Explanation of Slowplay
Deception is an important component in poker strategy. The only
thing better than having a strong hand is 🌛 having a strong hand in a situation where our
opponent is convinced that we have nothing.
Rather than raising or betting 🌛 at the first
given opportunity, the slowplayer uses passive lines i.e. checking and calling, to
represent that he is weaker 🌛 than he really is. The plan involves hoping that our
opponent either resorts to making big bluffs on the later 🌛 streets, or decides not to
give us credit when we finally change gears and start raising.
Example of Slowplaying
used in 🌛 a sentence -> A common leak that new poker players have is slowplaying their
big hands too frequently.
How to Use 🌛 Slowplay as Part of Your Poker Strategy
Should I
Slowplay?
In the majority of situations, slowplaying will not be correct. Usually, the
🌛 most profitable approach with strong made hands is simply to come out betting and
raising, attempting to build the pot 🌛 as fast as possible (referred to as
fastplaying).
Many players obsessively slowplay because they feel bad when their
opponent folds rather 🌛 than paying off. Just because our opponent sometimes folds does
not automatically mean that slowplaying is a better option in 🌛 the long run.
There are
two key problems with slowplaying -
1. We allow our opponent to outdraw us cheaply if
our 🌛 hand is somewhat vulnerable.
2. We miss opportunities to grow the pot and miss
value.
While No Limit players still retain the 🌛 option to overbet on later streets, Pot
Limit and Fixed Limit players do not, making slowplaying especially problematic.
If
unsure, it 🌛 is recommended to avoid slowplaying, but this is not to say that slowplaying
will never be the correct option. If 🌛 the following parameters are in place then
slowplaying can be considered.
1. Our hand is invulnerable. (Don’t slowplay holdings
which can 🌛 be easily outdrawn).
2. There is a specific incentive. We have a decent read
that our opponent will bluff the later 🌛 streets, or pay off significantly wider when we
under-represent the strength of our holding.
It’s important to remember that even a
🌛 small bet on an earlier street can have a big impact on the final size of the pot by
the 🌛 river (since the pot grows exponentially in pot limit and no limit formats).
Slowplaying is not a good default option; 🌛 it should only be utilized when we have a
specific read on our opponent.
See Also
