No Slow Playing Online?

Alright as you guys can see I am relatively new to this whole online thing aka a nub lol. I'm not too bad at playing NL holdem in person but the whole strategy of slow playing doesn't seem to work too well in online play which is the basis of my playstyle in real life. From the tournaments I have played on pokerstars it seems that the slow play always gets burned in the end. I could be wrong about this assumption but thats why I joined the forum, to get some expert advice

The slow-play is the most over-used technique for losing all your $$ in poker. Unless you know your opponent will bet at a pot, but not call a bet, you're much better off betting. Online this is perhaps even more true because there are so many willing to call all the way with not much that you really want to build a pot with your strong hands.

I used to slowplay way too much when I first started playing now I usually just bet my good hands. Here's what you want to look for before you slowplay. First make sure a free card is very unlikely to beat you, if there's any draws out there don't slowplay, you're slowplay always got burned in the end because you were slowplaying when he still had outs to catch. Second, a free card should have a good chance of giving him a second best hand. Here's an ex. If you have AA and the flop comes 4 4 10 this is a great spot to slowplay. Both of those conditions are true, you're unlikely to get drawn out on and the turn could easily come a K Q or J giving him a second best hand.

I find people online slow-play way too much, and it almost always costs them.

Personally, I only slow-play monster hands that are almost uncrackable, and then only against aggressive opponents. The situations where slow-playing is more profitable than straight-forward betting are far less common than many players think.

yeah, if I flop a big hand- in some situations I'm looking to let my opponent catch up- but not to the point where he surpasses me.

Most of the time there's some kind of draw out there that I don't want to let anybody get in free and take me out. If u dont see another card then u can't lose!

Preflop though when the blinds are huge or you're heads up in a pot, I think there's no harm taking the risk of limping with AA or KK providing there's only 1 or 2 other players in the pot- these are the hands you sit there for hours and play for- and I, for 1 personally want to be paid off- not groan at taking 50 chips for all my excitement that I'd encountered for the previous minute

Almost the only time I slow play is when there is a LAG setting to my left and I know they will bet the flop and the turn with nothing, And still then, I would only slow play if the board was non-threating. I typically only slowplay to the turn and reraise at that point.

Yea thanks guys lol I've played in about 6 sit and goes on pokerstars and have gotten burned on slowplaying cause of a rivered straight or flush so I guess that whole making sure they dont have any outs is a good idea :-) and wats a LAG?

Loose Aggressive player

Sometimes slow playing is way to obvious and will make you a lot less money than a standard bet. Also slowplaying is very risky depending on the board.

Only thing I slowplay is a nut flush or better.

From here: (http://www.cardschat.com/f51/should-i-slowplay-87754/)

i definately agree that slowplaying can come back to haunt you. but at the same time so can betting into the pot. what i mean by this is that there are so many players who are going to chase draws anyways. especially something like a flush draw. i find no matter what i bet, especially if it's on the flop, guys will always chase their flush draws, even straight draws. so betting isn't going to push guys out of the pot as often as you'd like. i imagine at higher levels it's a different story, but at .25/.50 where i play they love chasing their draws.

all this being said, i agree with slkansky's rule.

Excellent post by Genius. One to remember.

As with all poker quandaries, the definitive answer is "it depends." The discussion here highlights some of the conditions favorable or unfavorable to a slowplay.

Another big factor is table selection and seat selection. I play one one site which is usually very tight at the 6-person tables with flop percentages in the 20s or low 30s. It's pretty easy to take small pots with positional bets, but it's difficult to get paid off on your bigger hands. Many times I raise the minimum with pocket aces or kings, only to get just the blinds.

On a looser table (bodog flop percentages are often in the 50s or more), you're almost bound to get some action on your minimum raise. These looser players are also more likely to outdraw you, so you really want to be careful about slowplaying. And careful about overbetting in frustration when a scare card hits. One of the real measures of your growth as a player is this question: are you able to lay down pocket aces when the preponderance of the evidence is that you're beaten by a sleazy turn or river draw? Maybe you did everything right, and it hurts, but sometimes it's the right play. I think you'll find this situation more common online than in BaM.

