Hi!
I was accused of slow-rolling the other day at a friendly game that I had joined for the first time. I knew one guy from the bunch and he invited me to game he frequented with his friends. Everyone else was nice though and I always try to be. I do, however, take my sweet time on some bets and calls sometimes, especially with new people, not just to make the decision in front of me, but to maybe pick up a tell or something as well.

Anyway, in this particular hand, We had played down to 5-handed with me second of third in chips. I woke up to A-4 suited from UTG and min-raised. Got re-raised by the chip leader, and I should've folded maybe but I said wth and called. Flop comes 2-3-5 rainbow, I raise half the pot (which was 10BB) and chip leader makes another raise. At this point I should be insta-calling or even going all in, but the chip leader was loose and bluffed a lot up to this point, and somehow I couldn't shake the feeling that, He knows I may have the straight, and he's got 4-6 suited or something that he was hoping to 4-bet pre-flop and collect the pot there since I min-raised (I was also loosening up, obviously, so he would've been right to assume that my hand wasn't brilliant) and suddenly he's got a 6-high straight. After thinking for a considerable amount of time, I decided to just call and he had Pocket deuces So I won. He accused me of slow-rolling him and hollywooding, which I honestly am not a good enough poker player to do. Also, I had no incentive to hollywood because I wasn't gonna go all-in against the chip leader without the absolute nuts (maybe I'm crazy but not the point of this post) as there were two very short stacks left and I wanted to at least end up in the money (first 3 players) and I tried to explain all this. Anyway, when it turned out that he had pocket deuces it did occur to me that it can totally look like a slow-roll from his POV, but that wasn't my intention, nor it ever was to slow-roll anybody. I was honestly genuinely considering the fact that he may have 4-6.

What do you think? Was this a slow-roll? Should I have insta-called with 5-high straight and no possibility of flush? Was it ridiculous to think a pre-flop 4-better to have 4-6?

Thanks for reading and for your responses in advance.

I'm confused, you say you were thinking of going all in but just called on the flop. What happened on the turn and river? Were you all in? A slowroll happens when you're completely sure you have the best hand and prolong things just to rub it in, so this wasn't the case. I'd call it a nitroll instead, where you took an unreasonable amount of time on a decision that was a lot easier than you made it out to be. While a set is a bit surprising, a reraiser could easily have an overpair here. I'd feel very confident about a straight and happily stack off. Always be wary of putting an opponent on a single hand instead of a range.

Haha sorry I guess I totally left the turn and river part of the hand out, but it went check check check check. I think we ultimately shared the desire to not go into too big of a pot and end up in the money, but anyhow, once I took about 3 minutes on the flop everybody was quite timid.

You say that the decision was a lot easier than I made it out, but I also was thinking of the turn and river (not when I was writing this post I guess though). Would you insta-call or go all-in at that flop? I do admit that I may be slow at times, but I still maintain that some thought could've been given to that hand.

Not getting all-in there is really, really bad. Maybe not on the flop but on the river at the latest. But that's not what you asked about.

You can't slowroll on the flop unless the other guy goes all-in. With action left, it's never a slowroll.

That said, even if it was all-in, your play is what people call a nit-roll. That's a situation where you are supposed to insta-call but don't because you are a huge nit or so new to the game that you don't know about the stength of your hand.

4 bet the flop next time..... except we have not idea the stack sizes other than villain has more than you. Do you have 40 BB, 140BB or 250BB ?

Re-raise to see where you stand!

He was upset he lost and that you took a long time to make what he thought was an easy decision.

Slow rolling is when you don't show in turn and take a long time.

Some people call it slow rolling when they're first to show and you wait for them. They're WRONG!

I'm not sure what was going on there, but it wasn't a slow roll.

That guy should be overjoyed! You didn't do anything wrong, to most people it would be apparent you are new to the game. His reaction suggests he's not gonna be the brightest of players and as you get better I imagine he is gonna be a big target (spot) in the game for you.

I don't want to sound offensive here but when you play a hand that badly you really cannot do anything wrong etiquette wise imo.

1. If action was on the flop, it wasn't a slow roll. It should have been a slow play to induce action, but you somehow decided that checking turn and river was appropriate, so it wasn't even a slow play.
2. That part about taking extra time to induce a tell. Yeah, that is why he made a comment to you. Stop doing that. It is obnoxious
3. I know this isn't a strat board, but seriously, you flop the second nuts, and you play it passively because you think villain 3-bet pre with 46? He flopped a set on a low board, and you flopped the straight, there is no excuse for not stacking him. Yes, sometimes you lose with very good hands, but if you are too scared to bet with the second nuts in this situation, you probably should consider taking a break from poker, as you are leaking tons of money. Would you have called if he shoved the turn?

Agree with this. You hit the lotto and let your ticket expire! While, some concern about cashing is good thinking, there also should be thought about trying to win it all.

No slow roll here. However, the lesson outside of hand valuation, is not to worry about other players' emotions too much. I would say don't worry about them at all in a cardroom, but in a home game where there are non-poker relationships, I can see why you want to ensure you were respectful. In this case, it's his issue. No need for you to be concerned.

Is this supposed to be a somewhat hidden troll attempt?

4bet (instead of 3bet) pre, raise the flop (bet), thinking a random fish has 64 when it's 3bet and checking it down to the river with the second nuts.

If I were at the table I would accuse you of totally soft playing, not slow rolling.

almost always with A4 on 532 board you should be willing to stack off. what you did was not a 'slowroll'. it was a 'nitroll' and it's perfectly fine.

I'd just tell him "I'll make sure to let you know I have a really good hand by snap calling you next time ok?"