Tournament Chop Strategy

ICM Chop vs Chip Chop 

Explained for the average (or well below average) poker player.

You don’t have to know anything about the two tournament chop strategies to know how to employ them.  

• Use ICM Chop if you are a shorter stack. 
• Use Chip Chop if you are the chip leader or close 

ICM Chop

ICM estimates each players chances finishing in each place and adds them together. The smallest chip stack may finish in last 80% of the time and first 2% of the time, with the other places in between. 80% of the last prize is added to 2% of the first prize, and so on, until arriving at a total value.

ICM chop is considered the fairest way to chop and may seem to benefit the smallest stacks as they will always leave with considerably more than last place. Conversely, even if the chip leader has a commanding lead, he/she will leave with much less than first.

Of course, if you’ve ever played a final table, or even watched one, you will eventually see how that 2% chance at first becomes 100% and the chip leader ends up leaving in 5th.

Chip Chop

Chip Chop is a simpler way of dividing the prize pool. It takes the percentage of chips per player and applies the same percentage to the prize pool.

Usually benefits the chip leader since he/she may have over half the chips and first place may be less.

I Don’t Chop’s chop calculator does not allow players to receive more than first or less than last (except in cases where there is a remainder of a few dollars after dividing). Other calculators will happily divvy it up purely on percentage.

If you are chip leader and players will allow you first place prize or close to it without playing for it, you should definitely take it.

The Expected Value of Chopping a tournament prize pool

Get into a discussion on whether you should chop a tournament, you will likely run across the same stubbornness as you do when discussing blind chopping.

All players being equal, there is no value to chopping a tournament. The prize pool remains the same. If you are an accomplished tournament player and the other players are not, you should never chop, unless a value is given to you greater than ICM or Chip Chop.

Just say, “I don’t chop,” and ignore their pleas. Didn’t you come to play poker?

Paying the bubble

A common strategy in today’s poker tournament world that allows the money bubble to be extended an extra player. Can in some cases remove the hand-for-hand period, where every table plays one hand at a time.

If you are a short stack, this is advantageous and allows you to play aggressively. For a larger stack, it only removes money from the prize pool.

Unless a short stack, don’t pay the bubble. Let the tournament director know in private to avoid awkward discussions with pay-the-bubble defenders.