Free Poker Tournaments - Building Pots With Big Hands
It is a common misconception that by playing your hand slower you will win more games. Sometimes this may be true, but in many cases it is not, especially when you have a big hand. I see slow playing happen so much more often than necessary when I am playing both live and free poker tournaments online but I believe that playing a more simple tactic increases results.
It is definitely dangerous to slow play big hands for many the reasons-not the least of which gets outdrawn by your opponents. However , there is certainly another a lot more important reason why slow playing is a bad idea. Slow playing is oftentimes less profitable than playing your hand fast.
Better Betting
Should you want to build a big pot with a big hand like a set, you need to be betting. You need to raise pre-flop, bet on the flop, bet on the turn, and fire your last bullet on the river. In other words, you want to gradually get all-in.
It may seem you'll scare away opponents with continuous betting, but this will not be the case if they hold a reasonably strong hand. Big pots happen when a big hand runs into an even bigger hand. If your opponent folds before you get all your chips in the centre, it simply wasn't designed to be.
Everything you don't wish to accomplish is scare your opponents away with ridiculously large bets or raises. No one will call you in the event that you bet $800 into an $80 pot. Nobody will call you if you raise it up to $1000 after an opening bet of $40. You want to keep your bets and raises small.
Recommended is to give this approach a go when playing free online poker and free poker tournaments. This way you are able to gain experience in this kind of play without losing a real income.
You must persuade your fellow players they've a good enough hand to continue playing in order that they don't fold.
Keep your fellow players pot committed. Avoid betting big and announcing to the table that you have the best hand.
There is also a downside not to betting and just checking. Obviously, you may get outdrawn on. That's a common concern.
Nevertheless , checking also fails to build-up the pot. You may sooner or later get your opponent to bet at you, however, you he or she might just check behind-and thus, you'll be losing some profit from winning one less bet.
Exceptions to the rule
You will see occasions when it's best to slow play. For instance , it's a good move to slow play when you flop a royal flush, a straight flush, quads, a full house, the nut flush, or the nut straight. Those are extremely strong hands. There's little chance to you'll be beat. You want to give your opponent every chance possible to bet his second most readily useful hand.
You may even consider slow playing against a characteristically loose and aggressive player. Their first instinct is always to bet when players check. You can benefit from that aggression.
Yet, generally, you do want to bet out or raise. You want to build big pots slowly by betting every chance that you will get. As I say practice playing free poker games and free poker tournaments sites where you can get a feel for what will work and what won't. That way when you enter a higher stakes cash situation you'll play it right and hopefully scoop it up!