Hello,well to start off i am new to poker...played for money once a week for about 2 months and i am starting to learn the basics such as player reading hand reading and board reading. Anyways here is my problem, I slow play EVERYTHING, if i get a hand anytime and it is strong then i will slow play it. Alot of my friends have caught onto this trend although it helps me bluff later in hands as i have done a number of times. But i can only do that on strong community cards. My problem is that when i try to change how i play i dont fair so well. I was wondering if you guys could help me adapt some different styles to help me become better and less predictable.

Thanks
Poker_Rusty z

Hi, i agree that you should not slowplay too much.

you say you are a beginer at poker, if you are playing with other beginers then you do not really need to slow play strong hands. at this level playing a hand in the most straightforward manner is often the most profitable.

i think it would be helpfull for you to think about the kind of player/s you are up against. e.g. if you are up against a player who makes a lot of calls with middle pair on the flop and you have pocket aces you are better off betting and there is no need to slow play. also if you are playing an opponent who will make incorrect calls with a drawing hand you should bet here to force your opponent to make a mistake by calling and denying him a free card which could improve his hand.

however, on the other hand if you flop a nut flush and put your opponent on a weak hand such as bottom pair it may be profitable to give a free card and hope he improves to a 2nd best hand.

in general i think you should think about whether slowplaying is the correct move for the situation you find yourself in rather than making it your standard play. if you slow play the wrong hand you may find you give opponents free cards to improve and you may lose a few pots this way.

if you are learning to read the board im assuming you are playing with play money. there is absolutely no need to slow play anything at all there. even at micro limits its still bad. they pay you so much just bet it hard for value and they will call

i read somewhere i forget where that it is generally -ev to slow play. im sure if you flop quads against a known blugger/agro guy its fine, but thats not all you will be slow playing. i dno. basically at your level theres no need. just bet and get paid. very simple

Well some of the guys i play with are beginers and some are not. I have a pretty basic read on them. The one guy only bets when he has something and only bets big when he has the nuts or close to it, my other friend bluffs a fair bit and likes to see every flop, the other guy he bet checks and then goes all in alot, now i have called him three times and he has had big hands so i am under the impression that he does this when he has a strong, my one friend is a new player and he is impossible to read as he never lets off that he has a good hand or a strong one and will call any bet as long as he has anything, and he never bluffs. The last guy is really good at reading the board and he is very didficult to read. MOst of the guys I play against are semi agressive, and a couple liek me are passive. Now what would u say about my situation.
Poker_Rusty