Are there good reasons to slow-roll your hand?

Gutshot Gus · May 10, 2026

To start with, I thought we were talking about slow playing and then I got myself educated on slow playing vs slow rolling.

Slow playing is a definite yes, especially vs some one that's aggressive.

Slow rolling is something that I can never recall doing.
Even though I want to beat everyone at the table, I don't want to be "that guy" who will not be missed when he is gone.

fundiver199 · May 10, 2026

Lodestone said:
Him whining afterwards and then threatening violence as if that is somehow acceptable goes to show how pathetically fried this guy is.

Yeah Mike Matusows reaction is also part of the reason, why that is the greatest slowroll ever. The full story is, that Mike had just been through 3 hands, where he got no action with the nuts, then got bluffed after overplaying his hand, and then ran QQ into AA and lost way to much, apparently because he did not know the effective stack size.

So he was likely pretty tilted, and he played his JJ so fast, that more often than not he would be beat, if he got action. The slowroll was really just the icing on the cake, and we also see one of the other players step in and say "Mike might actually leave" to calm down the table chat, because obviously at this point Mike was the "mark" of the table, and everyone wanted him to reload, so he could continue to play poorly and lose even more.

fundiver199 · May 10, 2026

armoko said:
Hollywooding is a different story though. That’s more part of live poker psychology and can actually be useful if used in moderation.

You definitely do not want to give away timing tells. And the only way to achieve that is to always take some time before making a decision, when you are not closing the action, but not like an enormous amount of time. If you him and hum and then finally decide to come back over the top with a raise, would you really do that with a bluff? Probably not and therefore you should not do it with the nuts either.

ztibor72 · May 10, 2026

For me, the most disgusting thing about tables is slow-rolling.

nabmom · May 10, 2026

ztibor72 said:
For me, the most disgusting thing about tables is slow-rolling.

Why bothers you most about it? I’m also assuming that means you have no reasons why it would be good?

skaterick · May 10, 2026

mattiebumpo said:
The only reason I would slow roll is if I want to see my opponent’s hand, especially when they have been the aggressor in the hand. If I show the winning hand too soon, the opponent may just muck and I will have no information on how strong or weak their hand was.

I've had that happen many times in a casino or card room .Once I even told the dealer ' i want to see that hand !' and he still shoved it in the muck . Plus if you slow roll an obvious monster it may send a weak willed player on tilt on occasion .

antonis32123 · May 11, 2026

I would never do such a thing , it's not good at all , bad etiquette, bad behavior . But maybe I would do an exception to a guy that does these things , slowrolling or angle shooting methods and tactics , these guys deserve this kind of behavior for sure .

fundiver199 · May 11, 2026

mattiebumpo said:
The only reason I would slow roll is if I want to see my opponent’s hand, especially when they have been the aggressor in the hand. If I show the winning hand too soon, the opponent may just muck and I will have no information on how strong or weak their hand was.

Asking your opponent to show their cards at showdown, when they were the last aggressor, is just sticking to the rules. It is sometimes considered poor etiquette, and if you are a "for profit" player and want to keep the recreational players happy, you might not want to always do this, but it is your legal right.

Slowrolling on the other hand is taking a lot to time to call, when you close the action and have the nuts or at least a very strong hand and know perfectly well, that you are going to call. A simple example is having AA preflop, and someone jam into you. With no other players left to act in the hand, there is no reason to him and hum before calling, other than to tease or annoy your opponent.

Not showing your hand properly can also be a slowroll. Like if your opponent has shown a straight, and you have a full house. But instead of turning both your cards over and say "full house", you flip over only one card and say "I have a king" (which would be a two pair hand) and then you flip over the other card saying..... "and another king".

Dmitriy_rus7 · May 11, 2026

I don't play like that and honestly, people who do that irritate me.

Poker Orifice · May 11, 2026

So this hand happened very shortly after I had responded on this thread. As you could guess, this guy's choice of screen name was appropriate (up to this point, he'd been a bit of a 'foker'). And actually even in this hand he thinks he's bein' a foker. What he doesn't realize is, while he thinks he's fokin' the other players over, he's actually about to get foked.

Of course I'm continuing with the set.
I turn quads & was about to fire again but didn't have to when foker chose to donk out into 2 players. (both called)

Foker jams the river for around a pot-sized bet.
"Did he really just do that?" (of course he did, he can't help himself).

Well... I'd just read this thread and thought to myself "The time is NOW!" "Seize the moment!" etc. etc. etc.
I let my clock run down til' just 2secs. left.

I have a feeling foker was sitting there in his livingroom, calling out "FOLD! FOLD! PLEASE FOLD!!!"

"Hmm... umm... I callzz!"

fundiver199 · May 11, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
I have a feeling foker was sitting there in his livingroom, calling out "FOLD! FOLD! PLEASE FOLD!!!"

