I know chopping should be a case of always chop or never chop with a particular opponent but is there anything unethical about declining to chop with the guy on your left and then offering a chop with the guy on your right?

Its not a question of ethics, i.e. right or wrong, but rather etiquette, which is about following the accepted standards of a group. There's nothing wrong or immoral about chopping whenever you want. But the general expectation among poker players is that you do it all the time or not at all, with players on both sides of you. To chop with the player on one side but not the other would be considered a douchebag move, unless there was some extenuating matter about the guy that would warrant it.

What browser said. Also, it's not normal etiquette to decide whether to chop by player, you either always chop or never chop. The only two variances that are generally acceptable are to stop chopping once you get below a certain number of players (usually 5 or 6), and to not chop/signal in a room with high hands/bbj, where you run it out without betting.

Having said the above, if you wanted to always chop right and always play left (regardless of who the opponents were), I might let you because you're getting the worse of it both ways. That would be a very bad way to decide to chop.

Nah, there’s another acceptable reason not to chop, and that is if the person asking is someone who selectively chops.

For instance against op I would tell him that I don’t chop with him, and inform everyone that I am friendly with that he selectively chops. Unless of course he asks me and I have a terrible hand, then I would be ok with chopping.

Then again if there is too much chopping in a game I won’t be in it for long either way.

Agree with the above, if a person doesn't follow etiquette then they go on the never chop list. There is one person I will never chop with again because he chopped with me until he had a big hand then he didn't chop. Game over.

gotta love them OMC nits who when you ask if they chop ; the response is let me look at my hand 1st

OTOH it is perfectly fine to refuse to chop short handed, but agree to chop when the game fills up. I play 5 or less, otherwise it gets a bit ridiculous. Some people still get indignant about that.

Also in rooms with a high hand or bad beat sometimes people will just put in the call and run it when it is down to the blinds to freeroll the promos.

Thanks. This is exactly what I was wondering about.

Yes.

Its like any other angle. Within the rules but unethical.

I used to play a lot of 20/40 LHE and I would chop when I first started. Occasionally somebody on one side of me would tell me that he didn't chop.

At some point I decided to not play with a disadvantage when the guy to my left didn't chop. So I would tell the guy on my right I wasn't going to chop anymore. But if the guy on my right wasn't chopping, I continued to chop with the guy on my left.

I decided to ask (like you are asking now) if this was OK and a couple of regulars in the game told me that this wasn't right. That I was taking advantage of the game. And they would look at me like an angleshooter if I continued to do it. So I stopped doing it. I decided that if somebody on either side of me wasn't chopping then I wasn't chopping either. But it would have been OK if I continued to chop with whoever was on the other side of me.

Some time later I decided to never chop because there were some guys in the game who didn't chop and I was not experienced enough HU to compete well against them. In the end I was happy I did it this way because I did improve my HU play. The bonus was that the vast majority of players were inexperienced in HU play.

I have no opinion on moving seats if the person on your left isn't chopping, and staying in the same seat if the guy on your right isn't chopping. Or leaving the game only when the guy on your left isn't chopping. In general when players don't chop it is because they are good players and they believe they have an edge, larger than the rake, HU. My experience is that these players are usually pros.

edit: I should say that I don't play LHE anymore. I mostly play tournaments. But when I play NL cash games I just chop when the other players want to chop. It is extremely rare when players don't chop. However, you have given me food for thought. It probably makes sense for me in NL cash games to just not chop at all. I have tons of experience playing HU in tournies. The downside is of course that I will be disliked. Not that I am not disliked now anyway...

Mr Rik do you really think the rare times chops even come up at low stakes full cash qualifies as HU? True HU play is two people at the table going one on one in every hand. Even at 2-5 or above if playing just a little aggressively most hands are HU and if not usually are post flop. If blind on blind is your ref of HU play then close to half the hands I VPIP are HU even at 1-3.

I only chop five ways or more. Heads up I don’t chop.

^ Classic mid stakes limit bullshitting

Seems skeevy to want to chop when you're in the big blind, but not the small blind.

There are a few Reg Players who I play with that always want to play a hand 'with me'. So that does create a BB/SB situation where it may be a split decision.

I will chop at a new table if it starts short (3-5 Players) but I wont chop if a full table drifts down to 5 or less.

The easiest way to eliminate this issue is to just start a mandatory straddle once you get down to 5 handed. GL

I have no issue dropping the chops when a table drops to 5. That is where I usually stop chopping but sometimes I will still chop at 5. I make 4 my stopping point if I think it will keep the table going and it is likely to get back over 6.

I also have no issue playing for hours at 6, 5 or even 4. Heck, I will even play with a mandatory straddle if that is the stakes when I join the table. However you will not convert “my” table to a mandatory straddle. You can ask the table and I will object. If it goes farther like continuing to ask, politicing the table, or harassing, etc and I will solve the issue. Your table may or may not break but if it doesn’t it will be playing 4 handed.

Did you get this backwards, the guy on your right is the small bind.

As mentioned, if there are high hand promos and a big bbj, I don't mind calling in those cases but for players who only chop with bad hands and play their good hands, these are usually bad players that you want in your game anyway.

I've encountered many people that do this and at best it's bad for the game.

You might be in the wrong game if chopping comes up so often that this will make a significant difference.

My heads up play is strong so I'll chop or play, whatever they want to do, and I ask each hand. The very discussion tells me a lot about the player. "I always chop", "I never chop X handed", etc. is info.

Also, if someone wants my SB, fine. I won't be a D#&k and force it someone to play, but I'm ready for anyone to suddenly decides they don't want to chop their strong hand. I can usually put them on a range and adjust my play accordingly.

I'd rather have a table image that I'm not afraid to play than get mad about someone stealing my blind.

I have been away so sorry I'm late in responding...

Low stakes games are different I agree. It rarely comes up because of all of the limping.

What I meant by HU is really SB vs BB. In many games this doesn't come up much but there are some tables where it happens a bit. I find most cash game players are really not very experienced at SB vs BB play. But at 2/5 NL I have been chopping so I don't know what it will be like...

+1

i've been in situations where i've chopped with a player once or twice, then all of the sudden they raise when we could have chopped. usually i will just fold because it's obv they have a huge hand and i usually have garbage, they flip over AA/KK/QQ and say something like "sorry, i couldn't chop that"

this case, i stopped chopping with them

had they said something like "i have a BBJ hand, can we run it down?" i would have said yes/no (depending if my holding was eligible) and continued to chop with them

That will will void the jackpot in many rooms.

many many many people always say this but i've heard this to be incorrect. i've been told casinos typically do not record audio (or don't record audio to the extent that they can pick up general table talk.)

How will they prove it?

I'm not gonna risk my license, in hopes of a tip, by pretending I didn't hear you guys colluding.

I think it in A LOT of cases it would be obvious if the blinds were discussing something before the Flop came out. And then you also need $10-20 in the pot to qualify for most promo/HH/BBJ as well. Most rooms allow table talk HU, so that's a backdoor. But don't put it in someone else's hands ...

I've never heard of a Dealer being asked if there was any discussions during a promo hand, but that doesn't mean that some other Player at the table couldn't go to Gaming after the fact out of spite somehow. And obviously if Security sees some hand motions or obvious 'whatever' on the screen then a Dealer may be asked as well.

I've been in one casino where the famous 'Flamingo' is not allowed and the Dealer is supposed to 'immediately' report any Player who uses the phrase to the Floor. GL