Slow Playing as a strategy in poker is sometimes referred to as “Sandbagging” and “Trapping”. Slow Playing is a deceptive move that you make by checking or calling with a very strong hand in order to Trap other players in to betting and raising. Slow Playing should definitely be a part of your game but it should not be the primary part. You will almost always fare better if your primary style is Tight Aggressive. Mixing in a little bit of Slow Playing will not only add to your bottom line but it will make it more difficult for your opponents to get a “Read” on you. Getting a “Read” is when your opponents are able to guess, with some degree of accuracy, what cards that you are holding.
Downsides of Slow Playing
There are definitely some downsides to Slow Playing your hand. When you check or just call a bet, while you are sitting on a very strong hand, you risk losing potential bets from other players if none of your opponents take the betting initiative. Probably the biggest area of concern that you need to consider before Slow Playing your hand is how likely it is that you will be giving your opponent an opportunity to draw out on you. Knowing the cards that you hold and viewing the community cards on the board you should be able to determine how susceptible your hand is to being beaten. In some cases you are holding the absolute “Nuts” and in this situation you actually want your opponents to see another card and hopefully improve their hand because this will get you more action in the hand.
When to Slow Play by Flat Calling
Flat Calling is when you have already made a big hand, a player in front of you bets out in to you and you just “Flat Call”. This is also known as “Smooth Calling”. You would certainly not want to do this on the River because there will not be any more betting rounds but it is a good play, under the right circumstances, against an aggressive better on the Flop and the Turn.
Check Raising on the Turn and the River
While Check Raising is not Slow Playing it is definitely something that results from previously Slow Playing in a hand. By checking your big hand, in early position, you are hoping that a player behind you will bet, giving you the chance to Check Raise. Before you try this move you need to consider everything that you know about the players that are behind you and the way the betting action has gone so far in the hand. If you are not pretty confident that by checking you will induce a bet behind you then you could be losing value by letting your opponents get through the street without having to call your bet. You also risk giving them a Free Card and allowing them to draw to their hand. There is a very beneficial side effect of Check Raising occasionally. The beneficial side effect is that once your opponents have seen you make this move they will be having second thoughts about betting behind your check in the future and this will give you a number of Free Cards.