Let's talk about slow play

[Anamembu]

Just like in the thread discussing bluffing (click here)
In this thread, I would like to explore another strategy that shares certain characteristics: slow play.
Slow play is a strategy where you decrease the aggression of your bets with a strong hand.
When do you think is the appropriate time to employ it? I invite you to share your experiences. Cheers!

 

[R.Melnyk77]

It probably all depends on who your opponents are. It is difficult to talk about such things in general, since quite a lot of factors play an important role, which must be taken into account.

 

[Anamembu]

It probably all depends on who your opponents are. It is difficult to talk about such things in general, since quite a lot of factors play an important role, which must be taken into account.

What factors do you think play an important role? And which ones do you take into account?

 

[Canaldo Kao]

Just like in the thread discussing bluffing (click here)
In this thread, I would like to explore another strategy that shares certain characteristics: slow play.
Slow play is a strategy where you decrease the aggression of your bets with a strong hand.
When do you think is the appropriate time to employ it? I invite you to share your experiences. Cheers!

The slowplay depends a lot on the other players, if nobody raises or has a different action you can have a very good hand and not take advantage!

 

[sidd4rt4]

Slowplay can make you oponent decline his hand, give some pressure in the tablle

 

[Anamembu]

The slowplay depends a lot on the other players, if nobody raises or has a different action you can have a very good hand and not take advantage!

It can be risky and obviously depends on the game context and players' styles, but it doesn't solely rely on that.
You can use this strategy, for example, to Confusion and deception: The "slowplay" can confuse your opponents by hiding the strength of your hand. By acting cautiously and not showing too much enthusiasm, you can make your opponents underestimate the quality of your play. This leads them to make mistakes and gives you the opportunity to take advantage of them.
Increase in the size of the pot: By not immediately raising the bet, you can encourage other players to enter the pot with smaller bets. This results in a larger pot when you finally reveal the strength of your hand and raise the bet. This gives you the opportunity to win a greater number of chips at the end of the hand.
Control of the game's pace: By playing slower and more deliberately, you can influence the pace of the game. This allows you to set the tone at the table and have greater control over the flow of the game. Additionally, it can generate impatience in your opponents, leading them to make hasty and less strategic decisions.
Exploiting opponents' aggressiveness: If you're playing against aggressive players, the "slowplay" can be an effective tactic. By allowing them to assume the role of aggressors, you can trap them by showing a strong hand at the right moment. This can make them bet more aggressively and give you greater winnings.
Thank you for showing me the type of person I don't want to be. You have inspired me to stay in a positive and joyful state.😘

 

[Anamembu]

Slowplay can make you oponent decline his hand, give some pressure in the tablle

Thanks for the insight!

 

[goaldriversv]

I think slowplay can be an effective tactic at times but not practiced regularly. Sometimes you can overthink it and slowplay without realizing it so I don’t incorporate this into my normal poker strategy

 

[Roobz75]

It can be risky and obviously depends on the game context and players' styles, but it doesn't solely rely on that.
You can use this strategy, for example, to Confusion and deception: The "slowplay" can confuse your opponents by hiding the strength of your hand. By acting cautiously and not showing too much enthusiasm, you can make your opponents underestimate the quality of your play. This leads them to make mistakes and gives you the opportunity to take advantage of them.
Increase in the size of the pot: By not immediately raising the bet, you can encourage other players to enter the pot with smaller bets. This results in a larger pot when you finally reveal the strength of your hand and raise the bet. This gives you the opportunity to win a greater number of chips at the end of the hand.
Control of the game's pace: By playing slower and more deliberately, you can influence the pace of the game. This allows you to set the tone at the table and have greater control over the flow of the game. Additionally, it can generate impatience in your opponents, leading them to make hasty and less strategic decisions.
Exploiting opponents' aggressiveness: If you're playing against aggressive players, the "slowplay" can be an effective tactic. By allowing them to assume the role of aggressors, you can trap them by showing a strong hand at the right moment. This can make them bet more aggressively and give you greater winnings.
Thank you for showing me the type of person I don't want to be. You have inspired me to stay in a positive and joyful state.😘

I like this reply. I agree, it is very effective on aggressive players or those that like to overbet with no decent hands. It does calm them down when they lose a lot of chips and 99.9% of the time, they immediately fold the next couple of hands and start to behave themselves and control their game.....

 

[dreamer13]

It is likely that slow play will not always work in your favor. Suppose your opponent is not aggressive and will only bet if he has a strong hand.Your slow play tactic can only work against a non-aggressive opponent who has a medium to high hand. Check-raising tactics will force them to fold or call your bet depending on their hand. Most smart opponents won't fall prey to your slow play tactics.

