Best Poker Tips

The other day I was playing at my weekly 100/200 no limit home game with some friends when I was dealt QQ in early position. My home game is quite a loose-aggressive game, so I decide to raise the pot to 1000 chips. Normally this would be a slightly large raise, but I know this table is loose, so I know I will get some action, but not too much. I don’t want my opponents to get lucky, and outdraw me with a hand like TJ.

I get two callers. One of them is a fairly aggressive player (Mike the Maniac), and the other quite solid (Tight Trevor). The Flop comes rags, something like 972. I figure I probably have Mike beat, unless he has some pocket pair and just made trips. But Trevor could have an AK or AQ and then I would have to lay down my hand, if an Ace or King comes on the Turn or River so I decide to bet some 2000 chips into the pot. 

If I do have the best hand I’ll probably take the pot down right here, which is fine. A decent pot for a decent hand. And indeed, Mike and Trevor both fold, and as I rake in the pot Mike shows me he had AJ, and Trevor AK indeed!

Sometimes I take a little peek at what the next card would have been, and in this case it would have been an Ace. Pfhew!

All well.

But now let’s suppose I had slow played the hand.

First I check before the flop. Mike raises and Trevor, with the even higher Ace, would have probably re-raised, so suddenly my pair of Queens doesn’t look so good anymore!

Actually the only thing I can do is call, because there’s no real reason to re-re-raise with a pair of Queens. So I go to the flop being a caller, not in control of the hand, and I have to make the first move after! Suddenly the large bet I make doesn’t look that threatening anymore to anybody holding two over cards to the board, and I either get re-raised, or just flat called by both guys, at risk of getting run down by two players, with two more cards to come. 

The Turn comes an Ace. Now I also can’t check anymore, someone could very well have that Ace. Heck, I even put Trevor on the high Ace. And the only way to find out if I’m right is by betting.

If I check now, I show major weakness and even if neither of my opponents holds the Ace, one of them is going to bet, and I’m going to have to lay down my pocket Queens. 

So I bet, get raised and either end up totally pot committed, or at best losing a large chunk of my stack, but live to see another day.

The motto here is:

DON’T SLOW PLAY!

Unless you are sure you’ve got the nuts and no one can catch up with you, don’t do it.

The only reason to be slow playing would be:

- When you have an unbeatable hand, but your afraid everyone will fold if you bet, so you let your opponents catch up hoping they’ll make some kind of hand and try to bluff at you.

- Or, just to mix it up.

If there’s a chance of any hand that can beat you, don’t slow play. It might work once, it might work twice, but you will get caught sooner or later and lose more money you ever won slow playing.

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