Concepts: Slowplay - Trapping Your Opponents
by Cornholio
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Introduction
In this article- Protection is more important than slowplay
- Only slowplay when it brings you more value
- Using slowplay to induce bluffs and overcalls
When you slowplay, you check and/or call with a strong hand in order to hide its strength and bet/raise on a later street. The idea behind slowplay: You hide the strength of your hand in order to make your opponent think his weaker hand is better than yours when he would most likely to fold to a raise.
You get less money into the pot at the beginning of the hand (usually on the flop) by playing passively, but expect to 'make up for it' on later streets.
This article will cover slowplay in multiway pots. When it comes to heads up play, slowplay takes on a completely different nature. Of course, it can be good to 'delay' your raises in heads up play, but this isn't the same as slowplaying in a multiway pot, which is why we will not use any heads up examples in this article.
Most players tend to hit a 'slowplaying phase' after having gotten used to the general flow of the game. They try to keep their opponents in the pot in order to pull a trick on the turn or river. Most players are so impressed by their ability to outfox an opponent that they oversee the fact that they would have gotten more value had they played straightforwardly, and that they risk losing the pot by not protecting their hand.
PokerStrategy teaches its members to play tight, aggressive poker. This leaves little room for slowplay. The fact is that you usually get better results by playing straightforwardly than by slowplaying.
Still, there are situations in which slowplaying gives you the highest EV, and it's important to be able to recognize these situations in order to maximize your winnings. This article will show you when and when not to slowplay.
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