Slowplaying top pair on the flop?

[IcemanDan]

I do this when I play no limit at home against my friends who all play extremely aggressively. In addition to usually taking down a huge pot it prevents them from bluffing into my checks later in the game. But how profitable is checking top pair in a 1/2 or 2/4 ring game?

Obviously, you're not going to check the flop when you have AK and the flop is something like: A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] unless you have the intention of check-raising.

Is it worth doing this when the flop is safer looking? I'm thinking if the average player only gets a small piece of the flop (like 2nd or 3rd button), they're a lot more likely to call bets on the turn and river if the flop was checked, especially if the turn and river are undercards to their pair. Then again, it is giving a free card to an inside straight draw or backdoor flush draw or pocket pairs looking for a set.

[captZEEbo1]

I sometimes do this in blind wars OOP in NL cash games (1000 max buyin). But my line will be check-call whole way down and sometimes I c/r on flop I guess. It really depends on player. It's probably just better for shania rather than winning yourself a BIG pot with top pair (but also can win by letting him bluff a hand that couldn't have called any bets). If you check flop and turn, you STILL have to check river though, as you don't want him to think you were slowplaying.

[NoRiverRats]

A good rule of thumb is to never slowplay in the games you mention. You will get run down, simple as that.

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
I do this when I play no limit at home against my friends who all play extremely aggressively. In addition to usually taking down a huge pot it prevents them from bluffing into my checks later in the game. But how profitable is checking top pair in a 1/2 or 2/4 ring game?

Obviously, you're not going to check the flop when you have AK and the flop is something like: A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] unless you have the intention of check-raising.

Is it worth doing this when the flop is safer looking? I'm thinking if the average player only gets a small piece of the flop (like 2nd or 3rd button), they're a lot more likely to call bets on the turn and river if the flop was checked, especially if the turn and river are undercards to their pair. Then again, it is giving a free card to an inside straight draw or backdoor flush draw or pocket pairs looking for a set.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a pretty complicated question that depends on the number of people in the hand, the texture of the flop, your position, your image, etc. I think it would be helpful for you to post a specific example that you think is borderline. You usually do not want to slowplay, but I wouldn't say never.