Checking in the dark

I've been watching the WSOP coverage and noticed Phil Hellmuth check in the dark in nearly every hand ESPN showed him play. In last year's coverage ESPN showed Marcel Luske use this play and he apparently taught it to David Williams who used at the 2004 final table.

Obviously, you need to be first to act on the next betting round to use this play. What other factors should be considered to determine whether it is a good time to use this play.

I cant imagine any reason that it would be good. Its basically telling your opponent that you concede. So either you have a monster and are tempting him or you have nothing and dont even want to be involved.

Personally, I think the move takes a lot of arrogance and I think Hellmuth is a putz.

This move actually forces your opponent to react to the next card before you do. This may have an advantage, provided you are staring your opponent down. If your opponent checks behind, you may have to check the following street in the dark as well.

[DeadMoneyOC]

Checking the in the dark is retarded. It doesnt matter if you have AK or 55 or whatever, if you flop a hand you are giving your opponent a free look at the turn if they choose. ie. you have AK and the flop comes down KT5 with two spades, you check dark and he checks behind, turn is a T of spades, you have no spade, WTF do you do now when you are raised on the turn? You [censored] your pants becaus eyou are retarded and didnt bet the flop! I could see how checking dark would be advantageous for someone will fantastic hand reading skills but I would imagine 99% of poker players dont have that ability. Dont even CONSIDER doing it in limit either...its just a silly play all round. Dont do it...ever!

BTW from someone who played a decent amount live over the summer, checking dark is the eqivilent of wearing sunglasses. I can actually remember playing against one guy who checked dark and sported sunglasses at the table, AT A LIMIT TABLE> JOPKE!

Dont you wish you could tattoo a fish on his forehead? Not like he needs it... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[pudley4]

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Checking the in the dark is retarded. It doesnt matter if you have AK or 55 or whatever, if you flop a hand you are giving your opponent a free look at the turn if they choose. ie. you have AK and the flop comes down KT5 with two spades, you check dark and he checks behind, turn is a T of spades, you have no spade, WTF do you do now when you are raised on the turn? You [censored] your pants becaus eyou are retarded and didnt bet the flop! I could see how checking dark would be advantageous for someone will fantastic hand reading skills but I would imagine 99% of poker players dont have that ability. Dont even CONSIDER doing it in limit either...its just a silly play all round. Dont do it...ever!

BTW from someone who played a decent amount live over the summer, checking dark is the eqivilent of wearing sunglasses. I can actually remember playing against one guy who checked dark and sported sunglasses at the table, AT A LIMIT TABLE> JOPKE!

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There's nothing wrong with checking dark in certain situations. The most common is when you're heads-up against a relatively aggressive opponent, and he's put in the last raise preflop (especially if you're in the blind, he raised, you 3-bet, and he 4-bet). He's got the initiative, and the flop is going to come down, and you're going to check, and he's going to bet, and you both know it. If you were to bet out for some reason, you're interrupting the flow of the hand, and that can cause him to react unpredictably. He expects you to check, so when you bet, it looks like you're expecting him to raise, so he may get suspicious and just go into call-down mode.

(I feel a little like Tommy, talking about the "flow of the hand" /images/graemlins/wink.gif)

checking in the dark most surely cost me first place in a live tournament this summer. I was first to act heads up with my 7,9 off. For no particular reason I checked in the dark before the flop. It came out 2,4,7. I hit top pair but had given up my option to bet. Of course my oppenent checked and the turn gave him a higher pair that I bet into. Tournament was pretty much over at this point and I haven't checked in the dark since.

[EStreet20]

Let's not forget that Hellmuth was doing it primarily in the early stages of the tourney (from what I remember anyway) with a huge field in. So rather than get very involved early on he'd rather play the cards and risk as little as possible and maintain a stack big enough to play with a little later on. Just a thought, I personally don't think I've ever checked in the dark, except occasionally in my friend's home tourney which is more of a drink beer and joke around session than a poker game.

Good luck,
Matt

Going all-in dark, a la Juanda vs. Negreanu in some event. After the hand, Daniel said "I knew you were crazy, but not THAT crazy!" I think checking dark is just like any other poker weapon. If used in the right situation, golden. If it blows up in your face...you get slimed.