Soft Play
Soft Play: To go easy on another player at the table (e.g., not betting or raising against him).
Suppose you and your poker buddy are the last two people left in a hand. On the river, you have the nuts, but he bets out. With the best hand you would raise anyone else, If you don’t raise your buddy, you are “soft-playing” him. Soft-playing is collusion, you are playing to benefit someone else at the table and not playing your own hand to your own benefit. Soft Play is prohibited in tournaments and can result in penalties, up to and including forfeiture of winnings. Some tournaments actually impose a penalty if you do not bet the absolute nut hand on the river because not betting is soft play.
One situation sometimes arises in a tournament that is not soft-play. A short stack moves all-in and gets called by more than one other player. These other players check it down, meaning they do not bet the flop, turn or river. While they are cooperating, what they are doing is trying to have more than one hand to hit the board and eliminate the all-in player. Generally, these players have drawing hands, if they hit big they will bet but when they do not, they check it down to increase the odds of eliminating a player and moving up themselves. This is not considered soft play.
-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #161
