Poker Etiquette

[AnthonyMSU]

I always hear people talking at the poker table that they would chop with anything, even AA. Everyone always says that they would chop out of respect for the other players?

I haven’t been playing for that long, but I was just wondering how many other people out there chop with anything. Is this correct poker etiquette? Or just people wanting a friendly game?

Please explain.

[Dov]

Chopping the blinds is done to screw the house. If there is no flop, there is no rake taken.

Since heads up play generates a proportionally smaller pot, the rake is proportionally larger when it's just the blinds left in the hand. In order to avoid paying 10% of the pot to the casino, players usually elect to chop the blinds.

It is unethical to chop your blind when you have crap and not do it when you have a premium hand. Think about it. What do you think a blind bet is for? It's for stimulating action.

Is it fair that you get to look at your hand and then take back your bet if you don't like your hand, but raise if you do like it?

Of course not. That's why if you chop blinds, you basically agree to do it every time. As a matter of fact, you really shouldn't even be looking at your cards until it's your turn to act. That way, you won't convey any information about your hand to your opponents who have to act before you.

If the action is folded to you, and you are chopping blinds, don't even look at your cards. You'll just frustrate yourself. Practice throwing them precisely into the muck and forgetting about it.

If you still want to play AA, but think you can chop everything else, expect to get played with --- hard...

Dov

[bunky9590]

Precisely why in rake games I chop in a heart beat, whereas in time game I can outplay most of the competition and will never chop.

No flop , no drop.

Most of the limit game I play anymore are time charge so I don't have the case anymore

[AnthonyMSU]

Dov,
You explained that perfectly. I now understand, nobody every described it how you did. Players just told me that it was rude.

Thank You, I now understand.

[onegymrat]

Well said, Dov, well said.

[BarronVangorToth]

At Foxwoods, chops happen very infrequently but any time they CAN happen, they usually DO happen, but when you get 5-8 people per flop tables, it doesn't happen that often.

Sometimes, though, some people REFUSE to chop, but don't say it beforehand. Since I don't look at my hole cards until the guy before me has acted, I'll know before I look if it's a chop situation. If I ask for a chop in the small blind, and they say no, it's automatically a raise.

No, this isn't always the +EV play, but once you do it once and suck out with some random gutshot, they'll chop the next time it comes around.

In general: just chop if there is a rake. It happens all of once every session or so (at least at The Woods) that you should just move along to get better position and save your blinds.


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

[BugSplatt]

Actually, one of the things I like about internet play is the absence of chopping. I really enjoy getting into a heads-up battle against the other blind.

At the casino, however, I always chop.

Mason did an essay on why he doesn't like chopping in one of his Poker Essays books.

Bug

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

At the limits I play live, I'll chop with anything simply because the rake heads-up would be punitive.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

That's why if you chop blinds, you basically agree to do it every time.

Ray Zee would disagree.

[Dov]

[ QUOTE ]
Ray Zee would disagree.

[/ QUOTE ]

What are you talking about?