 

[MrHachiman]

There are a couple of specific situations where I think slowplay makes sense:
-We face an aggressive / manic opponent who has raised us to our bet at some point in the hand, so is more ev to let him get stamped with his bluffs, since much more often he will have an unmade hand. So it doesn't make any sense to do anything other than check/call.
-When the stack to pot ratio is 1 or so, so it might make sense to check a fairway to induce river bluffs. Since the entire stack will enter the pot anyway, it is not necessary to bet all the streets.
These are the situations where I consider slowplaying the most, in general, I'm not a big fan of slowplaying, I think it's +ev to try to get maximum value out of the opponent's hand, but on some specific occasions, it may be better to take an alternative line to camouflage our hand a bit, especially when there are no draws on the table and we have a nvulnerable hand.

 

[takinitSLEAZEE]

Just like in the thread discussing bluffing (click here)
In this thread, I would like to explore another strategy that shares certain characteristics: slow play.
Slow play is a strategy where you decrease the aggression of your bets with a strong hand.
When do you think is the appropriate time to employ it? I invite you to share your experiences. Cheers!

Letting the villain bet for you, classic.

 

[georgi krastev]

Slow play can be applied like this, for example. However, our opponent must be given the opportunity to improve his hand as well...

 

[Anamembu]

Slow play can be applied like this, for example. However, our opponent must be given the opportunity to improve his hand as well...

Good reference, greetings.

 

[CNXRegie]

I would consider slow play in some appropriate situations, like when I have strong premium hands. Slow playing can be effective with premium hands like top sets, quads, or strong two pairs. When I have an incredibly powerful hand that is unlikely to be beaten, I'd opt for slow play to trap my opponents and build the pot.

 

[Gallarado777]

slow play is suitable if you have a strong hand and take such a tactical step to think for a long time and let your opponent make mistakes and bluff then you will definitely achieve your goal if you do it right a long and slow game with a strong hand as if you have a weak hand and you are thinking will give your opponent aggression against you and you will win

 

[skaterick]

i call it trapping .

 

[christovam]

I think most of the time someone plays slow is because they expect cards for good games. So when I have game, I try to exploit that player. The tricky part is that we often don't have game to let the villain see free cards either. I know I often lose a lot of chips when the villain's strategy works.

 

[ROYALROAD]

Being able to distinguish between slowplay and protection is one of the hurdles for masters.

 

[JetmirDulja]

I don’t like slow play , really boring, even if you wanna trap someone.. playing fast is kinda my style

 

[fundiver199]

The best time to slowplay is, when you have the board completely crushed. Like if you opened JJ preflop, someone called, and flop comes JJ2 rainbow. Then its appropriate to check to allow the opponent to either catch up to a second best hand or bluff at the pot. Another situation is, if the board is so dry, you cant represent a draw by raising, and maybe there are players left to act behind as well. Like you called preflop with 66, flop comes K62 rainbow, and the preflop raiser makes a C-bet. Then you typically want to just call and let him continue betting his top pair or his AA on later streets, and also allow players behind to join the action.

In most other situation slowplaying is a mistake, especially in soft games like most freerolls or microstakes games. There is however also another similar situation, which is not really slowplaying but more like checking to pot control and/or induce. If we go back to the JJ2 rainbow flop, then it also makes a lot of sense to check AA or KK, because you are either way ahead or way behind, and if you bomb the pot, you typically end up getting action only, when you are beat. It can be especially great to check, if you are out of position against an aggressive opponent, because it allow him to go crazy with random hands, which he would just have folded, if you had C-bet. And then you get your value by snapping off his bluffs.

 

[Anamembu]

I don’t like slow play , really boring, even if you wanna trap someone.. playing fast is kinda my style

It's a good strategy one on one

The best time to slowplay is, when you have the board completely crushed. Like if you opened JJ preflop, someone called, and flop comes JJ2 rainbow. Then its appropriate to check to allow the opponent to either catch up to a second best hand or bluff at the pot. Another situation is, if the board is so dry, you cant represent a draw by raising, and maybe there are players left to act behind as well. Like you called preflop with 66, flop comes K62 rainbow, and the preflop raiser makes a C-bet. Then you typically want to just call and let him continue betting his top pair or his AA on later streets, and also allow players behind to join the action.

In most other situation slowplaying is a mistake, especially in soft games like most freerolls or microstakes games. There is however also another similar situation, which is not really slowplaying but more like checking to pot control and/or induce. If we go back to the JJ2 rainbow flop, then it also makes a lot of sense to check AA or KK, because you are either way ahead or way behind, and if you bomb the pot, you typically end up getting action only, when you are beat. It can be especially great to check, if you are out of position against an aggressive opponent, because it allow him to go crazy with random hands, which he would just have folded, if you had C-bet. And then you get your value by snapping off his bluffs.

Interesting point of view, thank you for your comment.