Tournament Chops

Lately, the players who make the final table at the bi-weekly Oasis Texas Hold'em tournament have been splitting (chopping) the purse. According to the rules, everyone has to agree to chop or the final table is played out. Last night a player refused to go along, so the tournament continued to the last man (or woman) standing. TV, a fine tournament player and the chip leader, lost in a confrontation with another player, when his pocket Kings lost to a straight draw on the River. This is a classic Skalansky problem of decision-making that "You lose, You're gone".

Given TV's chip lead and the number of remaining players, according to Skalansky, it would have been correct to even muck pocket Aces in this situation, and allow players with lesser chips to become either blinded out or knocked out by each other. The goal here is to first, finish in the money (This tourney payed to 4th place, which was more than a chop), and second, to win the whole enchilida. As I told TV in an e-mail reply, it's easy for me to be a Monday morning quarterback, but the fact is, when we see pocket Kings in our hand, throwing them in the muck is mighty hard to do. I was knocked out of the tournament early, so I've had a lot of time to ponder this problem! My final thought is that when you find yourself in TV's situation, stop and reflect for a couple of minutes about what your goal is. Is it to win a hand or to win the money?

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