I am a nice person. I spare my opponents some chips to play with!!!!!!

PoKeRFoRNiA

PoKeRFoRNiA

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Feb 21, 2009
Total posts
1,319
Awards
1
Chips
35
I've been doing this in tournaments. On the river, when their stack is like 1000, I would bet 999. Some people think I'm an asshole for betting like this because it's as if I'm making fun of them. But I write in chatbox that I just want to be nice and spare them some chips to play with. Of course, it's supposedly "-EV" to not extract every value out of my hands. But whenever I bet something like that, people think I'm full of s*** who's making fun of their stack or bullying them, hence calling me with wide range of hands or wide range of showdown values. Is it wrong to spare people some chips? I've SEEN players who just flat-call off my bet while having 1 chip behind. They're willing to go all-in several times with 1 chip. I get kicks out of it. When they get a premium hand after being down to 1 chip, it's hilarious how they're using up their luck on few chips that have no value.

My friend tells me it's a stupid idea because there's supposedly a saying about "chip and a chair" where that guy with 1 chip comes back and win. I personally don't mind it if that person were to come back from 1 chip and win the tournament. Because mathematically, I want to see how many double ups and luck does it take for that person to survive and get back on their feet. I would find it cute and give props to that player if that player were to come back from 1 chip and take down the whole tournament.

Making this kind of bet tends to piss people off and they call me wide or make wreckless decisions and shoves against me. But why get pissed? I'm just being a nice person who's willing to give them the option that they don't' have to call off their whole entire stack and be eliminated.

I recall one of sit-n-gos I played. 9-player stt sng where I had 3k stack and all other players have 1.5k stack. I had KK from middle position while blind levels were at 15/30. I raised it up to 500, utg flat-calls. Flop was something like 3 7 J. Villain has 1k stack, I raised it to 999. She moved all-in with AQo for 1 chip more, I obviously call. She spikes an Ace on the turn and cripples half of my stack. She then writes on chatbox that I'm an asshole and says "really? 999?" I write back "I just wanted to be nice and spare you some chips. :)"

Why am I writing all of this? It's because from time to time, I make this kind of bets, and people tend to widen up their range against me since they get emotional about it. This is all microstakes by the way. People think I'm full of s*** when I do this but why. It's not like I'm slowrolling them or anything, or talking crap to them. I'm just playing normal poker. Do all bets sizes have to be multiples of 5 and 10?
 
loafes

loafes

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 16, 2013
Total posts
1,049
Chips
0
I've made and seen some pretty incredible comebacks. In one tournament the blinds were 200/400/40 and I had about 40 chips left (I must have had 80 before posting the ante) the average stack was like 10K but I cameback despite still having a field of over 130 left. It was a satty where top ten were paid but I had a top 3 stack when the final 10 came and ended the tournament, I could have just as easily come first. I've also had 90 chips n the early levels of a tournament where the starting stack was 10k and ended up having over 6K before busting again with AK vs AQ but with 6K I was already well back in the tournament and would have had about an average stack had me Ak held. You might be surprised by how much you can do with only a few chips.


Having said that, only 1 chip seems a little too far fetched doesn't it? well maybe not so far fetched.
Imagine the blinds are 100/200/20 hero has 1 chip and wins with only 2 players who entered the pot. Because of the ante hero now has 11 in chips pk still virtually nothing. however Hero now wins their second hand in a row this time 3 players entered the pot. before BB put in a iso raise making it heads up. Hero wins and now has 143 still less than 1 bb but you can see how it grows just after 2 hands. Greg merson won the 2012 main event after having less than 3BBs at one point. Ok so hero wins one more pot this time its a three way pot, bear in mind that at micro stakes you may well see pots that are more than 2-3 players that put some money in the middle which would increase the winnings exponentially.

Ok so 3rd hand in a row hero has gone from 1-143 and now wins a 3 way pot. Hero now has 569 and can probably afford to fold 1 or 2 hands. Still a very long shot but you probably have better odds of doing this than winning the lottery and someone wins the lottery every week right?

Having said that I wouldn't be too concerned with this, If you genuinely think that sizing your bets like this gets you payed off more often then it's worth the near remote possibility of having the villain comeback from 1 chip.

:smokin:
 
Jacki Burkhart

Jacki Burkhart

long winded rambler...
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Total posts
2,960
Awards
6
Chips
0
Any bet size you make should have a reason behind it.

Obviously there is no mathematical edge for you to leave them with 1 chip, but if you think you gain a psychological edge by it, then carry on.

In live tourneys when blinds are high, I'll frequently bet a min raise plus an ante....it's just a dumb little trick I like where I get to accumulate more ante chips and make it slightly tougher for people to compute pot odds (if they are somewhat dim-witted).

