won’t refuse looking if others do.

 

[Newzooozooo]

I am always ready to cut, especially when I feel that my opponent is stronger than me. But no matter what, my goal is to win, and regardless of whether we chop or not, I will always fight to the last chip

 

[Ruslan L]

The final table is always a good result for me. And if there are 2-3 opponents left, then in most cases I am not against a deal, if of course the conditions correspond to it.

 

[userX]

I myself never offer a deal, I am always ready to go to the end, to play to win. But if the opponent offers me a deal, then in general I am ready to negotiate. If the deal is fair, I'll go for it

 

[5TR8 FLUSH]

I only have three cashes, and chopped the second and third cash. The first cash, I was second in chips for most of final table, then got eliminated in 5th. The second cash I was chip leader with monster stack, I could of easily made it to top three or maybe heads up, but agreed to chop once bubble busted. I regretted a little because another player, and a dealer told me weeks after that it would of been smarter to chop with less players. The third cash is my favorite, I went down to 1BB, with about 15 players left. I ran hot, made money with 3 players and we chopped.
To answer question, I don't mind chopping in the local games. If some day I run deep in a big tournament like wsop or WPT, I would want to play to the end.

 

[bablovod]

I've only been in this situation twice. The first time, three people agreed, but someone did not agree, as a result, the deal didn't go through, there were slightly different stacks. The second time the deal was made between three participants, they played for a long time, everyone was tired of the pikhanist and the swing, everyone was happy.
I think if everything is fair, you can also cut it.

Then I won a big hand and had the decisive chip lead. He immediately asked to chop.

This made me wonder about chopping and the different approaches to it.

hope you told him: suck

 

[lilypond]

I agree with what you said. In most cases, I wouldn't agree to a deal with other players, unless a lot of money was involved. I haven't yet been in a situation where players wanted to make a deal though.

 

[MishkaZL]

I always agreed to a deal if it was offered to me. I myself have never offered a deal, because in general I am always determined to play to the end. But there were times when one of the opponents refused the deal, and then we just continued the game. I am generally ready to negotiate.

 

[R.Melnyk77]

I made a deal on pokerstars several times, but when I made my first deal, to my surprise, the game continued and I managed to take first place. This disappointed me a little, but since the deal was fair, I didn't stay upset for long. In general, I think a deal is a good option when both opponents have approximately the same number of chips. If the conditions are favorable, I am ready to go to a deal.

 

[Baurzhan11]

I would think if there is a big difference for the first-second place, I will probably refuse if the prizes are the same, then I would agree

 

[iwont20]

I chopped a few times and not for big amounts of money, but it was due to a player being good, stacks being rather deep, and the tournament has been already running for 8+ hours. I just don't want to play 2 hour long heads-up on top of that vs a good player.

I think overall chop is acceptable if the left amount of players are equally competent and good, you can't really see your edge over anyone, and you all have the same stack sizes. If you see someone's weaker or a lot shorter, than there is no point in chopping, imo.

 

[Lucho.riv9]

Particularly, I never like to chop winnings, except when I'm in a hurry as was your case. But I would believe that the best time to shop would be after winning a big bet, as by probability, variance favored you in that hand but may not in future hands.

 

[neverbluff0799]

I guess for me its gonna be about how i feel at the moment mentally and physicly and if i feel that the oehter player have an edge on me.Since i was playing a ton of head up i feel pretty confident about it so mostly i would not chop unless its a gue amount of money on the line.

 

[Cookiemonster19]

SInce im pretty new to the games i never had occasion to reach so far but i would probably chop if i could in that case cause i got a lack of experience.