standards for slow playing

Just wanted to get more discussion on this concept, I know there are tons of existing posts.

(By slow play I mean not only check/call but also weak betting.)

A big part of deciding when to slow play, as with just about every decision, depends on reads. However usually it's hard to get a really solid read with just the first two betting rounds. The point is to know how much your risk is in slowplaying. I have "approximate" standards. Here's what I usually slow play:

1. Flopped quads or better, it is pretty much an automatic slow play, with betting depending on number of folks in the pot and position. I'll usually rep a low pocket pair, making it easy for them to call with just high cards (less than 1/2 pot sized bet).

2. When a pocket pair completes the high end of a boat. (ex JJ flop of J55). If there was a significant amount of PF raising, slowplay is usually not needed because AA-QQ will gladly put you all in.

3. I usually am very careful of slow playing a low boat like 33 - flop 3KK. Chances are, in my experience of observing most weak players they will slow play trip kings and have 4 outs to make a better boat or quads, not to mention the slight chance of a running pair on the board rendering my low boat useless. Basically, it's all downhill from here so get your chips in while you're ahead. Raise their KQ pansy ass.

4. In rare circumstances, a flopped nut flush. An example scenario would be: A5s limp. Flop Q43s. Bet to make it look like you got a Q with weak kicker, maybe rep QJ. See if you get raised by someone with two pair, trips, or K high flush, and just put them all in. Plus if you are playing low stakes you'll probably get called down by a pair of Q, or straight and flush chasers. Pray they hit on the river and raise you all in.


Every move in poker is taken to maximize profit and good reads are just as important when you are playing a rock solid made hand as they are when you are on a borderline call. My questions are, excluding certain tournament situations, what other considerations are there to make when deciding to slow play? What are your standards?

fsa

The only time i slowplay on purpose is when i get middle pair on the flop utg.
so i have AT and the flop is QT6. i'll check that rather than make a pot sized bet, because i don't have much faith in the hand. on the turn of course, i start firing away.

I havent had much luck inducing rasies with weak bets when I want them. I suppose a min raise on flopped quads might make somebody come over the top, but i'd rather fire off a .5 to 1 pot sized bet. there's not much point figguring out how to make the quads pay off the most, you see them so rarely. better to invest the time in how to make the little boats pay off the most, because you get them fairly often.

I dunno. i don't slowplay except in pretty rare curcumstances. gotta have a maniac who will bet into me. there's always a good chance i can get outdrawn on the weaker hands, so i play, and overplay my hands.

Im not an expert poker player but I generally will only slow play when I have the nuts. Then I may slowplay the flop/turn. You'd want the others to catch something so they are more likely to bet, or call my river bet.

Are you talking Limit or No-Limit?

In SSH, they say that slow-playing flopped quads is absurd (I think I'm remembering their choice or words correctly). Remember that book addresses loose, lower-stakes LIMIT games. I wish I could remember their rationale, but I think I'd tend to agree. If people are going to call you anyways, there's no value in missing out on those flop bets. They're going to stick around and hopefully hit "second best" type hands anyways.

For no-limit, I can definitely see the trapping value of slow-playing flopped quads (and slow-playing in genera). However, it (as with all things poker) is so situational. Depends on type and number of players still in the hand. Depends on whether you are in a ring game or in a SNG/MTT (and at what stage of the tournament, your stack size, opponent's stacke sizes etc.).

Sorry, yea, I'm talking about NL

I think slowplaying is a delicate situation which I think you already have a good grasp on. My only comment is that you're more referring to the cards and what to slowplay. I think you should also be considering WHO to slow play. Have a maniac at the table and flop a great hand? Slowplay his ass. Let him get aggressive on you.

For example: Say you flop the boat with JJ on a flop of J55. If you're in hand with a maniac and you know he'll bet check to him or let him bet. Some people would say to checkraise but I'd just call the bet. Let him get even more aggressive on the turn and that's when I'd say you start betting and reraising him. However, if you had bet the flop the guy might instantly fold so in this situation slowplay is good.

In retrospect, if you're playing with a calling station or fish, you obviously don't want to slowplpay, they'll just check it away. It all depends.

Something I'm still learning is poker is not about cards so when asking these type of questions you should just not be thinking about what hands to slowplay. Play poker, play the player. Learn who to slowplay and who not to.