Word or phrase which means purposely playing below your skill level?

Question

I am looking for an idiom or expression which can be used to describe the action of someone deliberately playing below their skill level.

For example, a pool or billiards expert missing a few shots on purpose.

There are 2 situations where I am looking to use this expression, so, for any potential answer, I would like to know if it fits one or both of those meanings:

1. Negative Connotation

The player is playing below his/her skill level because they are trying to deceive (for example, getting their opponent to feel overconfident and bet money on the next game).

Example usage:

He’s ______-ing! He wants you to believe that he’s less skilled than he actually is.

2. Positive Connotation

The player is playing below his/her skill level because they want their opponent to have fun and not feel bad about losing by a heavy margin.

Example usage:

My father-in-law wanted to play chess so I had to __________ because winning in a few moves might have been a bit humiliating.

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What I considered

1. The expression “to dumb down” came to mind initially but it means something different.

2. The verb “to hustle”.

   Dictionary definitions seem to imply that it would work only for the case with the negative connotation, but I am not entirely sure.

   Cambridge Dictionary suggests several meanings of the word, but the most relevant one is:

   a dishonest way of making money

   However, I believe that in colloquial usage the word tends to have a neutral or even positive meaning:

   hustlin’

   The problem I have with this word is that it seems to be connected to money, but I would like something more general and not specific to making money.

3. To go easy: This seems to fit the case with the positive connotation, for example, “I decided to go easy.” So this is one I’m heavily considering.

4. To smurf: This slang word fits well but it’s only used in online gaming as far as I know.

Answer 1

There is the expression to pull one's punches:

1. To act as if one is punching someone, without making any or much physical contact.

2. By extension, to restrain one's commentary or criticism to avoid offending or upsetting someone. (Usually used in the negative.)

[for a boxer] to strike with light blows to enable the other boxer to win.

It can be used generally in situations of matches or negotiations to mean:

To refrain from deploying all the resources or force at one's disposal.

e.g.

Bill has been barred from the boxing ring for pulling his punches. (negative connotation)

"I never pulled punches in my life!" cried Tom. (positive connotation)

Also, you might consider to go easy on someone:

to treat someone in a gentle way, esp. when you want to be or should be more severe (Cambridge)

Answer 2

It is called sandbagging and the verb is to sandbag. It started in poker and extended to other areas.

The definition of the term from Wikipedia:

To disguise the level of one's ability to play in various ways such as using a lemonade stroke; intentionally missing shots; making an uneven game appear "close"; purposefully losing early, inconsequential games.

The etymology of the term in Etymonline:

The meaning "pretend weakness" is by 1970s perhaps extended from the poker-playing sense of "refrain from raising at the first opportunity in hopes of raising more steeply later" (1940), which perhaps is from sandbagger in the sense of "bully or ruffian who uses a 'sandbag' (in the sense of a cosh or sap) as a weapon to knock his intended victim unconscious" (1882). Hence "to fell or stun with a blow from a sandbag" (1887).

The first usage in OED:

1940 O. Jacoby On Poker v. 35 Sandbagging occurs when a player who has a good hand..decides to pass in the hope that someone else will open.

Answer 3

It's commonly described as playing down to (your) competition. Googling the expression (with 'your/their/his/her competition') returns many pages of results like these:

LinkedIn
Chicago Tribune

Answer 4

I add hold back to the good existing list of possible answers.

Merriam Webster

hold back

• to keep oneself in check
• to refrain from revealing or parting with something

Hence:
My father-in-law wanted to play chess so I had to hold back because winning in a few moves might have been a bit humiliating.

Answer 5

Dissemble

Conceal or disguise one's true feelings or beliefs.

Poker also requires analytical skill, but above all it requires skill in bluffing and dissembling.

Lexico

You could therefore say:

He’s dissembling! He wants you to believe that he’s less skilled than he actually is.

Answer 6

Smurfing:

Smurfing is gaming slang for when a highly skilled or ranked person plays in a match with lower skilled or lower ranked players. This is often done because they want to dominate a game.