Choke until it pops, then half-choke.

That is the proper procedure. Full choke, pull until the engine pops (a brief putter or cough), then move the choke to half and pull again. Usually starts in a few more pulls. If it doesn’t, you might have already flooded it.

The flooding problem is simple: too much fuel, not enough air. Leaving the choke on full while you pull over and over just dumps raw fuel into the cylinder. The spark plug gets wet, the engine smells like gas, and now you’re the guy yanking a dead saw for ten minutes.

Fix a flood by turning the choke off completely (run position) and pulling the cord with the throttle wide open. That clears the excess fuel. But better to not get there in the first place. One pop means the saw is getting fuel. Half-choke brings