Chopping The Blinds - Glossary of Poker Terms

Chopping the blinds is a custom that occurs when all other players fold to the blinds before the flop. The blinds then remove their bets, ending the hand.

Chopping the blinds is a common occurrence in live ring games, whereas it is not allowed in tournament play (the small blind must call or fold and cannot reclaim their bet), and is seldom, if ever, possible in play on the internet.

Why players chop

Players generally chop for two reasons.

1. Many players do not enjoy playing heads-up, and would rather play multi-way pots, so if the first few players at a table fold rather than calling the big blind, the entire table may fold. In this case, chopping is more of a social custom.
2. Chopping allows the blinds to avoid paying the rake for a hand that is unlikely to develop into a large pot. In this case, chopping is more of an economic decision.

In higher-limit games, players tend to be tighter, and it is more common for everyone to fold to the blinds. In this case, chopping would occur so frequently that it would be pointless. Furthermore, higher-limit games are much more likely to be short-handed. Finally, the rake in higher-limit games is usually much smaller in comparison to the size of the pot, and if a collection is taken instead of a rake, this removes the economic reason for chopping. For all these reasons, chopping is much more common in lower-limit games than in higher-limit games.

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