I've seen a few table hoppers doing both...I'm leaning away from chop cup because most chop cups need to be slammed on the table to be sure to dislodge the ball....Thoughts and ideas??

Problem with cups & balls for table hopping is.....too many props to carry around.
If you do decide I recommend a 2 cup routine like David Williamsons routine in his book Williamson's Wonders.

As for the Chop Cup slam down.....Alex Heckslau offers a Chop Cup routine and cup, that does not need to be slammed down at all.
It is called 'Just a Cup' and works a bit different than the normal Chop Cup you are familiar with.

There are many one-cup effects and routines that do not require a gimmick and are perfect for walk-around or table-hopping.

The Takagi cup routine is perfect for walk around. It's a 1 cup routine. As for chop cups, if you have to slam it down, you're not
using the right gaffed ball for it. RNT2 offers the adjustable gaff ball sets. My brother created another self adjusting ball but
he is stingy who he will sell sets to because he doesn't want to get ripped off again. Wellington and Sherwood took the idea and don't
even credit him for it.

The Dennis Loomis chop cup routine seems ideal for walk around. It’s based around a small cup (shot glass size) and is done in hands without the need for a table. I use an RNT2 cup, as suggested above, and I don’t need to use any noticeable force.

The routine was sold by Jamie D Grant until recently as he picked up the rights. It seems like VI now has the rights to all his stuff so I don’t know if he’s transferred the Loomis rights to them too. So I am recommending an out of print routine but it’s worth looking for, I think.

Chop by Craig Petty and Just A Cup by Alex Heckslau are two alternatives to the traditional chop cup.

Rings & Things sells balls that can be adjusted. You can make it so you have to really smack the cup or just a light touch will work.

Jiggernaut by Mark Jenest is not gimmicked. Rather than a cup it has a single jigger (used to mete out alcohol) and an olive that jumps around.

There are also some clever uses of the ball vase by Charlie Frye and another routine by Mike Gallo.

A traditional cups & balls set can require quite a bit of real estate on a patron's table. There are mini sets made by TCC and a bunch of different sets by Leo Smetsers. They would be easy to carry in a pocket compared to a larger set.

There are any number of One Cup routines that are not Chop Cup routines and do not use the Chop Cup feature. At least one in Tarbell (I think Senator Crandell's found in Tarbell Volume 6).

Tommy Wonder put out a book "Tommy Wonder Entertains" with three different One-Cup routines.
https://vanishingrabbit.com/treasures-an......al-book/

Gregory Wilson had a "Kiss Off" one cup routine using a sealed can of chocolate syrup (long out of production but look for the video and assemble the props). It comes up on eBay from time to time.


More recently Johnathan Kamm has a nice One-Cup routine with a killer finale'. His routine is in a booklet he sells (good stuff in that booklet).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICOLzNd_DQw

Frank Deville has a similar (but different) One-Cup routine found on his Live lecture (made in the days of the pandemic):
https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/15265

There is no reason to use a Chop cup for a one cup routine unless you want to use a Chop Cup. A finely adjusted ball to match the cup and there is absolutely no tell tale blaming of the cup down.

Table hopping? It's horses for coursed. There are table hoppers out there that swear by a cups and balls routine using three or two cups . They seem to get good milage and good reactions. There are a number of table hoppers that also use a chop cup or a one cup routine to great effect.

the thing to consider is table top real estate. That is, realistically, how much room will you have to perform your routine (how much room your props take up). Another variable is can the whole table of spectators actually see what you are doing? Up and in the hands can have better sight lines.

A tall lager (beer) glass with a custom made coaster for a top will raise a chop cup/one cup routine for better visibility.

Also consider the size and number of your props you'll have to carry from table to table. Sometimes logistics dictate what and how you work. Pack flat and/or small tends to be the mantra of most table hoppers. That said it is nice to have an interesting prop on hand.

I tend to like a one-cup routine. In most table hopping situations I find myself in liquor is served and there is a bar or two, so I tend to perform a version of Mark Jenest's "Jiggernaut" using olives or cherries (fake fruit). It can be done up in my hands and in a spectator's hands. The jigger, two olives, two corks as final loads, and a jumbo olive as a kicker doesn't take much room in the pockets. Note, my jigger is on the large size at 4 1/8" tall and 1 3/4" in diameter. that doesn't take up much table top while still being large enough to be seen by a 10-top.

Harry, I'm trying to imagine what you're talking about here, but am drawing a blank. Are you suggesting some sort of performing surface that would balance on top of a beer glass? Is it somehow attached to the beer glass? When you say a coaster, do you mean like a beer or drink coaster?

.

Bear or drink coaster. When I say custom I don't mean by much. I tool a wood and cork coster off my coffee table and glued felt over the cork surface. It looks like a close up pad but is really a drink coster. I have a tall lager (beer) glass that I sit on the table and then place the coaster on the upturned mouth of the glass. Lifts the performing area about 8" off the table top. The coaster is not fastened to the glass. Gravity keeps it in place.