A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

The other night I was in a 15/30 game that was extremly soft, a bunch of rich guys throwing there money around. And I being the token young kid was the only one that had any idea how to play poker, although I was taking some serious bad beats.
Anyways, this kind of annoyed me a guy that was to the right of me would always look at his cards and then decide if he wanted to chop or not, the first time he did it he had ATs I always chop but this time he said he didnt chop, I folded my Q9os, next time it happend I had AKs AND HE ASKED IF I WANTED TO CHOP? HOW DO I HANDLE THAT ONE POINT THE GUY CHOPS THE NEXT TIME HE DOSENT, DO I STILL GO BY MY RULES AND CHOP OR BE A JERK AND SAY NO I THOUGHT YOU DONT CHOP. I ended up making action knowing that he did not chop before, right while he was asking if we wanted to chop....How do I handle this situation.

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

........dont chop........

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

[ QUOTE ]
a bunch of rich guys throwing there money around

[/ QUOTE ]

Since it's not in a casino, I think that the situaion needs to be handled perhaps with some delicacy. You have to ask yourself some bigger-picture questions like: (1) How big of a fish is this guy? (2) How often will we likely be choping? (3) How will this affect my image for the rest of the game? (4) Will I ever play in this game again?

What you give up with his chop/no-chop can probably be made up elsewhere. Otherwise, just ask him nicely to pick one or the other...

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

Something seems wrong here. How can it be a soft game with rich guys throwing around a lot of money yet chopping blinds is an issue?

That said, if you are fortunate enough to play against opponents with poor strategy, you sometimes have to forgive their poor understanding of ethics. Anyway, I'm too confused by the description to figure out what is going on so I don't have specific advice. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

~ Rick

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

Don't Chop with him...

An easy way to do this is if someone to the right of you says he doesn't chop, reply that you don't either, and you won't look like a jerk when he wants to chop later, because you stated that you don't.....

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

[ QUOTE ]
Don't Chop with him...

An easy way to do this is if someone to the right of you says he doesn't chop, reply that you don't either, and you won't look like a jerk when he wants to chop later, because you stated that you don't.....

[/ QUOTE ]

But doesn't that cause a problem with the player on your left who you may want to chop with (to keep the game friendly and avoid flop driven rake)?

~ Rick

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

i dont think there is any real way to avoid sacrificing EV while keeping the game as friendly as possible at the same time. you have 3 options.

1) you let him rape you with his option to chop or not.
2) you dont chop there anymore
3) when playing against this guy, chop which hands you want to chop with, and play out which hands you want to play out.

i vote for no chopping. if you want to keep the game friendly, then make a habit out of limping from the SB alot more often when HU. play your hand out postflop, but they probably wont think the slightest of it if you dont chop but arent too aggressive preflop when headsup.

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

He is not trying to necessarily maximize EV in this particular situation – he is trying to maximize it relative to other opportunities that exist. If he can beat this game for 6BB/hour (which is probably realistic for a good home game) and he can only beat the casino game for 1.5BB/hour - he should be willing to sacrifice something close to the difference in order to play in this game. I am not saying that he should get run over by this guy, but: How many times in the course of an evening can it be folded around? How much do you think he is really sacrificing in the times that it is?

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

Just say "no I don't chop."

And then reraise him all night long when he raises out of the SB. Or when he limps, raise.

You figure to play better than him post flop given how soft you said the game was. Also, you have position on him.

Eventually, he will be begging you to chop and then you can start to play by your rules.

Re: A sometimes chop and sometimes don\'t chopper in 15/30 private game
 

Just turn the situation on him. When he doesn't want to chop you have an idea what he has and can go from there; when he does want to chop you put on a big [censored] eatin grin and say, "oh, I gotta play this one!" and then raise.

cjx