An Argument Against Slow Playing

I bet you’ve read countless poker strategy articles and books that advocate slow playing and trapping with your big hands in order to win more money from your opponents. While I agree that there are plenty of occasions where slow playing a big hand is a smart way to maximize its value, there are several situations in which trapping with your big hands can create more problems than profit. Here are a few scenarios where playing your hand in a straightforward manner is going to be the best way to make the most of your holdings:

When you’re playing microstakes. Anyone who has spent much time playing the microstakes online will tell you that there isn’t a lot of folding happening. If players flop top pair on you, no matter how scary the board is, they are almost never going to fold. Even preflop players are willing to get it all-in with marginal hands like KQ, KJ or middle aces. With that in mind, you have to ask yourself what you’re gaining from slow playing your big pocket pair when there is a good chance players will call your reraise in the first place. Oftentimes, more knowledgeable players at this level become so preoccupied with pulling off a fancy play at this level rather than thinking about what the most profitable and efficient approach may be.

When the flop is scary. This tip is particularly useful to consider when playing flopped sets. Checking your set on the flop is a popular way to maximize the value of your hand, but flops that have straight draws and/or flush draws put your set at risk. Just because you bet the flop doesn’t mean the straight and flush draws are going to go away, but you’ll get more money out of your hand by making other players pay to draw out on you.

When you raised before the flop. If you’ve taken the lead in a hand by raising preflop, it generally looks very suspicious to check after the flop, especially if you have a habit of continuation betting after you raise. Say you raised with AQ and the flop comes down Q-Q-2. Paired boards are generally considered to be good spots to bluff and continuation bet, so your bet on the flop is likely to generate more action than a suspicious check because players will be expecting you to bluff there.

When you’re short stacked. To be honest, this is one of my poker pet peeves. Players only have 11 or 12 big blinds and then mysteriously limp into a pot. If it is a tight player, they have an absolute monster of a hand a good percentage of the time. In the later stages of a tournament where limping becomes less and less common, a limp from a tight player with a short stack screams strength, particularly if they limp from early position.

Most experienced players pick up on this and are unlikely to reraise preflop or put out a bet after the flop unless they have a really big hand. If you have that awkward 10-15 big blind stack, I advocate coming in for a raise and oftentimes just moving all-in preflop because players will be expecting you to do that with small pocket pairs, A10 and AJ and other slightly marginal hands, so shipping it all in with pocket kings or pocket aces is perhaps more likely to get you action on your hand than if you try to limp in.

When you aren’t capable of letting go of your hand. Players often see their favorite pros limping in with kings or aces and try to replicate the play in their home game. There is nothing wrong with limping in with huge hands, but problems arise when you get attached to your big pocket pair and can’t fold even when it seems like someone has outflopped you. If you have trouble figuring out where you’re at in a hand, it is probably not a good idea to wait until after the flop to see where you stand with your big pair.

In order to be a great poker player you have to be willing to change it up and try not to fall into easily recognizable patterns. Sometimes it can be a profitable move to slow play your hands because your opponents won’t see it coming, but as you can see from the tips above, you have to find the right time and situation to slow play or else you may end up costing yourself money instead of winning it.