pot chopping

[Jestman13]

Just played two tourneys yesterday, 7 players, 140 bucks winner take all. Or so I thought. First game I get busted early. And then the last two guys chop the pot in half so we can start another game.
By this time it's way past midnight, so I'm still game. Second game goes much better, with the chip lead being passed around to three of us.
I go up to 1200 with the big blind at 400. Guy to my left folds. Next guy goes all in. I have to play most of my chips, but I have 10-10 and its three handed. I call. He has Jc-2c and has been playing this crap all night long.
It looks good until a jack comes on the turn, and I'm down to 650 in chips. Now I'm on the big blind, so I basically go all in on rags. I'm busted out so I go upstairs to gather my stuff for the ride home. Then I hear them chopping the pot again!!! Its 5am and these bastards are chopping the pot?? If I would have known that, I would have played all my hands so differently. I am still really pissed off, because the guys don't understand basic poker rules like raising correctly and chip color up, ect..

Just seems like a serious breach of poker to not announce that if its down to two players were chopping the pot.

[Thalum]

I played in a similar situation. Some guys from work have been watching the WPT on TV for awhile now, and want to try their hand at poker. So I head over to one guys house with my chips and we start up a tourney (8 people).

These guys are your classic noobs..play everything, all the time. never fold, doesn't matter. It's basically just a crap shoot. So, needless to say, I'm playing super tight all night (and getting ridiculed for it too! lol). Finnaly it's down to me and one other guy, and he has a chip lead. Everyone else has been sitting on the couch watching T.V. for over an hour, and are getting antsy for the next game. So they bassicay say, "5 minutes left..and whoever has the most chips wins it" I'm sitting there flabergasted, and I couldn't pull off a win in the 5mins.

What are you gonna do? It wasn't my house so I couldn't tell them what to do, but oh well.

I'm playing with them again tonight, but this time, Im setting up ring games for those who bust out, so they will let us play the tourney in peace.

[snoogins47]

Just seems like a serious breach of poker to not announce that if its down to two players were chopping the pot.

Deals happen, especially in winner take all tournaments.

You mean to tell me that you honestly think you tilted away your stack because it was winner take all, and that would've changed had you known these players would make a deal?

If you hadn't have lost, you wouldn't have been pissed, then when you got heads up you would not have accepted a deal, and, lookey there, your play didn't change.

Poker happens.

[Jestman13]

heres the deal with that.. I would have played to the end. Those were the rules that were given out before play. I don't change the frickin rules half-way into the game.
I didn't tilt my stack away, but if I was to know that the pot would be chopped, I would have sat there and waited for everyone else to get busted out. You don't play a stakes tourney and then at the end announce "oh well its late. Lets split the pot." Rules are rules and people that play poker need to understand that.

poker may happen, but rules are rules.

[Dave B]

Chopping and deals even happen in real casino tourneys (Canterbury final tables every time). It is all part of the game.

[Imajica1975]

I'm playing with them again tonight, but this time, Im setting up ring games for those who bust out, so they will let us play the tourney in peace.

A ring game with you and a bunch of noobs? I'd wait for the nuts flop and slowplay a car or mortgage out of one or two of them.


That outta "tighten em up" a bit. 8)

[cowtown]

I offered for a guy last night to chop, we were the last two and people wanted to start another game before the SuperBowl started. He had a good chip lead so basically I just suggested my $20 buy in back and he'd have $100 (only a 6 player). He said no screw you and as cards weren't coming I was done in about a half hour after that.

As a point of redemption I didn't play in the 3rd game and once one of the 8 guys went out I sat down and dealt to keep the game moving, keeping guys on the ball since by then a lot of them were getting drunk and distracted. It came down to the last two guys and they said, screw it the SB is on, let's split. They said let's give him $20 for sticking around and dealing (it was a couple hours at this point). I thought that was pretty damn nice of them, I didn't grouse about the other game either, only a couple people had heard about it and one almost punched the other guy in the head for being a dick (apparently just before I joined game 2 they had agreed upon 1-2 being paid out). Just goes to show how greedy some people can be and how nice others can be. Those other guys took from a $160 pot $80 and $60 and gave me $20, very amicable.

[Always_Bored]

As far as im concerned once your out you have lost all claim to that money and have no say in how its devided. If the players left decide to chop the pot, its their right. They are not really changing the rules. One player is offering another player $70 to forfeit his chance at $140.

[wEbMaStEr]

Ok, Let's get a couple points sorted out here before we go any further!

point 1: Jestman13, you say these guys don't know what they are doing yet it is YOU who doesn't seem to know that in tournament play a chop can happen at any time as long as all players involved agree!
It can happen with 2 players, 3 players, 4, 5, 10, whatever!
So quit griping cos you could have suggested a chop at 3 left but you didn't, so

point 2: Thalum, tell these idiots to blow it out their collective ass, it is not up to them to decide how long is left unless the tourney has a time limit from the start. Railbirds yammer, that's their job, it's the players' job to ignore them. Of course, your chip leading opp would be happy at this, but it's not his job to make up the rules as he goes along either. so @ them!

point 3: cowtown, I sympathise that this guy didn't want to chop, but this is his right! All chops have to be agreed by all players involved, you can have 6 people discussing a chop, but if one of them isn't happy, then the deals off. That's all there is to it, no comeback, no-one else should be involved. All players must agree, or no deal. You can decide to chop or not as you see fit, so ok maybe this guy was being a hardass, but at the end of the day, he's allowed.

