Letting Your Opponent Draw a Winner
Slow playing can be a great strategy for a poker online player who knows how to use it. Feigning weakness with a winning hand is a great way to trap your opponents. It’s not just a way to drag more chips into the pot, it’s also an example of what makes poker such an intriguing, seductive game. It’s a perfect example of the deceptive qualities that makes online poker a strategic endeavor.
It’s not a perfect strategy however-letting your opponents stay in a hand has inherent risks. Among the risks is the chance that your opponent may draw a hand that’s better than yours. When you slow play a hand, you let your opponent see the next few cards for free or for a small amount of chips, and while the chances may be slim, he may have a chance to draw a hand that can beat yours.
Say you have pocket Queens (clubs and spades) and the flop comes out 10 of hearts, 5 of spades, and Queen of hearts. You’ve drawn a set of Queens, and you decide to slow play. If one player stays in with 10 of diamonds and King of hearts, he’s got an outside chance of drawing runner hearts and beating your set with a flush.
