If you’ve ever flipped on ESPN, NBC, The Travel Channel, or any one of the handful of networks that airs poker programming, one move you’ll see at least a couple of times per episode is the “slow play.” While poker hosts like Mike Sexton, Phil Gordon, Gabe Kaplan, and Norman Chad might approve of the move, it’s one of the most dangerous strategies that you can employ in poker, in my opinion. I strongly advise against it in nearly every situation. I’m reminded of a PokerStars commercial I once saw with Daniel Negreanu, who made three jacks on the river. The punch line was that I should act weak because someone will always pay me off when I have a hand. Not so fast. Let’s take a look at why I fear slow playing more than I fear snakes, earthquakes, and tofu combined.

Here are several of the reasons why I dislike slow playing. Although you might be enamored with the “advanced poker move,” I’m not:

1. Giving your opponents free cards is never a good idea. This is especially true at lower stakes games, where your opponents could be holding literally any two cards in the deck. When you slow play, your goal is to check and call as many times as possible in an attempt to get paid off with a big hand. If you’re holding aces and the flop comes ace high, fireworks go off in your head and you can check-call your way to victory. However, if you have aces and slow play pre-flop (that is just call the big blind), you are setting yourself up for disaster. I understand the point of getting paid off, but I’ve seen way too many wild beats occur because someone checked their kings on a nine-high flop. Yes, I understand that, odds are, your kings will hold up. However, if they don’t, you’ll be fuming about it for the remainder of a tournament or sent to the rail entirely because of it. Never let your opponents catch up to your hand for free. I utilize this strategy at a 10-handed game and heads up.
2. You’re not always going to get paid off. This one, for me, is an even bigger sin that the first point I made. There’s no guarantee that when you make trip jacks on the river and check, your opponent is going to bet. He or she may very well just check behind you, making the fact that you just made three of a kind irrelevant. There is a chance they bet and then you can push over the top. That’s possible. However, by slow playing, you may be limiting the amount of money you can make in a hand simply by playing it too passively. This point ultimately depends on the other player involved in the hand: Are they loose? Are they aggressive? Have they bluffed before? Do they have a vendetta against you? These are all factors that you’ll want to take into consideration before your bluff blows up in your face.
3. Big hands don’t grow on trees. Although I have seen players get aces, kings, and queens in succession, odds are that it’s not going to happen. You’re going to get aces dealt to you once in every 221 hands. It’s mathematically going to happen that often, on average. When it happens, take advantage of it. Use it as an opportunity to bet. Raise before the flop. Make a continuation bet on the flop. Bet again after the turn. Make a big bet on the river. Don’t check-call your way to getting sucked out on. There’s nothing that puts a player on tilt more than his pocket jacks losing to 7-3 offsuit. That said, it happens all the time. When you have a big hand, bet. Savor the sweet taste of victory and give your confidence and your chip stack little bit of a boost.
4. Control your ego. To me, slow playing is all about stroking your ego. It’s an opportunity to show other players that you can outwit, outlast, and outplay them, exactly as the “Survivor” television show’s motto states. It’s a great feeling suckering someone into betting when you hold the stone cold nuts. However, is the ego boost really necessary? Would betting and taking down the pot not feel equally as good? Like all other games, it isn’t wise to let your ego get the best of you. Play with a level head.
5. Everyone does it. You might be thinking that you’re executing a third-level play by slow playing someone. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because of poker’s popularity on television, everyone knows what a slow play is. Every time someone checks to me, I wonder whether they are slow playing me. It’s an elementary move and for that reason, you should try and play aggressively. If your pocket tens finds a third ten on the flop, you can check to an aggressive player. However, when he bets, come over the top of him. Don’t just call him and hope the turn doesn’t give him a better hand. Lower-level players will run you down with any two cards. Play aggressively and avoid this pitfall.

There you have it: The dangers of slow playing from someone who has been burned by it on one too many occasions. Best of luck to you at the tables!