Slowplaying
Slowplaying is checking or just calling a very strong hand on one round of betting to
win more bets on later rounds of betting. Generally, you slowplay a very strong
hand when it is likely that your opponents will fold to a bet and a free card is not too
dangerous. Most players slowplay too often.
You generally should not slowplay under the following conditions:
- A free curd could beat you.
- The pot is large.
- A free card would not give your opponents a good second-best hand.
- There are many opponents in the hand.
- There are weak opponents in the hand.
Let's discuss each of these in more detail.
A free card could beat you
It usually is not wise to give a free card when that card could beat you. There are
very few hands that are a lock on the flop. For example, if you flop a straight, you
could lose to a higher straight or end up splitting the pot with one of your
opponents. If you flop the nut flush, you could end up losing to a full house. If you
flop a set, you could possibly lose to a straight or flush. If the pot is small and the
flop is not too dangerous, you can sometimes risk giving a free card, but generally
be hesitant in giving a free card that could beat you.
The pot is large
Slowplaying is not recommended when the pot is large. Your main goal with a large
pot is winning the pot rather than making it bigger. In addition, when the pot is
large, many opponents will give you action anyway even with their weak hands.
One problem with slowplaying a large pot is the risk of backdoor flushes and
straights. For example, you flop a set of queens on a Q
♦ 7 ♣
2
♥ flop. Slowplaying is
risky with a large pot since a free card like the J
♦ could possibly give an opponent a
good draw. With a small pot, you might be willing to take this risk to win extra bets,
but not with a large pot.
There is one exception to this rule. Sometimes it is difficult to drive out opponents
on the flop even by raising.
Advanced Concept: In a large pot, your opponents are often correct in calling a raise on the flop but
are getting insufficient pot odds to call a raise on the turn; therefore, waiting to raise the turn is
sometimes a better strategy to protect your hand and force your opponents to pay two big bets to
see the river.
A free card would not give your opponents a good second-best hand.
Sometimes betting is the best play if giving a free card is unlikely to generate a lot
of action anyway. This generally occurs when there is an ace or king on the flop
since there are not many cards that can give an opponent a good second-best
hand. For example, if you hold AA with a flop of A93. There are no overcards to
give your opponents a decent hand. In these cases, it is usually best to go ahead
and bet and hope that you get some kind of action from an opponent holding a
weak pair or maybe even a set if you are lucky. Compare this to a flop of J73 when
you hold JJ. A free card could give an opponent a good second-best hand allowing
you to gain several more big bets.
There are many opponents in the hand.
This is really a combination of two of the other reasons given. With many opponents
in the hand, the pot is usually large and the risk of giving a free card is greater since
there are more opponents on a draw. With several opponents in (he hand, you also
will generally get good action on the flop in most types of games.
The exception to this rule is when you have a super strong hand like a full house
and a raise would drive out several opponents. In this case, usually check if you are
acting early since an opponent might raise directly behind you. If someone bets into
you, tend to just call if your raise would drive out several opponents behind you.
There are weak opponents in the hand.
Go ahead and bet against weak opponents who call too many hands after the flop.
These types of opponents tend to pay you off anyhow, so don't miss a good
opportunity when you have a strong hand.
Let's look at some examples where you might slowplay. You hold TT with flop of
T52. You can slowplay this hand if the pot is not very large and you aren't against
very many opponents. Any A, K, Q, or J on the turn could give you nice action.
You hold Q7 with a flop of Q77. You can slowplay this hand also with a small pot.
You should still play this hand strongly with a large pot. Especially if there is a
decent chance your opponents hold a queen or 7. Although your hand is super
strong, it is still vulnerable to an opponent hitting a higher full house. You could also
end up splitting the pot against an opponent with a queen in his hand if the last
queen hits the board.
One problem with slowplaying is that sometimes you lose bets you could have
earned otherwise. As discussed before, weak opponents will often pay you off
anyway. You also lose bets when an opponent has a strong hand also. For
example, you might flop top set and they flop second set. Or you flop the nut flush
and an opponent has a flush also. You could lose a lot of bets if both of you are
slowplaying!
Internet Tip
As discussed previously, players tend to bluff more online than in a live game; therefore, your
opponents will not respect your raises, on the flop as much since they may think you are bluffing.
You should tend to slowplay less often online since there is an increased chance that you might get
great action on both the flop and turn.
Sometimes a better strategy than slowplaying is to play your hand strongly hoping
that an opponent has a strong hand also. Most opponents tend to J back off when
there is a raise on the turn, but they don't tear raises on the flop as much. For
example, with a flop of T52 and you hold TT, you could either raise or slowplay until
the turn. If you raise the flop, you might get a lot of action if an opponent has an
overpair, hits an overpair on the turn, or already has a very strong hand like 55 or
22. Many opponents don't expect you to raise the flop with such a strong hand, so
you might win a lot of bet on both the flop and turn.
Advanced Concept: Sometimes you win more bets by playing contrary to what your opponents
expect. Playing strong hands strongly can sometime confuse your opponents into thinking you have
either a vulnerable hand or are bluffing. For this reason, usually only slowplay when the pot is small
and your opponents are likely to fold if you bet.
To summarize, slowplaying is another deceptive tactic to confuse your opponents
and gain additional bets when they would have otherwise folded. Slowplaying is
risky however whenever free cards can hurt you and the pot is already large.
Slowplaying also backfires sometimes when you would have gained bets anyway
against weak opponents or an opponent who already has a strong hand.
NEXT...Inducing Bluffs and Calls
