Fallenglory
Rock Star
Platinum Level
I once was in the bubble of the tournament with me being the shortest stack. Actually using up my timebank is +EV was this spot because it maximises my chance of getting ITM. The chance of me needing it later is almost none existant.
In this case I had to go all in regardless with
because my hand was to good to pass up.
In this case I had to go all in regardless with
because my hand was to good to pass up.
janwar
Enthusiast
Silver Level
I think it depends on the situation. If someone is using their timebank in a tough spot, that’s fair poker is a thinking game after all. But when players do it every single hand just to stall, it feels more like shooting than strategy. some people justify it as clever, near the bubble when stalling can help ladder up, but in the long run it just annoys the table and slows down the game for everyone. Personally, I rather use my timebank when a decision actually matters.
Mig32
Rock Star
Platinum Level
I think it really depends on the situation. Usually, wasting the timebank just to stall and wait for others to bust isn’t the best approach, because in the long run it slows down your own momentum and can even make you a target at the table. That said, there are moments when it makes sense — for example, on a satellite bubble or very close to a big pay jump, where every elimination directly increases your equity. In those spots, stalling a little can be a smart strategic move. But in most regular tournaments, it’s better to stay focused on playing good poker and building chips instead of relying on timebanking as a survival tactic.
G
GrannySmit77
Rock Star
Platinum Level
Sometimes around the bubble people play slower. The small stacks want to squeak in the money, the big stacks want to let the small stacks bust. And everyone wants to avoid running KK into AA or AK into AA. And that happens more often that you think. So basically everyone wants to avoid a bad beat and avoid variance, which is understandable. It happens in live tournaments also. Expect that to happen and you won't be disappointed. Also listen to some good music so that you don't get tilted.
rhoudini
Visionary
Platinum Level
If you're burning your time bank while still far from the money, you're basically torching your edge (assuming you have an edge). In turbo or hyper formats especially, the number of hands you see directly impacts your chances to catch a playable spot before you're blinded out. Slowing the game down with 200 left in a 50-ticket freeroll is just poor EV. If you play more hands, you have more chances to double. You’re not buying time, you’re buying your own elimination
DarkSage
Rock Star
Platinum Level
Bro, for sure! Depending on the moments you delay to make a decision, even if you already know what to do, you can create a lot of doubts and insecurity on your opponents. If you do it in the right spots you can cause your opponent to bet less than they should into their nut hands or even check it when they normally wouldn't, or you can also make them shove bad hands into your nuts by making them to think that you're hesitating or insecure to call.
For example, if the flop comes 9-9-J, your oponent has an J-10. You have a KQ and want to see the turn to try and hit an overpair/straight:
Its only natural to wonder: "What hand made he spend all this time thinking? Should be an easy check right? Unless..."
And that "unless" might not be enough to scare the villan, but many times it is.
He might actually start to think that you could have a 9, was tempted to bet on flop, but decided to make a slow play.
Anyways, you get the picture, there's a lot of possibilities to play, but its more useful in scary boards with triples, straights and flush, specially if you know the villain didn't hit it.
You can also try to use this when you want to see the rest of the board without paying huge bets, it tends to discourage the villain aggression.
You just got make sure you're not the one being slow played. kkk
Of course delaying won't change you cards, but might truly change the way the board goes down sometimes.
One last thing, you can't be doing that everytime as you might imagine, be selective.
The delay must be a change from your normal pattern to have meaning.
For example, if the flop comes 9-9-J, your oponent has an J-10. You have a KQ and want to see the turn to try and hit an overpair/straight:
- If you just check, he'll likeliy assume you have nothing and will probably bet for value or bet the pot to fold you and protect his J.
- However, if you actually wait untill your clock almost run out and then check, that suddenly brings a lot of doubts with it.
Its only natural to wonder: "What hand made he spend all this time thinking? Should be an easy check right? Unless..."
And that "unless" might not be enough to scare the villan, but many times it is.
He might actually start to think that you could have a 9, was tempted to bet on flop, but decided to make a slow play.
- When it gets to the turn, if nothing changes and he decides to bet, you might tri-bet to make him even more scared and "confirm" your fake set of triples(not recommended for most times, but sometimes a 2x tribet can do the job).
- If he checks again on the turn you might make a real small bet to make him think you're increasing the pot to hammer the river.(this option is preferred of course because you risk less money and the effect is real, I've made people fold many times doing this).
Anyways, you get the picture, there's a lot of possibilities to play, but its more useful in scary boards with triples, straights and flush, specially if you know the villain didn't hit it.
You can also try to use this when you want to see the rest of the board without paying huge bets, it tends to discourage the villain aggression.
You just got make sure you're not the one being slow played. kkk
Of course delaying won't change you cards, but might truly change the way the board goes down sometimes.
One last thing, you can't be doing that everytime as you might imagine, be selective.
The delay must be a change from your normal pattern to have meaning.
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A
anbu210
Enthusiast
Silver Level
yes when you are close to bubble ...say if there were 300 entries and 47 gets paid.... if your current rank is around 38-55 and 55 left in the field then you wanted to get into ITM...you can slow play.... No point in slow playing if you are higher rank... similarly in Satellite you can slow play near bubble for ticket