And if you like having a LAG to your left, why not scout the tables and look for one? I'm a PokerTracker novice, but I imagine that's a good tool for identifying LAGS.

I've gotten pocket aces busted so many times on loose internet tables that I don't get too greedy about them. I'm cautious and basically just happy if I don't lose a bundle. That's the thing about big hands. It's easy to win a little or lose a lot. The big payoff hands are the successful draws and the hidden sets.

Just my lowly opinion.

GW

I am somewhat of a newbie myself, but since I like to mix up my style of play occasionally, it would depend a lot on the way you are playing at the moment, for example, if you have beem playing tight, you almost have to slow play a little to keep everyone from folding instantly if you raise it up.
On the other hand, if you are playing very aggressively, no one will take you too seriously anyway if you bet big pre flop, so why wait, bet big, you'll more than likely get called anyway.

excellent topic...slowplaying too often is probably a fairly common mistake and I am certainly guilty of that. Have really gotten burned by this a few times lately (by people drawing out on me)...will I ever learn, lol? Anyway, nice reply AG that was very helpful

AG's post here is accurate and complete. Sklanksy's work is a must read for any aspiring poker player. Certainly one of the best books on the topic. While the majority of the advanced lessons are suited to limit hold em, an astute reader can apply the coorect ones to his NL game.


glworden: you like having LAG players on your left? I prefer to keep em on the right myself. GL with that though since every serious player on the planet seems be LAG. (Except for me) <------TAG

The slowplay def. has it's uses, but so many people make basic mistakes:

1 over value their. hnd. You can slowplay a monster, but so much depends on reading the texture of the board, and having a good read on opponents. When there are strong flush and straight draws out, a set is a poor choice in a multi player hand.

2. Overuse the play. Against any but the loosest players, you'll be money ahead in the long run to bet your solid hands strong. Too many people try to be too cute and too clever too often.

One of the biggest problems with sowplaying online is the number of hands seeing the flop , esp. playing micro stakes. Everybody limps far too much, everybody chases, and if 4-5 players are chasing the same pot, the odds of somebody catching are way against you

Keep the Sklansky ommon mistake in mind when considering a slowplay. Without quoting them at length, the important ones to remember in these instances are: Don't check when you should bet; don't call when you should raise

2. you will probably chase everyone out by betting

^^^ this one is particularly applicable to the lower limits online. If you flop a boat and there are straight and flush draws out: BET! Not to protect your hand, but rather, to get value: now is the time when these draws will call bets, not on the river when they possibly missed, or if another scare card falls on the turn.

Yea it seems that people love to chase that 4 card flush all the way to the river even if it is not that high of a flush. In the games that I have played online a set of 10s was cracked by a 9 high flush. With that in mind there was also a time where I had turned a flush and the other person had turned a King high straight. Is it wierd that i see more flushes and straights made over sets? I mean the reason flushes beat straights and sets is because of the frequency of getting the hand. it looks like flushes and sets should switch places lol

Exactly this happened to me last night. I was in SB with A6 and flop came A6A. I led straight into it and got a caller. 3rd diamond came on the turn, I bet into it again and got another call. Bet into the river and the guy chose this time to raise all in thinking he'd slow played his flush on the turn to perfection...

I was lucky to run into someone flush drawing, but the other reason I made this bet was I'd already done a few check/raises from the SB already in this game so wanted to mix it up a little.

You can slow play only with a monster hand. The flop has to be rainbow with no chance of a flush OR a str8. If the turn even hints of a str8 or flush - it's time to bet big. If the flop or turn improves your hand, trips or 2 hidden pairs, then keep playing slow. Slow playing is like walking on hot coals.

Exactly. I love to watch someone min-bet preflop, then fire off min-bets on every street, before shoving on the river. Usually followed by whining about their pocket aces getting cracked by a straight or flush.