Slow-play, a technique which consists of deliberately underplaying a strong hand in poker, is becoming more popular day by day. However, it is not mastered by everyone.

This is a strategy amongst other poker theory which involves underplaying a strong hand to increase its value in the eyes of your opponents. To enhance it, the player does not outbid; he follows at the time of the flop.

If the fact of overbidding does not consolidate the Pot and even allows one of your opponents to hit a hand ultimately superior to yours, the odds in this direction are still quite low. We explain below the procedure to follow to underplay poker.

The Principles Of Slow Play

Slow-play is a particularly effective technique provided that certain parameters are respected. If you do not perform the technique optimally, slow-play will only consist of offering a free card to the opponent. This is to be avoided, of course.

At first, slow play is only played with a strong hand, that is to say, a hand which is capable of beating any other. A Top Pair is not ideal for playing in slow-play mode. And even if you have a pair of 6 matched to a 5-6-8 flop, it will be difficult for you to develop a slow-play since the possibilities of drawing a straight or a flush are very numerous, and you are therefore unfavorable.

Then beware of the face-up cards that are placed on the carpet during play as they can help your opponents to consolidate or even improve their hand significantly. Sometimes, a hand made up of a 5 and a 6 of diamonds will be easier to play than a set. It is enough that the player has a Top Pair for a single pre-Flop card to put you in an embarrassing situation in the next round.

Finally, the last essential element to take into consideration is the size of the pot. If the size of the stack is small compared to that of the pot, slow-play will allow you to bet on two consecutive betting rounds, a quick way to steal the entire stack of your opponents. On the other hand, the bigger the carpet, the more its slow-play loses its interest. You just have to lose a round of betting to see the technique diminish.