Danger Of Slow PlayingPoker Tip 9 - Danger Of Slow Playing You've probably heard the standard reason to avoid slow playing your cards, it's dangerous. Sometimes when you play your hand slow, you give an opponent a chance to make a bigger hand at a minimal cost. This is absolutely true. But there's also another reason to play your big hands fast, and this one isn't talked about as frequently. A slow play can give an opponent a chance to get away from a hand more cheaply than he would have had you played it fast from the start. You are in the late position in no limit ring game,a player in the early postion raises you look at your cards you have pocket fives and call the bet.You get the right flop a 5 comes and you make your set.The flop is Jh-5d-8h with you hitting you set,chances are your opponent has something maybe A-J,Maybe Queens or Kings Or Aces,and he bets the flop. Many players will just call in this spot, hoping to get their opponent to bet on the turn. But a raise is usually the better play. If you just call, you risk seeing a heart on the turn. I don't think you need to be especially worried about the flush beating your set. You might get your set beat by a flush draw even if you raise. However, you do need to be concerned about the effect the third heart will have on your opponent. He very well might suspect that you were on the flush draw and he'd no longer be willing to commit a lot of money to the hand, even if he has Aces. In fact, any King, Queen, 10, 9 or a card that pairs the board is likely to make your opponent start to tkink. If he bets on the turn and you raise,you are saying that the turn card helped you. In effect, you're saying that you liked the flop enough to call and the turn improved your hand in some way. You're announcing that you can beat one pair. So the flop very well may be the only time when your opponent is willing to make a stand with a single pair. If he bets the flop of Jh 8h 2d and you raise, he's likely to think that you're semi-bluffing -or raising on a flush draw. At this point, he might want to protect his hand with large re-raise or perhaps an all in. When this happens, you'll take down a huge pot. It's okay when a flop raise doesn't get you the result you want. You might scare off someone holding pocket Queens or Ace-King, but you wouldn't make a lot of money off these hands anyway. And, if you're up against Ah-Qh, you may lose a big pot to a flush. But that's OK, because you will have gotten your money in with the best hand. There are sometimes when you want to slow play if you flop Quads or a full house,then you would want to slow play to let your opponent make some kind of hand on the turn or the river.The best bet is to play fast on the flop. It may be your best chance to win a big pot with a big hand. |