Phil Gordon:  Entrepreneur, Poker Player, Author, Philanthropist
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Slow Play

3/11/2014

3 Comments

 
There are a bunch of conversations going on in the poker world regarding excessively slow play.  My buddy Matt Savage recently circulated a survey at a big tournament asking if players wanted a "Shot Clock" -- 30 seconds or so to make your decision or your hand is dead.  80% supported it.

I hate slow play.  On the bubble in a tournament, the action grinds to a halt as some players take way too much time in obvious situations.

I like the shot clock, but I fear that it could alienate many novice players.  And, what if you really do have a tough problem and need a little extra time?

So, here are two proposals:

1) Clock + 3 Extensions
30 second shot clock, and 3 "Extension Chips" that give a player up to a 2 minute extension for use at any time in the tournament.  When a special situation occurs that requires  some extra time, the players says "Extension" and throws an Extension Chip to the dealer, effectively buying the extra time.

Extension Extension:  Sell the Extension Chips for 1% of the entry fee, with all fees added to the prize pool.  Players would have to buy the chips when they registering for the tournament.

And, another more off the wall proposal...

2) Expose cards
If a player takes more than 30 seconds to act and then folds, the hand is exposed at the end of the hand.  This "penalty" of giving up extra information could be just enough of a deterrent.  It should also be effective in eliminating some of the more egregious stalling tactics employed by some players -- the T4-offsuit stall from early position on the bubble, for instance.


Anyone else have an idea to share?

Phil
3 Comments
Mark K
3/11/2014 03:41:19 am

I love the idea of having a players hand revealed. My only issue with that is it allows sophisticated player to gain information about the other players hands by the process of card removal. Other than that, it would certainly eliminate tanking with a 7 2 pre flop.

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Faith Klimczak
3/24/2014 12:26:30 pm

I applaud your creativity with exposing the cards, however, I'm not sure it will deter without an actual penalty. Stallers will be stallers & for many just min cashing is a huge victory...

What about extending hand-for-hand to 5 or 6 from the bubble? Yes hand-for-hand takes lots of time but when that close to the bubble some tables are inevitability playing very slow regardless. Just a thought.

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Bas link
8/4/2014 08:15:15 pm

I agree slowplay is really annoying and totally useless in poker. However, it is difficult to act against it, especially online. Not a bad idea to introduce a shot clock!

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