chopping and seat selection

[Chris Daddy Cool]

i was just reminded of this as it happened to me not too recently

you're playing 6 handed live 40/80, you've already agreed to chop with the seat to your left as has the rest of hte table except for a new guy sitting to your right who always plays. from what you can gather you are a better player than him by a fair margin. the table is tight enough where chopping will happen enough times for it to make a difference.

i'm fairly convinced that you have the best seat on the table, but why? (this should seem obvious) and how much more is your seat worth than other seats?

[mostsmooth]

i dont know what type of convincing you need. everybody is chopping at the table except the bad player on your right. its the things dreams are made of. you get your small blind back for free in bad position, and you get to play a bad player with position on him.
only thing i dont know is how to figure out how many bets its worth, but its a lot better than if you were chopping with the guy.

[J.R.]

never forced to play out of position from sb when folded to you, always in positon in BB v a bad player in the sb who must play (fold, raise or call).

I also kinda think there's also a benefit to having a bad player (or a player you are much better than) always on the button when you are in the sb (although it kinda depends on the manner in which he plays badly) and the chopper in the BB who I assume plays poorly in headup/3-way pots as well, but I can't really quantify it right now.

the how much is highly dependant on how often the blinds end up headsup I would think.

[housenuts]

i don't think i understand this concept. what is chopping?

if it's folded to the blinds they get their money back?

[JoshuaD]

[ QUOTE ]
i don't think i understand this concept. what is chopping?

if it's folded to the blinds they get their money back?

[/ QUOTE ]

yea.

[Dov]

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if it's folded to the blinds they get their money back?

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Casinos that take a rake from each pot only do so if there is a flop. The general policy is - no flop, no drop (i.e. rake).

Since that is the case, many players have adopted a policy of 'chopping the blinds' in a raked game when it is folded to the blinds. This simply means that they both fold their hands at the same time and take their blinds back. This way, they don't pay any rake on that hand.

Chopping the blinds is entirely optional, but there is an ettiquette to it. If you chop, then you always chop, even if you have AA. If you don't chop, then you always play, even when you have 72o. Obviously, no one can force you to adhere to this guideline, but you will make a lot of enemies at the table by selectively chopping.

By the way, I have seen players chop in a time charged game as well. This is usually an indication of a poor player who doesn't understand the reason for chopping in the first place and is also not too good at playing the blinds.

Hope this clarified things for you.

Dov