Slow-play...what's that?

[SuperLops007]

Hi! Could anybody explain me what exactly is Slow-play? An example would be great! Ty!

[LaserCats]

if u have an obv monster hand but don't act on it with bets. If you mock ur opponent intentionally or unintentionally whil slow playing in a live tourney you may see that person in the parking lot - and he'll slow play on yer face....its about the rudest thing a poker player can do....If you do this on the river with lets say 3 players left and yer Heads up its actually a penalty/infraction. because it looks like ur giving free chips to an opponents to keep them in - collusion.

[brokenlung911]

it's playing the nuts like u have nothing

[Detroitjunky]

if u have an obv monster hand but don't act on it with bets. If you mock ur opponent intentionally or unintentionally whil slow playing in a live tourney you may see that person in the parking lot - and he'll slow play on yer face....its about the rudest thing a poker player can do....If you do this on the river with lets say 3 players left and yer Heads up its actually a penalty/infraction. because it looks like ur giving free chips to an opponents to keep them in - collusion.

good grief no! its the smartest thing a poker player can do - if done right - and you will only get a penalty if you are last to act in a tourney hand and have the absolute nuts on the river and check - no other move gets a penalty

[Detroitjunky]

to slow play the right way - you first must make sure you have the best hand - doesnt need to be an absolute monster - if yuou are heads up and have A10 and hit a 10 high flop - this is good enough to slow play if you think your opponent is NOT on a draw - but in a multiway pot you may want much stronger holdings

extreme example - preflop you are first to act - have AA and limp in (for some reason) - 3 people call and flop comes A33 - you have top boat and can only lose to a 33 in someones hands (or a runner -runner situation)- very rare - the move here is to check and hope some one else bets then you can either call, and hope they do it again on future streets, or raise

one big problem with slow playing is that you can get outdrawn and lose everything (the lowest hand you need to flop to never be outdrawn is a straight flush)- or nobody will bet and you wont earn any extra chips - this is where the 'if done right' comes in

[Detroitjunky]

if there is a bully at the table the slow play comes in very handy - since they will always bet every street you can just sit back and let him double you up without fail - much less risk since the bully seldom holds a monster of any kind

[buonafide]

I would say its best used as a defense against over-agressive players. This is how you end up seeing those mega donkey stacks disappear in the middle stages of tournaments

[Detroitjunky]

now - the good thing here is that if you successfully pull off a slow play then in the future it allows you to slow-play-bluff (some situations its called a float, or float-bluff depending on how you define these terms - to me floating isntt necessarily a bluff) where you call every bet, then if your opponent checks on the river you make a big bet and hope he folds - but the board must fit your story or they will snap you off

[mikey4141]

yea everytime I try this it never works for me lol!!!

[HopsBar28]

However, lots of people confuse the slow-play with the slow-roll. Slow-rolling is considered to be terribly rude. Slow-rolling is when, at the end of the action, when you know you have the winning hand, you wait a long time to turn your cards over, giving your opponent the feeling that he has a chance. Or to throw one card out that implies a weak hand, but then throw out the winner.

If you've won the hand, just show your cards and let it be known - don't rub it in.