One bet size I've come to embrace is betting most of somebody's stack...I do this when I want them to fold. I don't know why, but it works a little bit better than just putting them all in, I think it looks a little stronger than all in.

So let's say I have 2,500 and they have 1,300 left and there is 1,000 in the pot. I'll bet something like 985....so they know they have absolutely no fold equity against me, and they know if they call and lose they'll have a puny ineffective stack. By the time they stop and consider how much they'll have left behind, they've often lost the nerve or momentum to do anything at all....
 
T

Tiltt2424

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Total posts
78
Awards
1
Chips
1
A lot of people might perceive this bet sizing as a poker tell although its usually a tell on the better with the smaller stack. When smaller stacks make big bets and leave little behind I always ask myself "Why wouldn't he just go all in?" and I see it as weak. This may apply in your case as opponents might sense weakness.
 
C

Caesura

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Total posts
221
Chips
0
I like your post. If I was playing against you I would hate you for doing this but we don't play poker to make friends, we do it to take peoples money whether it's by straight forward play or bluffing and stealing.

Actually I might try it if you say it can get a shove out of a nit.
 
LeanAndMean

LeanAndMean

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 2, 2007
Total posts
1,560
Awards
4
Chips
0
If this amuses you, go for it. Poker can get pretty boring. Don't know why someone would react badly to the bid, It makes no difference in the outcome of the game I am sure (in spite of the chip and a chair stories)
 
J

jj20002

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Total posts
777
Chips
0
i was in a mtt and a badbeat left me with 5 chips, and from there i made an epic comeback really huge, so i was able to make in the money and keep going and almost among 100, and i think that is better in a mtt, because one knows that everything from this point is a gain, one knows that is busted, so one doesn´t care to risk more and more, so that way i put my chips like 6 or 7 times in a sequence of a dozen of hands, and won all of them against more than one villain most of the time,

regarding your bets of 999, if you think it gets you a mental advantage against the rest of players, well this is what it makes poker an interesting game, it´s a mental game, so if it works to you, keep doint it
 
IntenseHeat

IntenseHeat

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Nov 21, 2012
Total posts
1,058
Chips
0
Although I've seen this done from time to time, I'm not sure I've ever actually had it done to me. I can't say for sure whether or not I would take it as an affront. While I did know of one player who would spare players a single chip to be facetious, I also knew a player that, instead of putting themselves all-in, would bet all but one of thier own chips.

I, myself, prefer to come directly at you and your chips in such a way that there is no mistaking my intention. For example, if the blinds were 250/500, and you had 2862 chips behind on the turn, and I felt that I had the best hand, I would not simply click the slider over in 500 chip increments until it was at 3000. Instead, I would bet precisely 2862 chips, so that there is no mistaking the fact that I am not simply trying to take down the pot. Rather, it is my explicit intention to take every single one of your chips.
 
Dee Dee

Dee Dee

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Total posts
55
Chips
0
If this is having a psychological effect on your opponents and is influencing them to make bad decisions then keep doing it, you might even annoy other people at the table too and get them to tilt a little.
 
etherghost

etherghost

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Total posts
525
Chips
0
If this is having a psychological effect on your opponents and is influencing them to make bad decisions then keep doing it, you might even annoy other people at the table too and get them to tilt a little.

You might get accused of colluding. If it's illegal, it might lead to undesired consequences.
 
kidkvno1

kidkvno1

Sarah's Pet
Bronze Level
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Total posts
16,281
Awards
4
Chips
50
Would it not be a Chip, and not chips! 1 chip is a chip, chips means more than one chip...
1 = chip
2 = chips
 
dirtyoldog

dirtyoldog

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Total posts
2,004
Awards
14
Chips
0
that one chip has a lot of value if its worth being a a--hole over it :hmmmm: and I always know someones a nice person when they tell me tell me they are
 
Last edited:
blakewyte

blakewyte

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Total posts
232
Chips
0
You might get accused of colluding. If it's illegal, it might lead to undesired consequences.

How exactly would it be deemed colluding? As in, just curious to know. I was thinking of the whole psychological strategy behind it. I've had this done to me a couple of times and unfortunately, I have fallen for it when I was holding the second best hand.

Unless the villain has the nuts, and if this is late in the tourney (and unless they're a donk and have only gotten so far because they got lucky too many times), it kinda works in making the opponent fold because they get the idea you have a damn strong hand and are just tempting them to make the call because it's not exactly forcing them to go all-in.

Uhm wait. Am I making sense here?
 
PoKeRFoRNiA

PoKeRFoRNiA

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Feb 21, 2009
Total posts
1,319
Awards
1
Chips
35
Any bet size you make should have a reason behind it.

Obviously there is no mathematical edge for you to leave them with 1 chip, but if you think you gain a psychological edge by it, then carry on.

