Do Poker Players in Big Televised Tournaments Chop the Pots Secretly?

When I play poker tournaments in Vegas there are a lot of “chops”; that is, the players agree how to split up the prize pool based on a number of factors. On the televised big-entry-fee tournaments, I never see these chops, I suspect for TV dramatic reasons. Are there behind-the-scenes chops among the players that are simply never mentioned in the program?

[Editor's Note: This answer is provided by Blair Rodman, WSOP bracelet winner, co-author of our first poker book, Kill Phil and author of our upcoming book All About Sports Betting.]

In the pre-Rio days of the World Series of Poker, openly chopping or saving wasn’t an issue. ("Chopping" is dividing up the prize money after the event is over. "Saving" is allocating some of the higher prize money to lower finishing positions while play continues, thereby flattening the payouts.) Deals were often made at the table. However, when Caesars Entertainment moved the WSOP to the Rio and their events started being regularly televised, they instituted a policy of no chopping.

There are two sides to this issue.

From the players' perspective, all the money in the prize pool is put up by the players (and a large chunk is taken out for house profit), so why shouldn’t they have control over the prize distribution? If a tournament puts up or adds to the prize pool, then I agree with them having a control.

From the house side, it would hurt TV shows if the viewers knew the players had made deals. (That said, why would they have to know?)

Are deals made behind the scenes? In many instances, especially in the big events, yes. When I won my bracelet, I made a save when we got to heads-up. I made sure to write a simple contract before we proceeded, as I didn’t know my opponent and wanted to play it safe. Not all players are amenable to chops, as they feel it hurts their strategy, Daniel Negreanu being a prime example.

The problem at the Rio is, while they’re surely aware deals are being made, they won’t fill out the IRS forms to reflect the chop, so players must issue 1099s to the players involved, which can be an issue -- e.g., if the amount they actually collect is less than the IRS form shows. And this applies to all payouts — satellites, small-buy-in daily events, non-televised events, etc. I strongly disagree with this policy, as it’s hard on players and I don’t see the need for it.

In the small local events, chopping is the norm. Some players start lobbying for chops or saves before they're even in the money, a common one being awarding something to the player who goes out on the bubble. I don’t like it; it changes the play of the event at a critical time. For good players, the phase approaching the bubble is an important time to build up chips for the final run. Players on short stacks who fear busting on the bubble and getting paid nothing will play very tight, allowing aggressive players to pick up a lot of important blinds and antes. If money is saved for the bubble, it allows the short stack to play more pots. This scenario plays out on chops and saves throughout the final table.

Many floormen openly encourage chops in local events, as it allows them to get the event over more quickly. Some even come to the table after every bust-out and tell the remaining players what a chop would look like.

If you don’t like making chops and saves, you might think you can just say no and it’s all good. But some of these local players get very angry if you object to a chop or save and it can become very uncomfortable. I’ve heard stories of fights and other nastiness. It’s one reason I don’t like the local events.

As I’ve long said, players need a greater voice in how tournaments are conducted. Around 2004, I was involved with the fledgling Poker Players Association, which wanted to be the players’ advocate. Unfortunately, getting poker players to agree on anything is almost impossible. So it got political and nasty and after the PPA fell apart, nothing similar has been tried since. Thus, players remain at the mercy of the tournament organizers.

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Comments

AyeCarambaPoker Dec-04-2020

Chopping

I’d echo those comments about players being super eager to chop at lower stakes events - I blogged about one instance where a player decided an even chop was suitable despite him being short stacked then decided to insult me when I pointed this out 

https://ayecarambapoker.blogspot.com/2018/08/one-jackass-doesnt-want-to-chop.html?m=1

I’ve also heard of instances of players agreeing to chop, despite a casino not allowing it, then the winner reneging on that agreement once they are handed the bigger share of the prize pool

Stewart Ethier Dec-04-2020

Question for Blair

When a chop is agreed to, is the prize money chopped in proportion to current chip counts?

Kevin Lewis Dec-04-2020

The simple reason...

...for chopping is that almost all tournaments have prize structures that are absurdly top-heavy. More often than not, first, second, and third places get 80%+ of the money. A player who enters a 1,000-player tournament, survives to get, say, ninth place and as a reward, gets his entry fee back is liable to feel that he's not been properly rewarded for his efforts and success.

This happens, especially at the glam/TV level, because organizers want to tout the big first place prize they're offering.

Dave Dec-04-2020

Chop at WSOP main event

I recall the story, I believe told by Chris Moneymaker, that when he and Sam Farha were heads up at the 2003 WSOP, they happen to go to a restroom during a break, and Farha offered a chop. So it does happen.

Dec-04-2020

Answers to some questions.

Stewart, here's a link to a great article on the particulars of chopping.

https://upswingpoker.com/final-table-deal-making-tournaments/

Dave, actually it was Moneymaker who was desperate to make a deal but Sammy laughed at him. Karma!

Llew Dec-04-2020

Chops

Stewart, in my low level tournament experience, chops vary depending on the players involved.  Sometimes there’s an even chop, especially if the chip stacks are fairly even. Other times, the money is chopped based on chip count, either exactly or loosely. 
As to players getting mad about not chopping - reminds me of a daily Omaha 8 tourney I played at the Orleans. We were down to the final four. One lady was short-stacked. The chip leader had almost half of the chips, I was the next largest stack and the fourth player was, as we say, “on life support.
A chop was discussed. The short stacked lady wanted an even chop. I argued that it wouldn’t be fair to the big stack. Her reply was, “We *always* do an even chop.”  I said sorry, no. 
After playing a few more hands, during which she lost a lot more chips, she finally agreed to a chip-based chop. The “life support” player was thrilled!  😄
We all stood up and shook hands.  Except she wouldn’t shake mine. 😉

Question of the Day - 04 December 2020

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