Stealing 'Give Up Chips'

If you are playing in a live poker game you have probably seen a player lose most of his money and have only a few chips left in his stack.  A lot of times, especially if it is late and a reasonable time for a person to end a session, is the player throws the remainder of his chips in with a poor hand.  The thought process goes something like 'I have already lost most of my money, and I already have a losing session, I might as well gamble and try to win it back, and if I lose the rest then I will just go home.'  I have seen this not only in the lower limit games, such as the $200 buy in NL Holdem, but also in higher limit games such as $1000 or $2000 buy in.

You need to learn to take advantage of this mentality.  If you are able to recognize it then it can add a nice amount to your win rate over time, after all, what is just a small amount to the losing player, who is willing to just throw the rest of it away, can be a big amount to a winning player, who wants to add to his chip stack.

There are a couple of factors that make it more likely that a person is ready to give up the rest of his chips without much of a fight. Some of them are listed below

It is late
Late at night, the losing player has most likely had a long session.  They have taken a beating, had a terrible night, and are ready for it to be over.  If it is earlier in the day they are more likely to rebuy for another rack of chips.

They have been losing steadily
A person who has been losing steadily over time if more likely to be feeling depressed than a person who just suffered a huge loss.  The person who just took a big hit thinks that he had bad luck, and is antsy to get back in the game and take the money back from his foe.  A person who has been losing all night is more likely to feel that they are playing poorly, or that they are the fish at the poker table, and they are going to be ready to leave.

They has been drinking
Although they aren't really give up chips, they often exhibit the same symptoms.  A drunk person is willing to put all his chips in the pot with the worse hand, so you should be ready to call all ins against such a person with a medium strength hand, such as a middle pair or AJ.

Someone else is telling them to leave
If a person has a spouse who is bugging them that it is time to leave, they are not going to be playing their best.  They are going to be willing to push in with weaker hands, because they know that in a couple of minutes they will have to capitulate to their spouse.  Therefore they want to get as many hands in as possible, and not just wait for the premium ones.

They are in the blinds
Even when a person still have a significant number of chips compared to the blinds, say $35 at a $1-$2 table, if they are in the big blind with that size stack they are going to be more willing to push in with medium strength hands, figuring there is enough overlay to make it worth it.  There usually isn't.