[Vince Lepore]

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he main reason has to do with the fact that I would NOT have checked it down against any other player.

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That does not make it cheating. It would be cheating if you played your hand differently than you would have for some personal gain. If I understand the situation correctly the result would have been the same had it been "any other player". That is, had you reached your goal, a player would be eliminated. Perhaps your strategy should include this type of play against any other player also. In tournaments implied collusion is "accepted" strategy in that players check hands down all the time in an effort to knock a player out. That is tournament poker. It is part of the game.

Your action does not qualify as soft Playing. Soft Playing is not playing your hand against an oopponent in an effort to keep from losing or taking chips from him. Usually you see this done among friends in live games.

Vince