Free Poker Tips for Slow Play

Winning any type of poker be in high stakes Vegas or free poker comes down to being able to extract profit from marginal situations. The object is not (it’s impossible anyway) to win every hand played, but every hand YOU play – OK also impossible but that has to be your aim. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents and one way to do this is the slow play.

The Art of the Slow-play
The skill of playing it slow is to intentionally gamble a smaller amount so you can hide the potentially unstoppable hand you hold and trap the opposing player with the weaker hand.

The slow gamble is different to blagging and pays out against both decent and poor opposition. Poor opposition often just gamble their cards, therefore if they have something or looking to draw they’re going to pay you off.

When not to Slow-Play
You shouldn’t slow play when there is a flush or straight draw on the board. You should only slow play when your opponent has a hand that is not likely to improve enough to beat yours. Suppose the flop is AD-7H-KC and you hold 7D-7C, and you put your opponent on an A or K. It’s usually more profitable to bet the hand aggressively on the turn.

By slow playing the turn you’re potentially loosing cash on the turn- the only sensible motive for slow playing this scenario is if you know the opposition will fold with any gamble you declare.

If you manage to get quads or a full house don’t over play the hand- if the opposition are not strategically sitting right, they don’t seem to gamble often on the river, instead they check or call. By slow playing this turn, this type of opposition wont raise or re raise on the river.

As a result continue to gamble on the turn regardless of their development. They will hardly put you on the quads so attempt to get some game on the turn.

How to Represent Your Hand
A strong bet can represent a strong hand. This is especially true when betting after the flop. If an A or K shows on the flop, you can represent an A or K in your hand by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand.

So there you have it a fast guide to the slow play. Typically it works better with money games than free poker where you’ll find many beginners who don’t pick up the nuances and throw all in regardless! But of you find yourself in a free online poker freeroll with real money up for grabs then think about how and when you might apply it.