Slow plays with premier hands(",)every time

I encountered a player just 2 days ago($5-$10 blinds, cash game)and found out that 80% of the time
he slow plays whenever he has a premier hands.
He only checks and calls...
and he always wins the pot.

It seems that it's a pretty good tactic but I'm not sure if it's
really that effective on the long run.

What do you think guys

Hey, just because it appears that way, does not make it so. Play your game, learn the fundamentals, and pick your spots.

no. the best way to get paid on your big hands is to bet. if you check your hoping someone bets. also you may be giving free cards that may beat you. slow playing an absolute monster is one thing. say you got a pocket pair and flop quads or something then slow play hope someone catches up. but if i flop a set i mostly lead out with a bet. IMO it make more in the long run.

Nice! thanks Cardplayer52 for that helpful tip. I know it's a short advice but it did gave me a big idea.

Once again, thanks and have a nice poker.

Huge question with so many variables to consider.

In the wrong situation:
Free Cards (Not a great idea as they can catch up and take the pot away from you)
Small Profit. (Always try to maximize profit without Compromising a Win)
Easy Read (Try not to become predictable.)

That being said slow play or trapping can be a fantastic technique in the right situation.
Especially when playing against Aggressive Players (Maximize Profits. They often Push Push Push).



Slow Play does not have to mean (check and call).
I would rather entice a bet by properly choosing my bet size.

I call this Shark Feeding.
Make them go into a Feeding Frenzy.
They can't help themselves.




Good Luck

That's a nice advice and tip.. it did gave me an idea!!!
This site really has it all... great forums,
nice and knowledgeable poker people.

Thanks Roller!!!
I'm going to consider this and impart it to my poker arsenals.
Have a nice poker day.

Use that knowledgeto your advantage Just check also and wait for your own monster

It is interesting to me that when you slow play and win you are genius but when you slow play and lose you are a donk.

To my mind slow playing when a table is short handed is ok but not at a table that is full. The reason being less players can catch the flop on a short handed table, sounds obvious I know but its true and I would only slow play AA or KK or QQ trying to slow play any other hand can only get you into trouble.

The Muppetteer

Agreed. When you have a big hand, you have to start building the pot because you want a big payoff. Big hand, big pot. Small hand, small pot.

I only slowplay flopped boats and quads because I have to let my opponent catch up in order to get any value out of the hand. The only time I'll slow play a lesser hand is if the flop is rainbow with no straight draws, which rarely occurs.

So just bet out. If you fell your hand is big, try betting to get the pot big.

Slow playing is only effective if you know the rest of the table has a good read on you. Table image is important. Say the table reads you as a really tight player, who bets every time you have a hand. When you check, they'll think you don't have anything, so they'll try to bluff or think they have the best hand. Certain tactics only work if the rest of the table has a certain read on you. I think of playing poker as playing dr jeckle and mr hyde.

I often see beginners slowplay monsters many times. The problem is that they usally end up winning a very small pot. When you have a good hand you want to make the pot as big as possible. The way to man that is more often than not to bid.

This guy is just begging for a suckout.

If he's not getting any action, he's not gonna make much profit on these big hands so basically he is just giving free cards to people who are drawing on a hand.

He is definitely setting himself up for a disaster.

Slowplaying CAN work, but only when you're up against someone you know will do the betting for you and only if you're prepared to fire away when the time comes. The fact that these slowplayers sometimes get monster after monster makes them seem better than they are. A more aggressive player with those same monster hands could likely have gotten more money out of them.

Their can be advantages and disadvantages to slow playing. It can be dangerous but it can also be powerful and knock out your opponent in a tournament or bust them is a cash game. First of all it starts with what kind of table your sitting at. The best tables to slow play are loose aggressive players. David skalanky advices that sometimes if someone limps before you, then you can call in middle position, at an aggressive table, and they have large stacks, because there is a high probability that someone will take that as weakness and raise the high pair preflop, or your high pair will be completely camouflaged if you hold AA and an A flops. Also beware of min-raises in early position, sometimes they are mixing up their play, but I notice allot of times, it is a lure bet to get more money in the pot, then bet big on the flop. If you check someone who is aggressive, he may like to take pots away from someone who seems weak, so checking is likely to induce a bet that you need (if you were slow playing). Now on the other hand slow playing the weak-tight player is a waste of time and dangerous. By giving him free cards,your allowing him a chance to make money from you, but you have no chance to make money from him, since he won't bet with a weak hand. (If you are slow playing a monster, this reasoning doesn't apply since he has no outs)

Also, you need to look at stack size when you slow play. Big and small stacks are the best targets, while medium stacks are the worst.

This is the exact opposite of what you would do if you were bluffing, you would want to pick on the medium stacks, because of their fear of a shrinking stack. The best situations for bluffing are the worst for slow playing, and vice versa. Be careful slow playing before the flop though. For instance, you may choose to call rather than raise with your AQ suited, but what your doing is trying to vary your play, so your opponents can't detect your betting pattern. The same holds true with a hand like a pair of tens in early position when your first in the pot. you could raise five times the big blind, or three times the big blind, or you could just call, but the point of calling is not to draw more players in the pot but to disguise your hand so you can't be read easily. I only like to slow play aces kings and sometimes queens and several preconditions have to apply. I'm at a full table, I'm in early position, and no one has entered the pot yet before me, and the table has been generally loose aggressive with lots of pots raising and re-raising preflop, and finally, the loose and aggressive players being on my left. In this situation, I am seeking someone that acts behind me to raise preflop, and in early position, you have the best chance of that happening. If someone has called before me, a call on my part will dampen action, because two people have already shown strength. The right play after a raise or a call is just to raise with a high pair, and remember that a series of limper's is horrible for a high pair. In the end, you want to get heads up with a big of pot as possible. Slow playing after the flop is more common, and really, too common. Many players try to be tricky and trap and over use the slow play after the flop. my natural move is to bet my good hands for value. I might slow play against an aggressive player or a one or two opponents. slow play three people with a real monster, pretty close to the nuts. And just remember there is no need to slow play if your straight value bet is likely to be called. Good luck!

Lucky tokenz


--As long as we are lucky we attribute it to our smartness; our bad luck we give the gods credit for.--
Josh Billings

Nice(",)advices and tips, I think I'll be printing this so I could just read it anytime. Thank you soooooo much guys for those wonderful replies.
Have a nice poker day and see you all at the poker table(",).