One of the most misused plays in no limit hold em is the slow play. It is used to create deception, and works well against aggressive players. Let's look at some good and bad uses of the slow play in tournament poker.



What is a slow play? Simply put, you are slow playing when you under bet the true value of your hand. If you have KK and just call a raise pre flop, this would be considered slow playing your kings.

Amateur players have the tendency to slow play too much. Slow playing hands like top pair top kicker, or bottom two pair, will get you in trouble in many situations. When you give players free cards with hands like these you often find them catching up and taking a nice pot from you.

In tournament poker, when the blinds get big, you can slow play big pairs pre flop very effectively. When people have to take chances, limping in will usually be followed by push all-in by someone. This is perfect for your big pairs..

So, slow playing in these situations can work very well. Players are all under pressure to take action. If anyone has a hand you will have a good chance to double up.

Here's an example of a bad slow play. We are at the beginning of the tournament. Blinds are at 10-20, and we all have 3,000 chips. A player limps AA from the middle. Only the two blinds call.

Ac-7s-9d is the flop. Both the blinds check, and the slow player checks also. Jh is the turn card. The player in the big blind now puts out a small bet. Our slow player now makes a minimum re-raise with his set of aces. The big blind decides to push all-in now. He gets the call and Mr. Slow Play needs to get lucky on the river because the big blind has a straight with his 8c-10s.

We have just looked at one reason not to slow play. Here's another reason. In many hands you won't maximize your profit. Let's see an example of this.

Let's say you have called a raise and are holding 3c-3s. The flop is As-Jd-3h. Your opponent had raised pre flop, and when he continues by making a bet of about the pot, you think he probably has an A. You just call hoping he will keep betting.

A Qd is next, and he now checks to you. You make a small bet hoping to keep him in the pot. He calls and the river is the 10d. Now your opponent makes a small raise. With a king to make a straight, and the flush now possible, you just call. He shows Ac-Js and you win the pot, but could have won so much more.

Had you made a strong re-raise on the flop, you probably will stack your opponent. You miss taking advantage of his second best type hand. If your re-raise gets him to fold, you probably won't get more chips by calling, he didn't have a good enough hand to keep him betting. Clearly slow playing here doesn't get you the best results.

Slow playing has its place, like flopping a full house and letting your opponent draw for his flush or straight. But, in many cases you make less, and risk more by slow playing certain situations. Learning when to slow play, and when not to, will help you win more tournaments.