The Art of Slowplaying

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Ah yes, the slowplay. Without question, this has to be the most misunderstood play in all of poker. For most novice players any decision about whether or not to slowplay hinges on one and only one consideration; i.e., how strong their hand is. If they flop a straight flush they slowplay without regard to the present action. If they flop top pair they bet, or raise, since they have a vulnerable hand. Now nobody would argue that the strength of your hand is something you have to account for when considering a slowplay. But, there are other, more important factors which you may not be aware of. This week we'll look at some of these factors, and examine how they translate into live play.

When your thinking about slowplaying a hand, there are a few things you need to consider. They are:

1) The current size of the pot. Obviously the larger the pot is the less inclined you should be to slowplay.
2) The chances that the next card off will give somebody a quality second best hand.
3) Whether or not they would pay for that card if you bet.

The first factor shouldn't require much in the way of an explanation. Simply stated, the larger the pot, the more important it is that you knock out any long shot draws that could reach up and bite you on the river. You do this because the penalty for allowing a long shot draw to get there (in this case, the loss of a monster pot) far outweighs the benefits of giving your opponents a cheap look at another card. For example: you have Ac Kc, and find yourself tangled up in a seven-way pot. Each of you has pair three small bets to see the flop. Now the flop comes Ah Kd 6s. There's a bet and a raise in front of you.

In a case like this you would not slowplay. If by three betting you can knock out a hand like QT, or JT, you have gained tremendously. (Also notice that a hand like QT cannot catch a card on the turn that would give it a quality second best hand; the only card a hand like that wants to see is a card that beats you). As a rule, once the pot gets above 13 or 14 small bets you need a water tight excuse to slow play a hand. In all but the most extreme cases you're better off playing a big hand fast and snatching the candy while it's still yours.

Once the pots get smaller, however, things start to change. And when the pots get real small it can become correct to slowplay some hands that most players automatically bet with on the flop. This is even truer if your opponent is aggressive, and will take your check on the flop to mean that they now have an excellent chance of stealing the pot with little or nothing. Those of you who play in the low limit Party Poker games probably know exactly what I'm talking about, since these games are peopled by all kinds of players who go into auto-bet mode when checked to.

Let's look at an example. You have As Qh in the big blind, and check after two players and the small blind have entered the pot. Now the flop comes Ad 6s 6c. Most players would bet here without thinking. But what's the point of this bet? The only hand that can play with you here is either another ace (which you should have badly beaten) or a six (which has you badly beaten). By checking you'll get the same action from another ace as you would if you bet (since the other ace will bet if you check, but probably call if you bet). You probably save money if there's a six out there. And, most importantly, you may induce action from a hand that's almost drawing dead to your aces. If you check ,and a hand like KJo bets, you have gained a ton if that hand would have folded if you bet. Even if the KJo doesn't bet, you've now put him in a spot where he could pair on the turn, and perhaps be forced to take his hand to the river.

Note that in this latter case the pot is small (4 small bets). Also notice that it's possible a card will drop on the turn which will 'tie someone on' to the pot, since a bet by you on the turn may look like a bluff. And last, most hands that could pair up on the turn (thereby giving them a second best hand which may be hard to get away from) would not have called if you'd bet the flop. Does that mean this is a perfect spot for a slowplay? Well, no. Remember, for a slowplay to be correct in this spot you have to be reasonably confident that nobody with a draw to a second best hand would have called if you'd bet. If you're in a game where players are routinely calling on the flop with hands like Jc 9c in spots like this you might as well bet and collect while he's still donating. But against players who are a little more discriminating with what hands they'll see a turn with, checking your hand through here can put them in a spot where they might make mistakes in how they play the rest of the hand.