Although in cinematic depictions of casinos, card games are most often displayed as being all about fast-paced, frenetic playing styles that are big on risk and dramatic strategies, for the vast majority of poker players out there, the reality is different!
While there is something to be said for a strategy that utilizes quick thinking and a faster pace of play with flashy strategies, for highly technical games such as poker – where the action often unfolds over the course of a number of hours – this might not always be the case. In fact, if you were to take a look at any of the live games taking place at the best NJ online casinos right now, you would undoubtedly be faced with a reality that is quite different from how poker games are portrayed in films.
With that said, one popular poker strategy takes a markedly different approach from the flashy strategies that we are often used to seeing depicted in TV shows and movies. Known as ‘slow playing’, this betting technique involvesa player playing a strong hand in a ‘weak’ way in order to encourage more opponents to stay in that hand. The aim is essentially to lure the other players into beefing up the pot while you play things cool, leading the table to hopefully believe that they have the upper hand.
As you can see, then, ‘slow play’ isn’t just about the pace you play at – though sometimes it might be. Rather, it is about trying to lure your table-mates into taking the lead in a given hand, while you sit back and let the action unfold.
In terms of the rewards that this might potentially bring you, most obviously, it holds the potential that you can increase the size of the pot you are playing for without revealing the strength of your hand. If you were playing in a conventional way or with a more aggressive style, the other players at the table would usually cop onto the fact that you have a strong hand, making them less likely to increase the size of the pot.
Slow play is not a foolproof method, however, and there are a number of things that you should keep in mind before trying to implement it in your own playing strategies.
Firstly, slow play works best only against certain types of opponents. Most obviously, it will usually work well against loose, aggressive players who like to go into a hand with guns blazing! Slow play will generally be less successful against more cautious players.
Secondly, slow play is better suited for when you have a strong hand, though not necessarily an unbeatable one. If you are fortunate enough to have been dealt an ironclad hand, you might be better served trying out slow play on a more lucrative pot or in a slightly more conventional strategy. The pots up for grabs in a slow play setting tend to be smaller in size, so if you are faced with a monster pot and have been blessed with a very strong hand, you will generally be better served by taking a more conventional approach.