How Often Do Pro's Just Check It Down?

[Texter 0]

PL: You have a lot of friends in the poker world, how tough is it to play against people you like? You are basically going after each others livelihood day in and day out.LL: We all know that everyone does this for a living and we’re friends, but at the table we’re not. Even when it comes to my best friend, John, I tell him to go at it. There is no mercy. I tell him check raise me all you want because I’m going to do it to you!However, there are some players that will just check it on the river no matter what comes, they’ll play the hand out and then on the river they’ll just check. That’s not my style.

Liz Lieu from The Link

[Kid DynOmite 0]

how often to basketball players play good defense

[PimpRock 0]

In general, not much. Very rare in fact.Exceptions include the WSOP main event. If 2 high level pros are drawn against each other at the same table I imagine they wouldnt tangle too hard as there is so much other dead money at the table. Not so much soft play, rather they know there are easier people to out-manouever.

[bascomeb 0]

how often to basketball players play good defense

NHS

[HoldemPokerPlyr 0]

I don't think professionals will check it down, unless they feel that their opponent is trying to trap them.-HoldemPokerPlyr

[SweetDaddyFreak 0]

I don't think professionals will check it down, unless they feel that their opponent is trying to trap them.-HoldemPokerPlyr

I agree-SweetDaddyFreak

[rockytrh 0]

The only times you should ever check down:1. Somebody is all-in in a tourney and there is no side pot2. Somebody is all-in in a tourney and there is a small side pot3. Somebody is all-in in a tourney, and you are close to the bubble4. You have nothing, and think somebody else has somehting, while they actualy have nothing, but think you have something and are trying to trap. But somebody better be all-in during a tourney.

[blakheart 3]

Checking the river is a totally different situation. I think I check the river maybe 70% of the time. If you have the best hand you need someone to a have a good enough 2nd best hand to call you. You also have to worry about a trap. While most top players lean towards making a continuation bet on the flop, the lean towards checking the river. It is not softplaying as much as a more conservative play to check the river.

[rivergirl 2]

i would have to agree the only times to check the river is when trapping or when someone is all in and side pot is not worth letting the all in back in the tourney for. (bluffing out an opponent who may have the all in beat) These are probably the only times i check the river.Even when playing with friends, i always bring my best game...and hope that they forget theirs at home LOL

[mtdesmoines 3]

What's all this crap? Every game, every hand, every opponent is different. Is there really a pat answer to this? If so, poker would just be the equivalent of the card game "War."

[lvpro 0]

They check it down 60% of the time, every time.

[gmanshade 0]

this is somewhat related, so i will post it here.The WPT episode with Scotty Nguyen and the Grinder there is a hand where they both have small cards and the river gives scotty three of a kind and the grinder a str8. grinder bets, and scotty is obviously going to reraise when the grinder suddenly exposes his cards. he says he thought scotty was just calling, the tournament director comes overs and rules that since the cards are visible the grinder can only call what is out there. scotty is spared ALOT of extra chips.when you watch this hand on TV it is obvious that the grinder realized that he had scotty beat and intentionally exposed his cards. I would guess that he and scotty approached the FT with the mindset "us against the donks"--because this goes beyond softplaying. [btw, there is another thread about this episode where someone points out that the heads up play at the end between the grinder and nguyen, which ends with nguyen winning, is sooooooo obviously a soft play that there is no way they are going at each other 100%].

[Texter 0]

Barry Greenstein has also admitted soft playing certain people; for example Mimi Tran (who was his girlfriend) and his friends.So I think it is probably more common than people think.