To chop or not to chop? That is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler to accept splitting the prize pool between the few fortunate enough to survive a tournament or to suffer the outrageous slings and arrows of shorthanded/heads-up play.

Alright, not to get all Shakespearean on you poker players, but I was just wondering your feelings on chopping. And not to get all Miss Manners on you either, but what’s your rule of thumb on proper etiquette when it comes to the chop?

It’s a problem many players love to have, because it means you’ve made the money.

In the case of a single-table sit-and-go, I usually offer to chop the prize money once it gets to heads-up. Part of it is lack of confidence in my heads-up play, another part of it is knowing so many goofy things can happen once it’s one-on-one. If the other player rejects my offer, then it’s a duel to the end.

In the case of a multi-table, the chop offers usually start floating around once it’s down to the final table. Is it bad form to reject a chop offer when everybody else wants to do it? Generally I go with the flow, but if I have a big chip lead I don’t want to be too generous either.

How do you handle the chopping situation, and do you hold it against other players if they refuse to go along?