Slowplaying Strong Hands Is A Losing Proposition

This advice is mostly relevant to Limit Texas Hold’em, as opposed to Pot Limit or No Limit Texas Hold’em. When you are playing Limit Hold’em properly, you are avoiding a lot of hands. You are folding all but the premium hands as unplayable, and this means you are spending a lot of time avoiding poker; at least that is how it feels, but in reality it means you are simply playing poker well. Once you get a strong hand it is time to go on the attack. Slow playing pocket aces in limit hold’em is a sure way to lose, one way or another.

Aggression is the key in No Limit Hold’em, but it is hard to utilize in Limit Hold’em precisely because of the limits. Very often, making one call is not going to put someone out of the game, so there is none of that all or nothing feel common in No Limit. However, you can put in some aggression, especially pre-flop. You will want to raise the pot pre flop and, if you can, re raise it. Get it up there! You will accomplish two things this way. First, you will add value to your hand by getting players to beef up the pot, so that when you do win, it will more than make up for the last three hours of fold, fold, fold. Second, you want to get as many players to fold as possible pre flop, because while Pocket Rockets rule, they are easily beaten by three deuces or a wheel straight.

The biggest danger in slowplaying strong hands in Limit Hold’em is getting outdrawn. It is bad enough to win a pot that is a tenth of the size it could have been if you had been betting, but loosing money is worse. Let people laugh at you if everyone folds and you only get the blinds with pocket aces; you know that is by far better than putting in ten bets of your own trips only to have someone suck out on you on the river.