Rants & Raves: Checking It Down

On Sunday night, I was in a tournament at the Peppermill with 20 players. In the middle of the tournament with around 14 players left, one of the players donked off most of his stack leaving himself with just 325 in the 200/400 level.

Very next hand, two players limped in before the Shortstack went All-In for less then the Big Blind. A total of five players saw the Flop of 8 4 4, including me in the BB. I checked. A Kid (UTG+1) bet 1500, and everyone folded, including me. The Kid turned over A9o. The Shortstack showed K8o. The Kid missed his Pair Draw, and won the small Side Pot, while the Shortstack now has some chips.

Right after the hand was over, one of the Super Nits at the table started to inform the Kid that what the Kid did was not proper. He told the Kid that the proper thing to do was to just check it down in order to eliminate a player. After all, the Super Nit had AJ, and would have hit his J on the River. He kept going on and on about this. Not in an angry, yelling way. It was more like he was giving the Kid some fatherly advice. After all, he was old enough to be the Kid's father.

Normally, I try not to talk Poker at the table. I don't want to advertise that I actually have a clue what I'm talking about, and I'd rather not tip off anyone who might be paying attention. But in this case, I had to defend the Kid. Not because I would have bet on the Flop with just A-high, but I just couldn't take the Super Nit preaching anymore.

I said, "That is just a myth. Sometimes it's proper, but it depends on the situation. At this stage of the tournament, it's more important to accumulate chips than to knock out a player." The Super Nit didn't say anything to me, and the conversation ended.

I would like to thank Mike & Vince from the WPT for this myth. They are the ones who started this "Checking It Down To Eliminate A Player" thing. And at a Final Table with four players left, it's a good idea to check it down and get to three players. But earlier in the tournament, it doesn't matter how many players are left, whether it's this tournament with 13 or 14 players remaining, or something like the Main Event with 2377 or 2378 players remaining.

The early stages of the tournament are all about accumulating chips. Certainly eliminating a player is a good way to build up a chip stack, but that's not the priority unless you're in a Bounty tourney.

I certainly wouldn't have bet with just A-high on a 8 4 4 Flop. However, I was in the BB, and I had 77. I considered doing a squeeze preflop to isolate with the All-In, because there was so much dead money in the middle. But I chickened out. The Shortstack still would have been alive, but that doesn't make the squeeze a wrong play. It just means that the Super-Nit would have given me the sermon.