Can someone explain please why most live cash players (or at least the games in Vegas) chop the pot when it folded to them in the small blind? Do most of you guys do this?

No money in HU. Everyone's solid.

I chop every time.




But seriously, it's to aivod a house take in a tiny pot and just move on to the next hand.

Yeah its very common for players to do this. Its because the rake is high. So you might as well get a walk. Why play a limp pot BvB.

Yes I do this a lot.

Thanks

(folds to me in SB)

Kurt: chop?
BB (after peeking at cards): unh-unh. No.
Kurt: OK I make it $20.

youre seriously serious? Don't you see the flaw in this logic?

There isn't one.

to chop or not to chop,
that is the question,
whether tis nobler in the mind,
to suffer the slings and arrows of the outrageous rake,
or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
and have to play OOP w/ trash in a nothing pot?

You really played 20/10?

When I was playing 1/2 I'm pretty sure I played something like 8/5.

2/5 something like 10/6

5/10 and up is usually just slightly tighter than my online FR game so like 12/10 instead of 16/13.

if it does, your PF aggression stats just went up!

the only reason to play BvB in a folded around pot is the potential to hit a BBJ if your casino has one. set up a key word with your opponents and if it gets around, if you have a BB hand say, 'today is my birthday,' etc. each put $10 in preflop and run it out. Gotta have $20 in the pot to qualify in most places.

FTR -- youre only oop half the time.

Well, theres that and the reason youre presumably playing in the first place -- because youre better at poker than your opponents and you expect to make money on the hand.

Well, the one i see, and maybe im seeing things, is that you only actually pay the rake if you win the hand.

At Commerce I think the drop is 3 regardless of the pot as long as there's a flop. If you were to limp in the small blind then you'd be paying 5 dollars to win a pot of 7.

It's almost always a better idea to just move on to the next hand.

Over the course of the night you build your stack up to 700 dollars in a 2/5 game. Without rake you would've built it up to 750. You and I get into a hand and I stack you while I have a stack of 800. I didn't pay the rake on any of the hands you won but I'm paying for it now by not getting that extra 50 dollars.

You'll notice that our CA players in particular will support chopping. I've read that in many rooms there, the house will take $3 on any flop. If you're playing 1/2 and the SB completes, the house takes $3 and the players are fighting over $1.

Beyond that, there is a meta-game aspect. If the players at the table generally chop, you'll stick out if you don't. It is a sign that you aren't there just for fun. That makes people play better against you.

That said, people don't get upset if you don't chop, as long as you consistently not chop. In LLSNL, it is rare things are folded to the blinds in the first place. You can play several sessions and never have the situation come up.

Table scorn is placed on people who look at their cards before deciding to chop. Hence Kurt's comment.

Don't you see the flaw in your logic?

At my 2/3 game, they take a $1 jackpot drop from the SB, so it is folded to the SB and he has $1 in and the BB has $3. It is his action to call $1, raise, fold, or chop. If he calls, the pot is now $5 and the house takes $2 on the flop regardless of pot size. Yes please, I want to pay a 50% rake.

venice got to it before me.

Its especially important in our CA games where we have a drop not a rake, ie the house takes max rake on a limped BvB pot.

And its no problem if you don't want to participate in this. When the crusty old nit next to you asks "chop?", just say "No, I never chop." Some people always chop, some people never chop, the only problem is people who chop their weak hands and play their strong ones.

The possible exception, as kolb mentions, is sometimes regs will check down "jackpot" hands BvB instead of chopping.

i always chop, doesnt matter. another thing is most players play super passive and soft HU.

im gonna go play live again thrusday, been grinding online but rush poker is killing me, never really played it before.

been thinking about some things but it pertains more to online but im thinking it might also be useful live since im trying to find ways to exploit the looser players more, which seems to be the new trend.

basically its raising bigger PF, even if opening and balancing it, this way the looser callers gets there money in even worse and easier to commit them. but OBV in live balancing is almost pointless unless its against some very regular regs. im still thinking about it.

one thing is for sure people have changed, maybe better isnt the right word, but with TAG being the popular choice by so many and now it seems everyone is tryong to LAG or LP i need to think of different lines now.

The only games I would think about not chopping are in time charged games. I still chop in them because at least in limit, I think people make huge mistakes, like folding AT on the button because those 2 chop so we can get to the next hand.

I thought they did this everywhere. But your right Venice you might see a chop 1 or 2 times a whole 8 hour session. You always get one guy who says he don't chop. Then he gets cussed out or heckled lmao.

I used to raise big oop like to 35 dollars. But they call anyway. It only put me in bad spots post flop with big pairs. Now that a big pair is just a pair to me. I elect to raise the same from all positions. Unless I have limpers in front of me.

Folded to me in the SB. I always chop (for rake / fun image reasons given above), unless I have a BBJ hand, which I do in this case so I discreetly ask the BB "would you like to play?". The clueless guy goes, "Um, ok. Just want to shoot it?" (i.e. deal out all the cards with no more betting). "Um, no, I don't want to shoot it..." I say (cuz obviously there wouldn't be enough money in the pot to qualify for the BBJ, "I'm just asking, *hint* *hint*, if you would like to play...". "Oh, you mean just normal and play your hand hard?". Sigh. "No, I'm just asking *hint* *hint* *hint* if you would like to play...". Finally, the dealer has had enough of this and comes right out and says to the BB "He's telling you he has a BBJ hand and wants to know if you have a BBJ hand and if so play, and he'll check it to the river with you and then get the qualifying amount in on the river if he hits!". I point to my nose and then the dealer and say "But I didn't say that, he did" thus not risk disqualifying the BBJ. I still don't think the BB got it.

GcluelessNLnoobG

I've usually seen the SB lean over and say "you got a jackpot hand?"

I've always wondered if someone (i.e. the dealer, or the dealer letting the floor know this happened) would actually disqualify a BBJ due to this "talking about the BBJ in the middle of the hand disqualifies the BBJ" rule.

I'm not convinced that a $3 drop can be overcome by the low possibility of a jackpot flop with the exact 2 hands held.