In live tourneys when blinds are high, I'll frequently bet a min raise plus an ante....it's just a dumb little trick I like where I get to accumulate more ante chips and make it slightly tougher for people to compute pot odds (if they are somewhat dim-witted).

One bet size I've come to embrace is betting most of somebody's stack...I do this when I want them to fold. I don't know why, but it works a little bit better than just putting them all in, I think it looks a little stronger than all in.

So let's say I have 2,500 and they have 1,300 left and there is 1,000 in the pot. I'll bet something like 985....so they know they have absolutely no fold equity against me, and they know if they call and lose they'll have a puny ineffective stack. By the time they stop and consider how much they'll have left behind, they've often lost the nerve or momentum to do anything at all....

Oh yeah, you can't do this live. Because the chip denomination doesn't allow you to break the chips down. In that case, I would bet to the point where it'll leave them with one smallest denomination chip. Only online, you can bet it to the point where they're literally left with 1 chip.
 
S

sleepymike

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Total posts
106
Chips
0
Not something I would get pissed at if it happened to me, but I certainly do NOT believe you in any way, that you do this to be nice. This opinion is not from knowing you at all, but from reading your post.
 
BoddJonar

BoddJonar

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 3, 2013
Total posts
924
Chips
0
This actually makes me think of kids that rip the wings and legs of flies and then chase them lol. Pretty mean, but if it works for you w/e :)


Cheers
 
itsmebobd

itsmebobd

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Total posts
89
Chips
0
I've been doing this in tournaments. On the river, when their stack is like 1000, I would bet 999. Some people think I'm an asshole for betting like this because it's as if I'm making fun of them. But I write in chatbox that I just want to be nice and spare them some chips to play with. Of course, it's supposedly "-EV" to not extract every value out of my hands. But whenever I bet something like that, people think I'm full of s*** who's making fun of their stack or bullying them, hence calling me with wide range of hands or wide range of showdown values. Is it wrong to spare people some chips? I've SEEN players who just flat-call off my bet while having 1 chip behind. They're willing to go all-in several times with 1 chip. I get kicks out of it. When they get a premium hand after being down to 1 chip, it's hilarious how they're using up their luck on few chips that have no value.

My friend tells me it's a stupid idea because there's supposedly a saying about "chip and a chair" where that guy with 1 chip comes back and win. I personally don't mind it if that person were to come back from 1 chip and win the tournament. Because mathematically, I want to see how many double ups and luck does it take for that person to survive and get back on their feet. I would find it cute and give props to that player if that player were to come back from 1 chip and take down the whole tournament.

Making this kind of bet tends to piss people off and they call me wide or make wreckless decisions and shoves against me. But why get pissed? I'm just being a nice person who's willing to give them the option that they don't' have to call off their whole entire stack and be eliminated.

I recall one of sit-n-gos I played. 9-player stt sng where I had 3k stack and all other players have 1.5k stack. I had KK from middle position while blind levels were at 15/30. I raised it up to 500, utg flat-calls. Flop was something like 3 7 J. Villain has 1k stack, I raised it to 999. She moved all-in with AQo for 1 chip more, I obviously call. She spikes an Ace on the turn and cripples half of my stack. She then writes on chatbox that I'm an asshole and says "really? 999?" I write back "I just wanted to be nice and spare you some chips. :)"

Why am I writing all of this? It's because from time to time, I make this kind of bets, and people tend to widen up their range against me since they get emotional about it. This is all microstakes by the way. People think I'm full of s*** when I do this but why. It's not like I'm slowrolling them or anything, or talking crap to them. I'm just playing normal poker. Do all bets sizes have to be multiples of 5 and 10?

I was in a tournament once with the blinds 50-100, with only 25 chips left after my all in and the guy sucked out. Came back to win it, was about 150 people left when it happened. So its very possible.
 
ozmouzer

ozmouzer

Rising Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Total posts
17
Chips
0
Haha, good move:"I leave you 1 chip, jerk" :D
 
G

gnarus

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Total posts
231
Chips
0
This could be a good strategy on the bubble if you were the table chip leader and taking advantage of that. That would be the only time I wouldn't just push my last chip if u were trying to do it to me. People play differently when they know they cant muck their hand because of a meaningless allin so I guess there could be a way to work it to ur advantage. Also affects thepir ability to chat during the hand- if you to that
 
R

RickH1983

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 23, 2013
Total posts
319
Chips
0
I bet like that in cash games. Chances are when I do people fold. I get the occasional call or all in but most of the time it is a fold.
 
G

gnarus

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Total posts
231
Chips
0
I don't see any advantage in cash. They wont keep playing with a penny. Might as well get full value
 
Poker Chips - History of Chips
Top