Slow playing is a form of poker playing strategy, also called sandbagging or trapping.

Slow play is rougly the opposite of bluffing - betting weakly or passively with a strong hand to deceive your opponents.

The objective is to lure your opponents into a pot who might fold to a raise, or to cause them to bet more strongly than they would if the player had played aggressively. The hazards of slow playing include risking protection against hands that may improve and losing the pot-building value of a bet in the case the opponent also checks.

Should you wish to experiment with slow poker play, here are a few tips to help your slow play become more profitable. Only attempt slow poker play if you have a very strong hand. The free card or cheap card you are allowing to the opponents must have good possibilities of making a second-best hand. This free card must have little chance of giving a better hand or even giving your opponents a draw to a better hand on the next round with sufficient pot odds in order to justify a call. You must believe that your opponents will be driven out by showing aggression, but you must also make sure that you can win a big pot if the opponents stay in. Also, the pot should be fairly small.

Against observant opponents, the frequency of bluffing affects the effectiveness of slow playing, and vice versa. If your table image is aggressive, slow playing is less important because your opponents will be more willing to call your usual bets and raises. Similarly, if you are perceived as a "trappy" player (who uses frequent slow plays), your bluffs are less likely to be respected because the opponents will expect you to slow play the strong hands. It's all psychology.

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Tuesday, 28 April 2009