We have all been there (unless your luck is crazy bad): we flop the nuts and our heart gives a little jump as we start to think about how to bust all the fools who decided it would be a good idea to mix it up with us. The first decision we need to make is, do we come out firing or do we try to slow play our huge hand? While slow playing can most definitely work, it is not foolproof, so let’s examine this strategy further.
As you likely know, the idea behind slow playing a strong hand is to sucker your opponent into thinking he is in the lead so that he coughs up chips to you. For example, say you called a pre-flop raise with 8-8 and flopped top set on a 2-3-8 board. Suspecting your opponent has a high pair, you sit back and let him be the aggressor, feeling confident that you will win the hand. Typically, in a situation such as this, you will win a significant pot.
Of course, the correct time to slow play is not always this apparent. In general, slow playing can be the proper course of action if you have a very strong hand (obviously) and you think aggression will make your opponents fold or you think there’s a chance that your opponents could make their hand, which would still be inferior to yours. And slow playing makes the most sense when the pot is small, as you want your opponents to hang around long enough to build a pot.
Now, unless you have an absolutely unbeatable or virtually unbeatable hand (a straight flush or quads, for instance), slow playing will always involve some risk. Take my example from earlier. If your opponent does have pocket Aces, you are still giving him a chance to hit a two-outer on you by allowing him to see the turn and possibly the river for free. In that specific situation, I wouldn’t worry about this, as he is unlikely to hit his set, but it’s still a risk.
The higher risk slow plays exist when there are likely draws on the board. In the example, if your opponent had 4-5, you would be taking a bigger chance if you let him see a free card. What if the flop was 8-9-T with a couple hearts? Now someone with a 7 or Jack would have an open-ended straight draw and someone with two hearts would have a flush draw. The more coordinated the board is, the riskier a slow play becomes.
While allowing somebody to potentially make a better hand than yours involves the risk of losing a lot of chips, the other side of the risk coin is the possibility of simply not maximizing your winnings. Often, if you slow play, your opponent will miss all of his outs and just check it down, leaving you to pull in a sad pot. If you do have a very powerful hand and you think your opponent would be willing to pay a small price to see another card, throw a value bet out there and see if he will bite. This can work great against calling stations, as they get married to hands. It can be a tough decision as to when to bet if you flop a monster. Sometimes you just need to wait to see if anyone hits something and take your chances that you might not cash in on that hand.
A time where it pays to be patient and slow play the heck out of a hand is when you are up against a chronic overbettor, a type of player I wrote about in my November 12 column, “The Bigger They Bet, The Harder They Fall.” You know this kind of player is just going to throw chips around like rice at a wedding, so oblige him and check-call, check-call, as long as the board looks friendly. When you finally make your move, probably on the river, he’s toast.
I was heads-up at the end of a Sit and Go the other night against just this kind of bully. I folded a lot, but finally hit the jackpot when after calling his pre-flop raise with A-J, I made a boat when the flop came J-A-J. I checked, he came out firing, I called. I don’t remember the turn, but it doesn’t matter. Check-call again. On the river, I check-raised him all-in. He finally folded 3-3 face up. I won the tourney a few hands later.
One final scenario where slow playing would be a mistake is actually a rare one, but when working on a poker project, I came across a quote about slow playing that I really liked and wanted to find some place to use it. It really needs no further explanation. From Gary Carson, poker book author and blogger:
“The problem with slow playing the nuts is that there might be somebody else slow playing a hand they only think is the nuts.”
I tend to be on the risk-averse side, so I typically avoid unnecessary slow playing. But sometimes, even if my brain tells me that it is a bad idea to slow play a particular hand because I could get drawn out on, my heart tells me to just take a chance. And that’s ok. How I play is up to me, how you play is up to you. If you want to slow play in a spot where it might be better to lead out, go for it. The risk may be high, but so is the reward. Go forth and try whatever you want; it’s the only way you will find some successful strategies of your own.
