There is an unwritten rule in poker tournaments known as “implicit collusion”. This is where your betting actions are influenced by an end-result you and one or more other players are trying to achieve and, on the bubble of a Sit ´n´ Go or Multi Table Poker Tournament, it may not be as important to you to win the pot as it is to see the elimination of another player.
An example would be where there are just four players left in a standard Sit ´n´ Go Single Table Tournament paying three places:-
Player A (3500 Chips) folds
Player B (500 Chips) bets all-in
Player C (3900 Chips – Small Blind 100) Calls
Player D – You (5300 – Big Blind 200) ?
At this stage, it does not really matter what cards you have been dealt. The fact is that if there are two hands on the table in opposition to the short-stack will reduce the short-stacked player´s odds of winning the pot and more likely lead to his elimination. If you fold, there will only be one hand against the short-stack and if you raise, you may cause Player C to fold, leaving you as the sole hand against the short-stack.
After you have called the pre-flop action, the act of co-operation is to refrain from betting and not forcing player C to fold no matter how kind the flop or any subsequent cards are for you – unless, of course, you get the absolute nuts.
There are times when co-operating is not always the best option – for example if Player A had made an initial 5x BB bet and Player B had called all-in thereafter. This would imply that both Players A and B have strong opening hands and you would have pot odds of 2½/1 against two strong hands which, should you lose to Player A would significantly affect your respective chips stacks.
This process is also known as “checking down” and can be equally as effective on the bubble of a multi table poker tournament as it is in a SnG event. You have to be careful that you do not communicate your strategy via the chat-box facility, as this is regarded as open collusion and can get you banned.
You just need to know that the other players are shrewd enough to understand what is going on and act accordingly – and if you see this happening yourself, remember the potential benefits of co-operating on the bubble.