Slow playing is important when playing poker but often times beginners try this method to often resulting in what they will tell their buddies is a bad beat. Slow playing means you are representing weakness usually by checking or calling a bet. The reason behind this is to let others bet the hand for you and if done right, build the pot bigger than if you were to bet yourself. You want to keep as many players in the hand as possible.
There are multiple problems with slow playing and the biggest one that many players seem to overlook is the idea of someone slow playing them. Not only that but you are allowing people to see cards for a very cheap price which means they could easily outdraw you.
A scenario where this can back fire . Let’s say you’re playing Holdem and your holding pocket J’s in late position. Everyone at the table limps to see the flop. The flop holds J-2-5. Instead of betting you decide to check it through and allow the BB to bet out. Two players call his $10 bet into an already existing pot of $40. Instead of raising you call allowing those three players to see the turn. The turn brings a 7 and again the BB bets, with one player folding one player calling. You call his $10 bet again. The river brings a 6 leaving the board J-2-5-7-6. The player first in front of you who has only been calling so far leads out a bet. You call and BB calls. Everyone flips their cards and you lose your set to a straight.
In most situations the player with the set would be upset that he lost to such a weak starting hand, but the mistake was not made by the player with the 3-4 it was made by the player who played his strong hand weak attempting to trap everyone. In this example the player in EP was able to limp to see a flop. At that point the pot stood at $40. Once the flop hit he was drawing to and open straight giving him a total of 8 outs. With $40 in the pot and a bet of $10 he was getting 4:1 odds on his money and had a 1 in 4 chance of completing his hand. On the turn his odds at completing were no different. But when the player with J’s only check-called BB’s bet it gave him 9:1 odds on his money with a 4 in 1 shot at hitting his hand. This is why you shouldn’t limp with large hands. There are times when it can be beneficial but when you have the majority of your table also playing for the pot the end result will often be in favour of the player with the weaker hand. |
