There Are Other Ways to Trap Than by Slow Playing
February 16, 2024 Sid Gaughan
When
some no-limit hold'em players think of 🏵 "trapping" they immediately think of "slow
playing." In fact, some will equate the two, mistakenly believing the only way to 🏵 trap
an opponent after the flop is by slow playing.
Trapping actually refers to a broader
postflop strategy that can but 🏵 doesn't necessarily involve slow playing. You can "trap"
and still play a hand "fast" by betting and raising right away 🏵 for value.
Trapping by
Slow Playing
We're all familiar with slow playing, a strategy that can work especially
well in certain situations, 🏵 particularly against aggressive opponents. It's kind of the
opposite of bluffing. Instead of betting with a weak hand, you check 🏵 or call with a
strong hand, giving the impression from your action that you are weak.
Earlier this
week, Matthew Pitt 🏵 recounted "The Top 5 Hands from 888Live Rozvadov," one of which
provides a ready example of someone slow playing a 🏵 strong hand in order to earn maximum
value.
With eight players remaining in the €5,300 High Roller, Enzo Del Piero raised
🏵 with 8♥7♥ and was called by Pierre Neuville from the blinds who had J♥9♥. The flop fell
9♠9♦K♦ to give 🏵 Neuville trips, and rather than leading with a bet he chose to check and
allow the preflop raiser to continuation 🏵 bet, as Del Piero did.
Neuville just called
the c-bet, and checked again after the very safe-looking 4♣ turn card fell, 🏵 remaning
reasonably sure his trip nines remained the best hand. Del Piero checked behind this
time, and the river brought 🏵 the A♣.
With other river cards Neuville might have chosen
this as a time finally to bet his hand. But he 🏵 knew the ace was likely either to have
improved Del Piero to a good but in this case second-best hand, 🏵 or if it didn't improve
him the card might encourage Del Piero to bluff and represent having an ace in 🏵 his
hand. Neuville therefore checked again, and Del Piero fell into the trap by moving all
in.
Neuville called right away 🏵 to win the pot and eliminate Del Piero in
eighth.
Trapping by Betting
While that was certainly an example of slow playing,
🏵 Neuville's call of a raise with J♥9♥ more generally illustrates a key principle of
"trapping" — namely, playing a speculative 🏵 hand and then finding a way to earn full
value when the hand manages to hit the board hard.
Such examples 🏵 of trapping can begin
in various ways. A player might choose to open-raise before the flop with J♥9♥ — a
🏵 "suited one-gapper" with potential to flop flush or straight draws. Suited connectors
(e.g., Q♦J♦, 9♠8♠, etc.) and small pairs also 🏵 qualify as speculative hands that need to
improve postflop to outperform stronger starting hands.
When such hands do improve, the
likelihood 🏵 of their earning value increases since opponents often think first of
stronger starting hands when others raise preflop. Especially if 🏵 you've cultivated a
somewhat tight image, if you raise with J♥9♥ and a flop comes 10♥8♦4♥, your opponent
won't necessarily 🏵 appreciate how hard that flop has hit your hand (giving you both
straight and flush draws). Or if you raise 🏵 with 6♦5♦ and a flop comes 9♣5♠5♥ — a board
that looks like a big whiff to a preflop raiser 🏵 holding a couple of Broadway cards.
In
such cases, continuation bets are more likely to be called, as might turn and/or 🏵 river
bets as you seek even more value. The "trap" here is achieved not by slow playing, but
rather by 🏵 betting and/or raising throughout.
A hand like this can prove beneficial in
other ways, too, favorably affecting your image. You raised 🏵 with six-five then barreled
away postflop? Some opponents won't appreciate how those later bets were for value,
instead remembering what 🏵 seemed a very loose preflop play. You might actually be on the
tight side, but now you appear loose, and 🏵 thus are set up well to earn action when
raising with genuinely strong starting hands.
Going ahead and betting after flopping 🏵 a
set with a small pocket pair is another way potentially to trap an opponent into paying
you off. You 🏵 have 4♦4♣ and the flop comes Q♣9♦4♠. In some cases slow playing might be
the right option, but in others 🏵 going ahead and betting will be even more deceptive and
thus a more effective "trap" in which to ensnare an 🏵 opponent.
However it is achieved,
trapping means underrepresenting the strength of your hand in order to encourage
opponents to commit chips 🏵 when you have them beat. But slow playing — that is, checking
and calling — isn't the only way to 🏵 underrepresent a hand. Betting can also connote
weakness, in certain situations, and thus deliver the signal that you're not nearly 🏵 as
strong as you are.
Continuation betting "dry" flops that appear unlikely to have hit
the hand you raised with before 🏵 the flop is one example. So, too, might "donk betting"
— leading with a bet from out of position after 🏵 calling a preflop raise — on a "wet"
flop that happened to have hit your hand hard. Even a postflop 🏵 check-raise, usually a
very aggressive move signaling obvious strength, can in certain, special situations be
regarded as suggesting weakness, interpreted 🏵 as a bluff rather than appreciated for a
genuine attempt to build a pot.
Conclusion
Slow playing can be an effective way 🏵 to win
big pots, especially against aggressive opponents. But remember there are other ways to
trap, too, including by going 🏵 ahead and betting strong hands yourself in situations
where your bets might appear more like bluffs than for value.
Sharelines Trapping
🏵 doesn't always mean slow playing. You can trap by betting or raising with strong hands,
too.
Learn different ways to underrepresent 🏵 your strong hands and trap opponents into
paying you off.
