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If you’ve ever watched Muhammad Ali box (or saw a movie about him) you are probably familiar with his rope-a-dope technique. He would lean back into the ropes and let his opponent wail away on him, while Ali protected his body. The opponent would think that he was close to winning the fight.  When the opponent would start to tire, Ali would come out firing away and usually knock out his opponent. You may wonder why I am talking about boxing, and the reason is because in poker, we call the rope-a-dope “slowplaying”.

Slowplaying is when you let your opponent bet and raise while you just call the bets, all the meanwhile you are holding the nuts unbeknownst to him. This maneuver can be very effective in limit games, but works best in no-limit. Your opponent bets most of his stack holding what he thinks is the best hand, but you wait until he has committed most of his chips into the pot before you fire back.

The best time to slowplay is when your hand is so strong that you are unlikely to be outdrawn and you want to give your opponent a chance to catch up a little.   If you are in the big blind with pocket eights and the flop comes 883, you have found a perfect time to slowplay. With a flop like that, it is unlikely that your opponents will call a bet on the flop. However if you check and the turn brings an ace, you may find that your quads will get paid off.

The key is you should only slowplay on hands that are unlikely to be outdrawn. Too many players try to slowplay only to find  that they have allowed their opponent to outdraw them. You should not slowplay when there are obvious draws on the board. If you have pocket tens in the big blind and the flop comes JT2 with two spades, you should play your cards aggressively. You want to make anyone holding a spade draw or a QK pay as much as possible to catch their draw.  Slowplaying can be a valuable weapon if used properly, but just like the great Muhammad Ali, you have to pick your spots.

I often see players at the table just calling bets, but seldom raising. These players seem a bit timid and are not really sure where they stand in the hand.  They are hurting themselves in the long run, because betting and raising usually gives them the best chance of being successful at the poker table. If you call a person’s bet, the only way you can win the pot is if you end up with the best hand at the showdown. However, if you bet or raise, not only can you win the pot if you have the best hand, but there is also a chance that your opponent can fold. This gives you another opportunity to win their money.

There are other reasons why betting and raising will help you be successful. The main reason is because you are building the pot when you have a good hand. You may hit a royal flush, but if the pot is small because you didn’t raise, well you didn’t do your job! You want the pot to be big when you hold strong hands, and raising is the best way to build large pots.

Another reason why you want to raise your good hands is because you want to protect them.  By forcing other players to call multiple bets, and consequently getting them to fold, your hand has a much better chance of holding up. The chances of your hand holding up decreases with each extra player that is in the hand. Narrow down the field with your strong but vulnerable hands like top pair.

Furthermore, another reason why you want to bet and raise is because you want players who are looking to outdraw you to pay as much as possible to catch their draws. You don’t want to give other players free cards, and you want to make sure that if they continue in the hand, they are not getting the proper pot odds.  By being aggressive, you will force your opponents to make mistakes.