The Emotions of Chopping

Chopping in limit hold’em, of course, is when everybody folds, leaving only the small-blind and big-blind left in the pot, and both players simply take back their money and move to the next hand.  This is an optional play, and both people must agree to it before it can occur.  The etiquette is clear: you either chop every single time, or you never chop.  You do not choose to chop with 9-3, and play with K-K.  It’s an all or nothing proposition.

This practice, however, is not always observed.  There are a handful of rude and oblivious players who choose to play their big hands and chop their garbage hands.  This player is justifiably ostracized from the friendly table community, and is generally made to play every hand once he’s shown the propensity not to chop.

I myself choose never to chop.  This is a rare strategy.  Almost every player chops every single time.  People feel, I suppose, a small sense of victory at not having to play their forced blind hands.  I play because I feel confident in my heads-up game, and feel that over time, I can turn a small profit picking off a few extra blinds.

The way people react when I tell them I don’t chop is somewhat interesting.  Immediately, they all say the same thing, “Ok, as long as you never do it, that’s fine with me.”  I try to tell them this before the event arises, so they don’t think I’m pulling a fast one with Q-Q in the big-blind.

As time goes on, however, the game alters slightly.  The player on the button when I’m in the blind shows a lot more aggressiveness.  It seems he would fold his K-9 if we were to chop, but since I don’t, he need not feel guilty about a steal attempt.  This line of thinking makes very little sense, as “guilt” at the poker table is an altogether meaningless idea.  Try to take my money, that’s the goal!  I’m certainly trying to take yours!

The players in the blinds with me also show a lot more aggression.  They raise more often, and dislike folding post-flop despite holding nothing.  I’ve developed a very rudimentary theory on why this happens: When I say I don’t chop, my opponents interpret this as me thinking I’m better than them.  And they’re right.  That is what I think.  But because they (perhaps subconsciously) understand this, they are mildly offended and wish to punish me.  There are many egos at the poker table, and I believe I strike a non-exposed nerve when I choose to play every hand I can against them.

This theory may be totally incorrect.  But I certainly feel subconscious hostility.  I just keep playing what I believe to be good strategy against this quiet aggression.  I’m happy to fold when I have the worst of it, and try to grind out a small win with my never-chop strategy.  I simply continue to play my hands with the realization that I’m being targeted a little more seriously than my opponents.