This past weekend was Bellagio's $750k winner take all invite tournament. 144 entrants. When we were down to 8 people, Sammy initially refused a chop -- and who can blame him given that he is used to playing for these stakes? Luckily (for me and the other 6 people that finished 2-8), we were able to talk him in to a partial (really, majority) chop with $75k a head and $150k extra for the winner. I really think he agreed as much to appease his opponents -- and his girlfriend -- as himself. As well as his own superstition given that he recently was at another final table a few months ago and refused a chop -- only to go out early and have the rest of the table chop after his exit. As it turned out, Sammy won the tournament. Great job by the Bellagio in actually enforcing (more or less) the chop versus other strip casinos that I will keep nameless that I have seen basically refuse to allow a chop (despite my pleading and the entire final table in agreement). [Not that Sammy's word was ever in doubt, but the fact is that chops go much, much smoother for everyone when the casino acknowledges them and gives everyone time to get together and come to an agreement]. The Final 8 was a mix of some novice players and some very good ones. It was a good tournament all around. As always the Bellagio runs them very, very well. As to the wisdom of a chop... yes they are still -EV if you are a good player but given those stakes, I am still in favor of them (for now, at least). A few more wins and I may take a new attitude.
Big Money Congrats mason. Nice payday. When the money gets to be that big, EV is no longer your only consideration. Money begins to acquire a sort of marginal utility. An example that's easier to understand would be if it were a $100 million dollar winner take all. Everyone on this board would agree that the first $10 million you get would mean much more than the next $10 million, and that second $10 million would mean a little more than the third $10 million, and so on. So with a huge prize pool you'd be much more inclined to chop. The bigger the prize pool the smarter it is to chop, because the marginal utility of money overtakes EV even for the most skilled player. This may seem like common sense to some, but there's science behind it.
