As you expand your poker skills, acquiring new strategies and learning proper gambling
etiquette, here's one move to avoid making: 🏵 the "slow roll".
What is a Slow Roll?
A
slow roll in poker is where the player with the very best hand 🏵 ("the nuts") makes a
scene of calling a large final bet, adding unnecessary drama to the hand. One of the
🏵 most frowned-upon moves in poker, slow rolling is likely to lose you respect and may
even anger your opponents.
The slow 🏵 roll should not be confused with "slow play",
"sandbagging" or "trapping" – three terms that refer to playing a strong 🏵 hand weakly to
encourage your opponent to bet. The slow roll comes at the end of the hand, when you
🏵 delay showing your cards in order to taunt your opponent.
For example, on the final
round of betting, if one player 🏵 goes all-in and shows a king-high flush, and their
opponent, holding the ace-high flush, pretends to make a tough decision, 🏵 this would be
a seen as a slow roll.
In this case, it is likely to make the all-in player think 🏵 they
have the best hand, making it a doubly crushing blow when the slow roller reveals that
they have the 🏵 nuts.
Why Would Someone Slow Roll?
Slow rolling is done to irritate or
upset an opponent, often because the two poker players 🏵 involved have some history. It
may also be done, in larger or televised poker games, simply to gain attention - 🏵 but
while a slow roller may find their move amusing, other players will not.
Be wary,
though - a slow roll 🏵 might also be done by mistake, when a player doesn't actually
realise that they have as strong a hand as 🏵 the bettor. In the Showdown at the Sands,
“Poker Brat" Phil Hellmuth famously made a scene on international television with 🏵 a
tirade against poker legend T.J. Cloutier, as he thought that he had been slow
rolled.
Cloutier, however, genuinely had not 🏵 realised that he had made his flush, and
it was Hellmuth who came away looking bitter in defeat.
So, while you 🏵 should avoid
making the move yourself, it's also wise to avoid becoming heated with players who do
slow roll, as 🏵 the aim of the move is to goad you into losing your composure.
Slow
Rolling in the Casino and Online
Poker and 🏵 casino etiquette strongly dictates that you
should not slow roll, but it is not a written rule, and you're unlikely 🏵 to be thrown
out of a game - or a casino - for doing it. However, it certainly won't make 🏵 you any
friends around the table.
Slow rolling in online poker is far less easy to spot, as
there are several 🏵 reasons why a player might take a long time to call a bet.
Distractions away from the computer, slow internet 🏵 connections and playing multiple
games are all possible causes for what might appear to be a slow roll.
It is also 🏵 less
likely for there to be history between online poker players (if you're playing with the
vast pool of players 🏵 at Poker Stars, for instance) making slow rolling less
common.
Still, if you visit Winner Poker to sit down and play 🏵 poker today, be sure not
to slow roll - good etiquette always matters!
