by Barbara Connors
In a game where we strive to misdirect, obfuscate, and confuse the players on the other side of the table, few things can cause an opponent to knit his brow in befuddlement like acting in the dark. Simply put, acting in the dark means you commit to your next action—be it a check, bet, or even shoving all in—without the benefit of actually seeing the next card dealt. And while it is technically possible to make the move preflop, practically speaking players who act in the dark almost always do so on the flop or later, and the dark action is almost always destined to be a check.
Some basic rules here. Well, one rule, but it’s nonnegotiable. Before you can do anything in the dark, you must be the next one to act in the betting order—which effectively means you must be the first one to act in the betting order. Otherwise you’re just another idiot or angle shooting sleaze-ball trying to act out-of-turn.
It usually goes something like this: You call from early position, an aggressive player from late position makes a big raise, and everybody drops out except for you and the preflop raiser. As soon as the preflop betting is concluded but before the dealer has a chance to spread out the flop you announce, “I check.” Now, for all intents and purposes, your late-position opponent will have to act first. He has to make his next decision with zero information about the strength of your hand in relation to the flop, since you made your check before there even was a flop.
Aside from diminishing the advantage of late position, acting in the dark also has the benefit of messing with your opponent’s head. It interferes with his ability to gather information about the strength of your cards. As with everything in poker, the devil is in the details of your particular situation and this particular opponent. Heads-up in a no-limit game, the above example is just about ideal for acting in the dark. But it only works against the right opposition—an opponent who’s enlightened enough to realize what you’re doing when you check dark but not smart or perceptive enough to figure out why you’re doing it.
Against the majority poker’s hoi polloi, acting in the dark is not advisable. When you’re playing against opponents who have already exceeded their maximum mental capacity just trying to figure out basic strategy, a check or bet in the dark will probably cause them to stare at you as though you just beamed down from Neptune.
More than almost any play in poker, acting in the dark must be used judiciously, which means seldom and only when conditions are right.
The major drawback of checking in the dark is that you risk giving your rival a free card. If your opponent flops any kind of a draw, your dark check allows him to merrily check behind you and get a free look at the turn—and along with it, a card that might complete his draw. Since losing a pot by allowing your opponent to suck out with a weaker hand is one of the biggest no-nos in poker, checking dark is a potentially dangerous play. The best time to check dark is when you hold a hand that’s strong enough to risk giving a free card. Or else a hand that’s weak enough to fold without too much regret if your opponent fires out a big bet. You can also check dark with a drawing hand in the hopes of inducing a check behind you, which could potentially pay off big if your draw comes in. Again, the basic idea is to mess up your opponent’s read by denying him information. The less he knows the better for you, and to that end a little dark play can come in handy from time to time.
Barbara Connors is a sucker for classic old movies, science fiction, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Her life’s ambition is to figure out the unusual behavior patterns of that unique breed of humans who call themselves poker players. Contact her at fyreflye222@yahoo.com.
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