What is slow playing and slowplay and when should you slowplay?
When you consider yourself a good poker player you should be familiar with the words slowplay and slowplay in order to have a clear understanding of whether to call or fold when your hand is worth it.
The first word “slowplay” is derived from the old word “to fooled; to fooled by deception”. While this is an unfair assumption because probably every player in the history of poker has been made to look foolish in one way or another, those old fuddly honed their minds against those with more wisdom, and that is why you see players wearing sunglasses at the tables, cause they are protecting their eyes against the wisdom that the other players possess.
So to be clear, slowplaying is not necessarily a method that is used only by drooling, elderly people who need to protect their eyes’ from the wisdom that other players possess. No, it is a method that is used by savvy players to keep their opponents in the hand when they have a nice, well formed hand and when their hand is weak and they need to appear weak to win a pot.
It is usually more effective in the middle and latter stages of a poker game as your opponents are more likely to be wary of losing a pot that they could be losing hands worth a large amount in the hopes of gaining a pot that they are unwilling to part with, simply because they are afraid of what the outcome of the next card might be. Slowplaying is therefore most effective when used in the later stages of a poker game as your opponents are more likely to be desperate to survive a bad beat and to get back in the game.
For example, lets say you have a hand that is worth betting on at the flop when your opponents check to you. In these situations you can slowplay your hand, and even bet out half of the flop for half the pot, slowly building the pot to a point where you can force a large bet from your opponents.
The catch to slowplaying though is that the majority of the time, you will lose your control and let your emotions take control, leading you to bet your hand too aggressively and/or not bet enough. Slowplaying can be a very dangerous game tactic if you are not entirely sure of your own emotions and betting patterns.
You can still be very successful with slowplaying, especially once you become an expert hand counter. But, there is one general thing that you can say for sure: most of the time, slowplaying is not going to work for you. You will discover this the hard way as your opponents counter you every time, raking in a ton of cash as you lose your stack.
Perhaps the number one tip for winning with slowplaying is to understand the game at hand. Do you have a made hand or a drawing hand? Is your opposite side probably better? Are you up against a huge pot or simply up against a slow-playing maniac? Take the time to consider what your options are and you will eventually find the paced betting strategy to be very profitable.
You will not always be successful in poker; perhaps more times than others. But if youpedicate on your slowplay, and took the time to consider your starting hand, how your opponents played their hands, and how the flop and turn are playing now, you will get a lot more done in the time it takes you to think of an exercise question.