[Buffarino]

I had a guy at the 2/4 limit game at the Palms want to chop blinds with me. I said no on principle alone, although it was pretty clear he didn't have a hand. I bet out, he folded. 8)

I just couldn't believe someone wanted to chop $1 and $2 blinds.

[snoogins47]

I had a guy at the 2/4 limit game at the Palms want to chop blinds with me. I said no on principle alone, although it was pretty clear he didn't have a hand. I bet out, he folded. 8)

I just couldn't believe someone wanted to chop $1 and $2 blinds.

I think 75% of the people that play low limit games want chop every time. And I would be one of them. Do you really think you have much of an edge heads up against somebody with that gigantic of a freaking rake?

My only advice to you is that if you don't want to chop, do not EVER chop, and make it clear that this is the case. "I don't really like chopping, I like to play my hands out," and BE CONSISTENT. I saw a guy (granted, this was $10/$20) say "I like playing them out" with AA once, and then OFFERING/"forcing" a chop on his next orbit. If the average age at the table wasn't 60, that guy probably would not have made it to his car.

[Buffarino]

I had a guy at the 2/4 limit game at the Palms want to chop blinds with me. I said no on principle alone, although it was pretty clear he didn't have a hand. I bet out, he folded. 8)

I just couldn't believe someone wanted to chop $1 and $2 blinds.

I think 75% of the people that play low limit games want chop every time. And I would be one of them. Do you really think you have much of an edge heads up against somebody with that gigantic of a freaking rake?

My only advice to you is that if you don't want to chop, do not EVER chop, and make it clear that this is the case. "I don't really like chopping, I like to play my hands out," and BE CONSISTENT. I saw a guy (granted, this was $10/$20) say "I like playing them out" with AA once, and then OFFERING/"forcing" a chop on his next orbit. If the average age at the table wasn't 60, that guy probably would not have made it to his car.

I've played a fair amount at casinos and this is the first (and only) time I've ever had someone want to chop blinds. Maybe you see it more where you play, but that's the only time I've seen it. I've seen it in tournaments, but not in low limit cash games.

I go to casinos to play, not to chop blinds. Poker isn't my day job, I play it for fun.

[Dave B]

In limit ring games, I chop (meaning take your blinds back if no one has called, move the button and deal a new hand). Where I play, you usually ask your neighbor if they chop well before the situation arises, then you do it or you dont-regardless of hands. I have played a handful of people at higher limits who said they never chop-ok fair enough. If a table goes from 9 handed to 5-6, sometimes I will announce that I am not chopping until we get some more players. But always do it before you have to make the decision and never look at your cards before agreeing or denying a request to chop.

[snoogins47]

I had a guy at the 2/4 limit game at the Palms want to chop blinds with me. I said no on principle alone, although it was pretty clear he didn't have a hand. I bet out, he folded. 8)

I just couldn't believe someone wanted to chop $1 and $2 blinds.

I think 75% of the people that play low limit games want chop every time. And I would be one of them. Do you really think you have much of an edge heads up against somebody with that gigantic of a freaking rake?

My only advice to you is that if you don't want to chop, do not EVER chop, and make it clear that this is the case. "I don't really like chopping, I like to play my hands out," and BE CONSISTENT. I saw a guy (granted, this was $10/$20) say "I like playing them out" with AA once, and then OFFERING/"forcing" a chop on his next orbit. If the average age at the table wasn't 60, that guy probably would not have made it to his car.

I've played a fair amount at casinos and this is the first (and only) time I've ever had someone want to chop blinds. Maybe you see it more where you play, but that's the only time I've seen it. I've seen it in tournaments, but not in low limit cash games.

I go to casinos to play, not to chop blinds. Poker isn't my day job, I play it for fun.

That's odd (not saying anything about you, just that it's odd) because I see chops more often than the blinds playing the hands out in cash games, and I've never seen a blind chop in a tournament.

[Jestman13]

responses are great, and I understand what happens in a casino, but when one of the players that was playing always calls having a second place "liberal poker" and then splits two payouts in a game that was supposed to be winner take all, I think I have a right to be a litte pissed.

Every time this guy plays at my house hes complaing about there being a second place. And we've played many times. And considering that the final two players were the same both times, of course they are going to split. They just made the same amount splitting it twice rather than trying to win it.

Honestly, do you think that in the WSOP that people split payouts?? Or in any other major tournament??

My big beef isn't that it was split, its that the guy that accepted always complains about second place money. One winner takes all is his game. Or at least it was.