Chopping: Poker Negotiations
July 13, 2009
Anyone who has played a lot of tournament poker must have been asked this question, one time or another: “Do you want to chop?” This isn’t at all surprising—this offer to split the money before the tournament is over. After all, some tournaments are worth a lot of money and a chop can make a huge difference in the prizes for each finisher. You might end up a winner in the negotiations if you end up with more money than you rightfully deserve, or a big loser if you agree on, let’s say, an even chop between three players and end up being the victor.
Chops happen both online and offline. Although it is much easier to discuss poker deals when you are face to face with your opponents, chops also occur in the most popular online poker sites. At the PokerStars Sunday Million, deals often occur—mainly because players are already exhausted after having to outlast thousands of poker players and all of them stand to win a sizeable amount anyway.
Some professional poker players will advice you to avoid making these kinds of deals. Others will tell you that it’s perfectly okay, especially during cases where you don’t have the edge to win the tournament, or you are at a disadvantage. If you are one of those players who see nothing wrong with chopping the prize money, you can’t act like Mr. Nice Guy. Remember, that chopping is an art to be mastered. If you are a ruthless tight-aggressive player, you must bring that attitude during the negotiation process.
If you are in the chip lead once negotiation periods start, don’t bite at the first amount you are offered. A lot of players are too “nice” and end up giving up their own prize money because they refuse to negotiate. Remember how much money is at stake and take it from there.
Even if you are the short stack, you shouldn’t jump at the first bone offered (unless of course you are down to a measly amount of chips). In fact, if you feel that you can actually earn so much more than the amount that is being offered, speak up and tell them you wish to fight. Of course, this might not make you any friends as other short stacks might hate you for it, but who said poker was a popularity contest anyway?
The next time you are asked to chop, consider the chop numbers carefully. PokerStars and some online sites will assist you during tournaments and will give you chop numbers based on chip stack upon your request. Remember that you need to appear confident and relaxed during the negotiation process. And here’s a final word of advice: if you are confident that you are the best player on the table and you have a comfortable stack of chops, don’t even bother chopping. Unless of course, you are 100% sure that lady luck is against you. Otherwise, throw the offer out the window and ask the dealer to shuffle up and deal.
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