Probably was since he was bluffing. You should have typed something in the chat like: "Really??? Did you just river a flush on me?" And then shortly before the clock ran out: "Ok I call". Personally I dont have the guts to slowroll online though. Even just the thought of losing my internet connection and having my quads folded scare the shit out of me...

Zorba · May 11, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
So this hand happened very shortly after I had responded on this thread. As you could guess, this guy's choice of screen name was appropriate (up to this point, he'd been a bit of a 'foker'). And actually even in this hand he thinks he's bein' a foker. What he doesn't realize is, while he thinks he's fokin' the other players over, he's actually about to get foked.

Of course I'm continuing with the set.
I turn quads & was about to fire again but didn't have to when foker chose to donk out into 2 players. (both called)

Foker jams the river for around a pot-sized bet.
"Did he really just do that?" (of course he did, he can't help himself).

Well... I'd just read this thread and thought to myself "The time is NOW!" "Seize the moment!" etc. etc. etc.
I let my clock run down til' just 2secs. left.

I have a feeling foker was sitting there in his livingroom, calling out "FOLD! FOLD! PLEASE FOLD!!!"

"Hmm... umm... I callzz!"

View attachment 408599

44 was my fave hand to play at Stars, nh. Many years ago I slow rolled @DaveE once in a CC game with 44 and turned quads.

It looks like his avatar may have been live after seeing your hand.

Poker Orifice · May 11, 2026

fundiver199 said:
Probably was since he was bluffing. You should have typed something in the chat like: "Really??? Did you just river a flush on me?" And then shortly before the clock ran out: "Ok I call". Personally I dont have the guts to slowroll online though. Even just the thought of losing my internet connection and having my quads folded scare the shit out of me...

That's why I called with 2secs. left... instead of just 1

Toruk Makto · May 11, 2026

I really think that's very important. It helps the player to better reason the hand and gives the opponent more credibility to believe that we have a good hand! I would like to play like this more often, but the anxiety doesn't stop!! 😜

Zorba · May 11, 2026

Toruk Makto said:
I really think that's very important. It helps the player to better reason the hand and gives the opponent more credibility to believe that we have a good hand! I would like to play like this more often, but the anxiety doesn't stop!! 😜

What you are describing is just slow playing, that is not slow rolling.

Roller · May 11, 2026

There’s a difference between using table presence strategically and just being disrespectful.
Poker has always had some performance element to it.
But slow-rolling someone when you already know you’ve got the winning hand.
That’s usually just bad etiquette.
It doesn’t give much strategic value and mostly creates bad atmosphere at the table.

hobojim1247 · May 12, 2026

Personally, I think slow rolling is disrespectful to the game and the other players because it is rarely necessary. BUT, if someone slow rolls an asshole who is being disrespectful to the game and other players, I will laugh when they slow rolled.

Jyco · May 12, 2026

Slowrolling is basically done to get paid, by making your opponents think you have a weaker hand than you actually do. Taking extra time can give off that impression.

But sometimes people slowroll unintentionally too, especially when they’re facing a very difficult decision and genuinely aren’t sure what to do.

WhiskeyFix · May 12, 2026

greasy way to play & a quick way to make the table dislike you lmao

fundiver199 · May 12, 2026

Jyco said:
Slowrolling is basically done to get paid, by making your opponents think you have a weaker hand than you actually do. Taking extra time can give off that impression.

Thats slowplaying not slowrolling.

Mario7 · May 13, 2026

The only reason I could potentially slowroll is when I have a decission to make or if there is any tactical issue involved. And I need to underline - I can imagine such possibility, that for anyone else my decision is "obvious" (because I am pot commited or I have the best possible hand in my range or whatever) - I might still require some thinking. In fact, for me it would not be slowrolling, but someone else could consider it slowrolling.

"Pure" slowrolling - delaying closing bet with nuts on purpose, just to make fun or "fun" - no, I wouldn't do it.

Goggelheimer · May 13, 2026

If you want to be remembered forever you can make this play.
It is is a toxic way of playing live poker.
And while it might feel tempting to use it against someone who behaves toxic themselves,
it usually drags you down to their level.
Avoid such toxic play.

chillibear · May 13, 2026

I think there is a time and place to slow-roll a hand but you really need to be dialed in for it to be effective. I'm of the belief that a premium pp should be raised to eliminate the donkeys. However if you're at a table for a while and really understand how your opponents are playing a slow-roll can sometimes net you a larger pot.

BrunoFabri01 · May 13, 2026

I only do this on specific occasions, when I have few big blinds and I'm on the bubble.

perrywh · May 14, 2026

Tilt the player or payback for him slow rolling you!

Are there good reasons to slow-roll your hand?

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