In 2015, Steve Harvey pronounced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, the new Miss Universe. She was crowned, and the Miss Universe sash draped over her shoulders, only for Harvey to realize moments later that he had announced the wrong winner. The crown was returned and placed on the head of the actual winner, Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. Imagine how Miss Colombia must have felt, and you’ll have an idea of how it feels to get slow-rolled when you play poker online. Take a closer look at this disagreeable phenomenon.

Poker Slow Rolling Defined

What is slow rolling in poker? Imagine you’re railing the final game of a hotly contested poker tournament. It’s a showdown between two players in the final hand, and there’s no more betting left. The player with the obvious nuts intentionally takes their time to make a decision, essentially giving their opponent false hope of clinching the pot. Then, the slow roller dashes their opponent’s hopes by revealing a monster hand. In poker terminology, this is a slow roll, meaning you rub your opponent’s face in it.

Slow rolling in poker goes against all general poker etiquette. These are the unwritten rules of courtesy between players, covering fair play, keeping the game moving, and what to do when you accidentally see an opponent’s cards. These are not hard and fast poker rules and will not get you banned or penalized for breaking them, but they help to create a pleasant playing environment for everyone. 

Many rules of poker etiquette don’t apply to online poker. For example, there is no chance of anyone seeing another player’s cards before it’s shown intentionally or at showdown. Also, things like a slow internet connection can cause lagging, slow the game down, and can frustrate certain players. Still, online, this behavior is tolerated to a certain degree, since there is no malicious intent behind it. However, it’s still a good idea to adhere to the type of behavior that makes the game enjoyable for all players.

Is Slow Rolling Bad?

Slow playing, taking your time before acting with the nuts, fast playing, aggressive streaks — these are all plays to put your opponent off balance. Acting and delaying plays as if you are on draws while you might have a full house or similar type of nuts are accepted and expected plays. These are all fine when the betting is still going, everyone has chips left, and everyone has yet to see the river. Getting to steal pots from under an opponent’s nose with style and showing off your superior skills in this way can put a player on tilt. This is a good thing.

The difference between this type of playing and getting a player to tilt by slow rolling is that when there are no bets left, you’re on the river, and all that’s left is to show your hand, but delaying things with full knowledge that you have the nuts, accomplishes nothing but leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Yes, a player might get rattled and fume at your tricks. The slow roll might even get them to tilt on future hands — but the difference is that it was done in the most underhanded way.

In short, the main reason why slow rolling is a problem is that with this type of play, you will, without a doubt, ultimately alienate yourself as a disagreeable player that no one wants to be seated with, and just as bad, unnecessarily slow the game down for all the players at the table. No one likes a show-off. And worse, a show-off with no respect for anyone.

Some Classic Slow Rolls

In a session for Poker Night in America, Shaun Deeb was up against Mike Matusow. Matusow held pocket jacks, and Deeb called with pocket 5s in the button. The flop comes and has Deeb with quad 5s. Matusow check-bets into the flop, with Deeb only calling. On the turn Matusow, thinking his pocket jacks good enough, goes all in. It’s all fair play up to this point, but then Deeb slow rolls by taking a good pause, letting Matusow think that pocket jacks are the nuts and giving him false hope before showing his pocket 5s, leaving everyone at the table, not least Matusow, upset.

An example of a slow-rolled opponent getting their revenge came at the final table of the 2016 Irish Open with Andreas Gann up against Donnacha O’Dea. Gann flat calls O’Dea’s preflop bet with king-queen suited. Gann flops the nut flush, and O’Dea a two-pair (ace-6.) Gann checks, and O’Dea bets enough to put Gann all in. Gann takes his time to act with his nut flush, making as if the decision is a difficult one, all while holding the nuts at that point. He calls eventually, but with O’Dea still having a one-in-five chance of winning with a full house. Another 6 comes on the river, which eliminates Gann for a satisfying finish.

Roll With Premium Poker at Borgata Online

Brush up on your poker etiquette and start playing the best poker on the internet at Borgata Online. Register to join in cash games and take part in online poker tournaments on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. A bonus of signing up is that you also get to explore a broad range of online casino games, including slots and classic table games with live dealer variations. Let it roll at Borgata Online.