Poker Terms: ‘Soft Play’
‘Soft play’ in poker is considered when a player acts or responds in relation to another opponent who is his friend with less aggressive or prudent moves than they would any other player at the casino online. Checking down pots with your friend, especially when there other players in the hand, are not technically ‘against the rules’ in most games, though often frowned upon by other players, who might consider the soft play a kind of cheating, or at least a bending of the limits.
This kind of play is particularly flagrant when coupled with the idea of collusion, wherein the players pool their information in a hand together to then use and to win pots that they might not have won with only the information of their hands. Ideas like signaling cards and raising a third opponent out become a much more hairy subject than the basic idea of not wanting to take your buddy’s money.
In these instances, playing pretty much as you would against any other poker online player, even when in against your friends, is generally a better way to go. Though, yes, it might not be cool to bust your friend at a table of strangers (especially, say, if they are going to ask you to borrow money to rebuy), you still should be exercising your usual poker wisdom in any hand, to keep the illusion of collusion or other ill pursuits completely out of the picture.
