When do you slowplay?

Slow playing bites me in the butt.... I am not all that good at it I guess.

First of all...the pre-flop play to let a player limp with 7-8 is the main problem why you're getting drawn out on. When I hit a set, I'll normally bet if there's any A on the board or draw on the board (ie 10-9 or 2 clubs or whatever). This way I'll be less likely to be drawn out on. Tis always better to win a small pot than lose a large one. I'll take my smaller pots.

its hard ?

late in tourney against agressive players

u coulda went allin on flop but he probably woulda called

with the open ended if he had abig stack or short stack

probably wouldnt call with a averagestack

like i say tuff ??

I know what you mean Jude... Haha

I know Rogabee. I know let him catch up... Grrrrr I was just wondering when or if anyone slowplays. Obviously quads but is there any other time? I'm thinking about throwing slow playing out the window. lol

Yeah thanks Easy. Like I said I'm not complaing about it. Just using it as an example...

I pretty much never slow play anything unless i flop the nuts. You bet half the pot, so i wouldn't say it was a true slow play. You were just pretty much screwed either way, cause in a freeroll he'll probablly call an all-in with the up and down straight draw. The only mistake you made was not raising pre-flop, but I bet we all do that sometimes with these types of pocket pairs.

That's what I'm thinking Pie. haha I might be done with slow playing.

plus it depends what position yuor in pre flop

if yuor in early position and make abig raise and someone goes over the top your probably beat

tou want to c aflop with tens

bottom line u payed it right

Slow-playing is something that is totally overused by bad and average players.

At TV we all see these great hands where some pro slowplays their hands to win a giant pot. Of course these situation are rare in reality but make good TV so we see them all the time and get the impression slowplaying is something you should do often.
That is just not the case!
If you flopped the absolute nuts with little to no chance of being beaten at the river you almost have to slowplay (for instance with the nut-flush, fullhouse, quads etc).
However if you don't have a hand like that you absolutely MUST protect it.
Contrary to popular belief a set, two pair or even only top pair are not strong hands. They are beaten by straights and flushes very often if the players don't protect their hands. Especially in multi-way pots slowplaying is a recipe for disaster. If you are up against 2 or 3 opponents and there is a potential straight or flush draw somebody will be on that draw!! Giving free cards will only shoot you in your own foot. Against a single opponent you may risk to slow play a set from time to time but you should still be aware and cautious of reasonable straight and flush draws.
Even if you flopped a flush you should protect you hand if 2 high cards are on the board that make 2 pair likely. The fullhouse will hit sometimes and you will lose with that flush.
The only hands you can slowplay pretty confidently are full-houses or quads, everything else you should protect (especially in multi-way pots).

Many small to medium pots won are better than a big pot lost!!!!!!

Thanks Easy! I appreciate it!

Great response Grisan. The TV thing hit me a little bit. I think I have looked at that and implemented some of it because of that...

well i normally dont slowplay a lot cause it bites me in the but too, but when i do slowplay its normally a monster, even bigger than trips but it also depends on the aggressiveness(sp? lol) of the player well gl next time

NO GUYS... you slow play when you have a good hand... and theres no draws on the board... otherwise... PUSH ALL IN... dont even bet low... (unless your fat stacked)

In that particular situation you were incorrect to slowplay the flop. You say that you bet half the pot to not scare anyone out - that was the mistake. QJ is just as likely in that situation and 87 is not too unreasonable. If you have a set and there is any kind of draw you have to give drawing hands unfavorable pot odds. Now, this doesn't mean that they will fold but it does mean that you are forcing them to make a mistake by calling.

Analyze the texture of the flop carefully. Slowplay when you <i>are</i> way ahead. Yes, you did make a mistake but you'll learn from it and be a better player because of it.

Best of luck at the tables and I'm waiting for the blog that you'll right about getting a donkey to call his draw against the odds and you busted him out!

like everybody else said. the only things i'd do different, are to raise preflop (as you already said), and to increase my flop bet to about 3/4 pot. while 1/2 pot is technically not good enough odds to call with an oesd, many people (including myself, sometimes) will call anyway, counting on taking some more chips from you when they hit.

by the way, raising preflop might not be enough to force even 87 out of the hand. I'll sometimes call a single raiser with suited connectors if I have position. an early or mid position raise gives me a pretty good range for the player, so i usually know where i stand after the flop, and can play accordingly.

oh, ya. to actually answer your question, i very rarely slowplay sets, though I'll occasionally check when i hit trips out of position, since betting early position with a pair on the board generally takes the pot down immediately. if I can count on someone in late position to take a stab at the orphan pot, i can check/raise them off the pot and take down a few extra chips. other than that, only monster hands on scary boards.

All fantastc information guys... Thanks! I really appreciate it!

Your blog begs this question: Is a check raise the same as a slow play? A: No it is not. The hands don't even look the same.

Slow plays are for hands that are likely the nuts with a flop that is unlikely to improve somebody else to best hand. i.e. a hand TOO GOOD to get called by anything other than rockets or trips. These are RARE. Less rare is a good check-raise.

Top pair or even an over pair to the board can make an excellent check raise if the situation is right. There are three things that go into a good check-raise:

1. The board is of an innoculous nature. I don't ever check raise trips if there are two suited cards on the flop because nobody ever lays down a check-raised four flush. NOBODY.

2. My table/this opponent is aggressive. You should know this waiting for the flop to come down so you can check fairly quickly.

3. The table has seen me bet into my hits. SUPER BONUS: They know I am capable of being called down. If I folded post flop in the last three hands, especially after betting one, they are more likely to call a check raise.

Check raises work great early in a tourney and late in a tourney. Round the 2nd hour to the third payoff they should be saved for chronic betters and short stacks.

A slow play looks more like check-call, check-min raise, push. You have to have a great hand, one that can withstand an opponent improving over the next two cards because even if they don't, but it looks as if they did, your weapon of mass chipstruction will be taken away from you.

The idea of a slow play is to lure chips out of a player drawing nearly dead when a normal solid bet would garner an easy fold. You are trying to convince them they are pot comitted (medium gain) or watch them hit and still have 2nd best hand (double up).

luck to ya.