what % of the time do you slowplay sets?

[Shaffer]

My criteria for slow-playing is simple. I do it when I think it's profitable [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Seriously, a lot of people are saying "only on rainbow, uncoordinated flops", etc., and while that's part of the puzzle, it's only one piece.

Say you have 66 on the button and cold-call a raise that gets three limp-callers, the board comes J62 rainbow and a fishy l-pass UTG limp-caller donks out, driving everyone else out. Even though this is an ideal board for slow-playing, here I would say that you probably want to raise, because it should be fairly obvious that the limp-caller has a J and (as they are fishy l-pass) are probably more likely to pay off a raise now than on the turn, and having them commit to that call now makes them feel all the more committed to the pot on later streets. If you get cute and just call, a scare-card may come on the turn that kills your action (any overcard in this case), and you may wind up with less money in the pot even if that scare card doesn't come, because now you're only giving yourself two bites out of your opponent's stack instead of three.

If I have the same hand on the same board but 2 opponents who check to me and don't seem interested in the hand, I probably check to hope one of them improves on the turn, or is emboldened to bluff a later street. But only if I figure that my chances of their calling my bet are less than the chances of one of them improving on the turn (and by "improving" I mean improving to the point of being willing to pay me off). That involves reads, an analysis of their style, my image, etc. When in doubt, I bet.

As a general rule, though, slow-playing is a bit like using a surgical scalpel in a melee. Dealing with low-stakes players profitably (we are talking low stakes, right?) involves the blunted weapons of poker: getting the best hand and value-betting it, trusting that your opponents will call, and call too large of bets when they should be folding.

Slow-playing means you're hoping your opponents either bet when they shouldn't (far less common at most tables) or improve to a 2nd-best hand (usually meaning they spike a pair, which is of course infrequent). Taking advantage of their betting when they shouldn't is generally less profitable than taking advantage of their calling when they shouldn't.

A read changes everything, though. Up against a maniac that's betting into me, I will slow-play a set til the cows come home, even on a semi-drawy board. Nothing beats taking a stack from a donkey that tries an all-in river bluff with 9 high against your flopped set.