The pros do it – the amateurs do it - even the beginners do it.  So I suppose it’s fair to say…that we all do it!  But do what you ask?  Slow play, my dear Watson – that’s what!

But be warned, my fellow rounders, because slow playing and trapping can often come back to bite you on your arse!

Indeed, there is many a time that I was doing jig under the table; believing that I was on the verge of taking down a monster pot; knowing that I had played the hand well and was in deserving of the prize that was almost certain to be bestowed upon me!

After all, I’d crafted an almost perfect scenario by tricking my victim in to thinking – no, not thinking, believing – that they had the better hand and got them to commit a heap of their chips, even though I knew they were drawing so slim that they could fit into a size two ( ) only to see that dagger card arrive on the end!  You know, the one that is about as welcome as fart in a space suit.  It just shows up uninvited to deliver that awful blow!

Ouch – nasty – sick and what the feck!  All these come to mind, but what can I say other than – it’s my own fault!  I mean, I was the one that had let him get there by slow playing my big hand – it’s just a bad break, that’s all, so what-cha gonna do?  Nothing, nothing but dust it off and tell myself that I would do all again if I had the chance, because in the long run the maths and the clever play will surely prevail.

You see, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind, and I’m almost certain that you won’t have to go too deep in to any poker book before you find a the line that says, one of the main objects in the game of poker is to extract as many chips from your opponent as you possibly can when you have the better hand!  I think we can all agree on that.  I mean, why put in a huge raise or even move all-in if your opponent can’t or won’t call you!

What needs to be done is to find the perfect amount that you can bet or raise, without losing your opponent.  Agh – but that’s easier said than done.

You see, one has to be very careful when applying this strategy as there’s a fine line between playing crafty when you have a big hand and simply playing the hand badly!

For example, most people are aware that if you have the big pair like Aces or Kings in the hole, it wouldn’t be wise for you to allow five or six other callers in the hand, as you are likely to get outdrawn.  Ideally what you would like is to have no more than about two other players going to the flop with you.  At least that way you stand a far better chance of taking down the pot.

Important note; knowing your players and what they’re capable of doing helps you dictate by the amount you bet, which determining the number of callers you are going to get in the hand with you.  And believe me, this in itself is a form of slow playing!  But the clever way!

So…don’t limp in early position with a big hand unless you are sure that an aggressive player in late position is going to raise if he sees a bunch of limpers, that way you’ll have the option to reraise or just call (disguising the strength of your hand) when it comes back to you, then perhaps you can check raise on the flop.  However, if you don’t have an aggressive player then you should probably put in a raise and narrow down the field.  Always try and pick out the best spot when you’re going to slow play.  And in a perfect world your opponent might be drawing dead when you are trapping - ya right!

This is a topic that we will be looking at again soon.

I’ll leave you with this, a final note; poker is by design a lonely game, it’s just you against the field.  But whenever you can set a trap, outplay or out-think your opponent, then you’re doing ok in my book!  Happy hunting!

Ciaran

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Big C. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.