In the first few years of my poker career I was bitten badly by Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS). It took a lot of mathematical analysis of poker hands, along with talking to other pros whose game I respected, to help me realize that the standard play was usually correct. Sure there are still times when I will check a monster hand on the flop or check-raise an opponent on the river, but they are few and far between. I’m more likely to succeed with a donk-bet bluff these days than trying to slow play a big hand.

This problem is common among beginning players who often worry that their big hand won’t make any money if they don’t play it in a tricky way. While experience is usually enough to get over FPS in a few years of playing for even the most die-hard slow play fans. Moving up levels also helps to cure the syndrome, because players at higher levels won’t fall for the trickery nearly as often and trying to play a hand in a sneaky way just isn’t nearly as profitable.

It’s also important to note that while sneaky play may work better for a mediocre player who tends to be too passive, the standard play will work much better for a player with the strong and aggressive table image than it will for a good player. When a weaker player checks it doesn’t mean much and opponents will sometimes try to knock him off his hand by betting, sometimes even doing so on every street in fixed-limit games. A check from a stronger player who would typically bet is seen as an aberration and catches the attention of his opponents, making it much less likely they will play a big pot with him, and much more likely that they will fold when he pulls the trigger on his fancy play.
Let’s look at a hand example that helped me learn about the merits of the standard play:

In the middle rounds of a $100 buy-in NLHE tournament, with blinds at 150/300, the table folds around to the button who raises to 800. The button has 4,700 behind. If you are on the small blind with a big hand, a raise is absolutely necessary because you don’t want the big blind to come along and see a flop cheaply. But what if you have a big hand in the big blind?

It is tempting to just call and disguise your hand or re-raise a small amount to trap your opponent in to the pot. The problem is that a solid player will smell a huge hand immediately and will probably call your raise because of the pot odds. You are committing yourself with your big hand and a big pot, while your opponent is not committed to the pot if he misses the flop... plus he has a very good read on what your hand is.

If you just call his raise in an attempt to disguise your hand you are in an even worse situation than if you raise. My mistake was that I only worried about the frequency that my opponent would out-flop me and I forgot to consider the important part of the equation. A call here was not just giving my opponent a free chance to hit the flop, it was giving him a free chance to miss the flop. If he has a hand like a pair of tens, he may very well call an all-in re-raise preflop, but if you call the 800 and the flop is KJ7 he will not put any more chips in and you have cost yourself almost 4,000 chips.

Of course, I don’t advocate always betting your strong hands and check/folding your weak hands, but it is usually the best play. If you have an opponent who is very prone to firing multiple barrels and trying to bluff too much, then giving them enough rope to hang themselves is often correct. With opponents who are likely to have a big hand, it’s usually better to play fast and get the money in for a reason similar to the hand above.

Let’s look at an example after the flop that makes this point:

In a $2/4 NLHE cash game, an early position player who has been tight raises to $12 and you call on the button with a pair of fives. The flop comes 2-5-8 and he bets $20 in to a $27 pot, what is your best play? Assume that both players have at least $400. Many players will call and try to disguise their hand, but in a game of this size against a tight player. Your call may set off alarm bells. But once again, the problem that he will get away from his hand or fold to your eventual raise on a dry board. The problem is that he won’t always have aces or kings here. If he has a pair of tens, then you are once again in a position where he will be done with his hand if an over card falls, especially if it’s an ace. The possibility that he has a vulnerable hand that would be happy to get money in right now, in addition to the fact that your smooth call may tip him off, makes an immediate raise to build a pot a much better play.

A final consideration in very deep stack play is that you may not be able to get 100 big blinds into the pot without playing your hand fast right away. If you call the $20 bet creating a $65 pot, and then call a $40 bet on the turn to create a $145 pot, and your opponent checks on the end to control the pot size, you would have to make a significant overbet to get all of the chips in the middle and he may not call.

A raise to $60 on the flop, even if it slows him down, will get all of the chips in by the end without ever over-betting the pot. When he calls your raise to $60, the pot will be $140 on the turn. A bet of $100 will create a pot of $340 on the river, and you will only have around $230 left. If he’s gone that far with his over pair he will be forced to call your all-in bet on the river and you get his whole stack instead of half of it.

Remember to make the expected play unless there is a reason not to, and don’t slow play too often, it’s probably costing you more than you think.

I'll see you at the final table,
Chris Fox Wallace

P.S. Check out my new site at pokerwhip.com

Articles by Fox

Double or Nothing ICM Calculations Sep 23, 2009
Why Aren't More People Playing Omaha Poker? Sep 07, 2009
Poker College (Part 4) Aug 24, 2009
Poker College (Part 3) Aug 17, 2009
Poker College (Part 2) Aug 10, 2009
Poker College (Part 1) Aug 03, 2009
Taking the Plunge Jun 23, 2005
Wax On, Wax Off Jun 14, 2005
A Damn Fine Week for the Fox Jun 06, 2005
A Quick Update Jun 02, 2005
Thanks to Beanie and Annie May 27, 2005
Killing the Single Tables May 17, 2005
Playing Multiple Tables May 12, 2005
Meeting Beanie and Feldliss May 09, 2005
Still Chasing Bonus Dollars May 06, 2005
A Frantic Week May 02, 2005
Party Bonus This Week Apr 22, 2005
I Learned Something Today Apr 16, 2005
Put On Your Tin Foil Hat... Apr 12, 2005
Whipping the Entire Field Apr 08, 2005
Introduction to Fox Apr 05, 2005

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