Checking It Down
When playing in tournament poker there will frequently be a situation when a short stack goes all-in and there are two or more callers. A standard practice here is for the players who called the all-in to check the hand down in order to increase their chances of eliminating the all-in player. However, checking the hand down may not always be the smart move. The strategy of checking the hand down has one huge weakness: it depends on the cooperation of the other player. If the other player does not cooperate, you can find yourself folding your hand to a strong bet, only to see the all-in player win the pot with a hand you could’ve beaten had you stayed in.
Say you are holding A-Q and call an all-in from the short stack of the table. Another player calls behind you, and the two of you go to the flop with the short stack. The flop comes down A-10-9, giving you a pair of aces. Not wanting to force the other player out of the pot, you check, and he checks behind you. The turn card is a 3, and you check again. The other player checks behind you and an 8 falls on the river. You check and the other player fires out a small bet. The bet is so small that you feel you have to make the call in case you do have the best hand. Your opponent turns over Q-J for a rivered straight, defeating your pair of aces. In this situation you would have been better served firing a bet on the flop in order to force out the possible draws. But you (and perhaps the QJ) were going to check it down.
Think about when you may want to check a hand down but be ready to change your thinking on the flop or turn. It is always very tempting to check the hand down, but you must be aware of exactly what the situation is and how it changes on the flop, turn and river.
Checking it down is not cheating nor is it a form of collusion no matter how uncomfortable it may make the short stack who is all-in. But weigh the value of eliminating the player against the chance of losing the pot when you let the other player see 1 or 2 or even 5 free cards.
-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #158
