The beauty of slowplay

[Biff M.]

Hi there,

I had just sat down at the table, won a pot from AK and mucked anything else. Game is as usual, loose passive. Check-call. Then comes this one

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed)

CO ($247.82)
Button ($87.2)
SB ($353.85)
BB ($119.15)
UTG ($109.4)
UTG+1 ($90)
UTG+2 ($64.25)
Hero ($138.15)
MP2 ($80)
MP3 ($115.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of $1.
UTG calls $2, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to $6</font>, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls $6, SB (poster) folds, BB calls $4, UTG calls $4.

Flop: ($25) T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">Button bets $2</font>, BB calls $2, UTG folds, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($31) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
BB checks, Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">Button bets $6</font>, BB folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to $12</font>, Button calls $6.

River: ($55) T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">Button bets $20</font>, Hero calls $20.

Final Pot: $95

Tell me baby, where did I go wrong? Bet out on that flop? Check-raise instead of that stupid check-call I did? I figured the button would bet that flop, but I really shouldnt have let him get away with that bet. I pretty much gave him odds to draw to anything. Got a little scared when the second ten came, and when he called the raise and the third fell I knew I was dead. The fact that he showed a hand I wouldnt touch for a discount doesn't really change anything.

[damn_river]

don't tell me he had quads....
how can you not play the flop the way you did? when the turn paired the board, i would at least bet the pot (in my opinion, that was your mistake). if called, i would try to play as cheap as possible from that point on. if raised, i'd think hard about folding.
damn river

[Biff M.]

Yes, I agree about the turn comment. He bet 6 on his trips, and I gave him the chance to catch a 4th for 6 more. Terrible, terrible play. If I could do it again I would bet half the pot on the flop, and full pot on the turn.

[LokiV]

Quads don't matter, his opponent has him beaten with any card out there or a PP. This is an auto check/fold on the river, I'm afraid.

The thing about this is that you wanted your opponent to get a 2nd best hand. What is he going to get? A straight? Two pair? Eh.... he'll still see 3 spades flopped and be afraid.

If he has a set or two pair already, you give him cheap stuff to get you beaten. This is a hand you play aggressively and often take down right there, but if someone outdraws you then gave it your best shot.

Slowplaying the current nuts neglects what your opponent will beat you with... slowplaying has its place but it is opponent specific IMO.

[EnderW27]

As the previous poster said, your mistake was in the turn. You must put pressure on him, right then and there. Other than a stone cold bluff, any hand he's betting on he's absolutely getting proper odds to call. This is especially true (though he doesn't actually know it) when he has such great implied odds. You KNEW you were beat and you paid him off for more money on the river than you charged him the entire rest of the round!

[Wayfare]

How can you call this river?

[Biff M.]

I'm not sure what I was thinking. The only thing I could beat was a bluff and a lower flush like QJ, but the only likely holdings were quads or a full house. I guess I got off balance when the 3rd ten came. To my defence I was playing in a couple shorthanded SNGs at the same time, I need to stop doing that.

[PoBoy321]

Re-raise the flop more, bet the turn, check/fold the river. One of my biggest mistakes, and a mistake that I've seen cost a lot of people a lot of money is slowplaying vulnerable hands. Check/raise the flop to try to get extra bets out there, but once the board pairs, try to win it and throw on the brakes against any aggression. In the future, try to only slowplay full house or better.

[Daann]

Bet the flop, you have all the good draw cards so you are going to have to hope that someone with a set/small flush is going to play back at you. Maybe someone with a TPTK hand or overpair will call you.

If this is a loose passive table, you are going to make your money getting them to call your bets rather than trying to induce bluffs.

[Tilt]

Your line on the flop should be check-push IMO.

The only significant action you are going to get from another player on any street after this flop is from AA/KK, or trips, or the small flush draw. You should get all their money in on the flop. All of those hands will pay you off often enough on that flop to make pushing worthwhile. Based on your preflop raise they will think you have any high PP and call with a variety of hands.

And if they fold, thats not so bad. When you play it out like this any paired board is going make you wonder whether you are beat. Thats not the position I want to be in if I am slowplaying.