Slowplaying big hands

[PokerKid]

an interesting question occurred to me while I was playing the other night.

I pretty much always slow play when I flop a big hand - force of habit. What do you do? do you slowplay or play more aggressive?

[The Professor]

Its a tough question because when you hit a good hand, you want to win as many chips on that hand as possible.

However when you slowplay then you risk giving an opponent the chance to catch up and overtake you.

It really does depend on the cards on the board, and the type of player you are up against.

If the board is showing scary cards for your opponent - eg: 3 cards to a flush (and you have hit the flush) then it may be better to slowplay as your opponent(s) will be scared off quite quickly. If you have the nut flush it may be the right thing to give a free card hoping that your opponent is holding one card to the flush and catches up a bit on the next card.

If the board is showing scary cards for you - then take the pot down there and then and make sure of winning the hand - so if there is 2 cards to a flush or a straight possibility which would beat your hand then make your opponents pay to see another card - make them play against the odds if they are on a draw.

Of course against more aggressive players you can slowplay more often and let them get some money in the pot before raising it up and revealing your strength.

Be careful with the sizes of your bets - get the balance right - don't bet too little as it will reveal your strength and don't scare your opponent off with a big bet (unless you want to take the pot down there and then)

So its a good question, but one that hasn't got an outright answer - as always it depends on the situation. Slowplay if you can to get maximum chips out your opponent - but make there is money going into the pot and don't give your opponent free cards when there is a chance they can catch up.

My last point would to be carefull slowplaying against multiple players - If there is more than one opponent in the pot with you, I would be looking to narrow the field down with a bet. With more than one opponent in the pot there is more chance one of them can catch up.

[pocketfives]

I think I sometimes slowplay too much, and think that some of these hands that I scream about being bad beats when I lose them, may have actually been me playing the hand badly and not protecting my hand like the professor is talking about above.

[francis lee]

i would only slow play monsters when there is 1 person left in the pot. any more i go aggressive just to make my odds better becuase theres nothing worse than loosing holding AA if the winner is some one with q 5 and they hit on the flop

[THC]

you have to mix it up and do the opposite to what your opponent is expecting you to do with the hand your holding.

sometimes with a big hand its best to overbet then your opponent may think your bluffing and either call you down or even better come over the top of you.

it depends on so many factors like what your table image is, what hands youve shown down recently what type of player your opponent is etc.

[kobayashi78]

i also think that you have to mix it up - when there are just 1-2 players in the pot slowplaying might be a good idea. lately it happened a couple of times that i had a quite tight table image and when i raised with strong hands in late position all others just folded.

[PokerPrincess]

Well you will see two different types of players with Monster Hands. One will be the player that goes all in pre-flop. They don't want to take any chances BUT they are also not gaining any chipstack either. All they will win is the SB and BB.

Then there is the other player who will slow play to the end and either get lucky and not get beat on the river or they get unlucky and get beat on the river.

As was said above the main thing you have to do is READ THE BOARD and READ THE PLAYERS. Mix it up and if things get scary after the flop then go allin.

One other way of behaving with a monster hand is if you have "THE" player at the table who is betting and raising every hand in hopes that he wins. Then if the board doesn't get scary you let him do all the betting and you just call him. THEN at the river RAISE, RAISE, RAISE... more than likely he will go allin and you get the chippies.

[redstar]

I have to admit I am not very good at slow playing. When I have a big hand after the flop I have to remind myself to slow down a little. I sometimes give myself away through my aggressiveness.

[pokergal]

I slow play all the way. Especially if I am looking good preflop. I have never been one to rush a hand. I am working on learning to read the other players and it does help a lot.

[pocketjacks]

I mix things up as mich as I can to keep other players guessing but I try to stick to a tight aggressive strategy. Always look at who else you're playing with. If you have a bunch of loose aggressive players on the table you can slow play them right out of the game. But if you are playing really tight players then you have to do something to get their chips in but not so much you scare them off. In all cases you have to be aware of what can beat you and which players might have that hand or hands. I believe that's what Princess means by reading the board and the players. Anytime you slow play you take the risk that others will draw out.