Slowplaying
Slowplaying is a very effective
advanced strategy that helps to build a pot and
increase the amount of money that you win.
Slowplaying is when you check or
just call a very strong hand on one round of
betting so that you can win more (and
potentially larger) bets on later rounds of
betting.
Basically what you want to do is
slowplay a very strong hand because you think
your opponent will fold if you bet. You give
your opponent a free card provided it is not too
dangerous to do so. That way they may improve
their hand enough to call your next bet.
Many players tend to slowplay too
often. There are several situations where
slowplaying can be dangerous. I recommend that
you do not slowplay under the following
conditions:
A free card could beat you. It
is usually not wise to give your opponent a free
card when that card can 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. If you flop a set you
could 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 when the pot is large is to win the
pot. In addition, many opponents will give you
action when the pot is large. One problem with
slowplaying a large pot is backdoor flushes and
straights. Slowplaying with a large pot is
risky since a free card could 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.
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.
There are many opponents in the
hand. 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 the 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. Why slowplay against weak players who
will call no matter what? If you slowplay
against weak players who always call, you
actually end up losing bets against them. Go
ahead and bet against weak opponents who call
too many hands after the flop. Theses types of
opponents tend to pay you off anyhow, so don’t
miss a good opportunity when you have a strong
hand.
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. |
