When to Slow Play a Monster

[Bawse]

When do you think slow playing a strong hand is better than betting for value?

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

Slow play is a monster when you know that your opponent is very aggressive. So, all you need do is to wait for the right moment to strike.

 

[huggie]

Slow play mostly when the board is dry and your opponent has almost nothing to call a bet with, but can catch something worth paying you off later.

Say you've flopped top set with 77 on 7h 4d 2c against JhTh: you're 95.7% and they're 4.3%. A bet mostly folds them out, and checking costs you almost nothing.


Now put the same 77 on 7h 9h 2c, where it's a middle set. JhTh has a flush draw plus a gutshot and is 34.7% against you, so giving a free card is a gift to them. You should bet instead.


Add AdKd to that pot and AK is drawing dead, but the draw still has 35.5% while you drop to 64.5%. More players means more hands that will pay you, so betting is even clearer multiway.


Here's the calc if anyone wants to rerun these with other hands: https://pokernexus.com/tools/equity. (Full disclosure: I'm building PokerNexus.)