What Is Slow Roll in Poker?

Slow roll poker happens at showdown when a player with a strong or unbeatable hand stalls before revealing it, even though all betting is finished. 

The winner delays turning their cards face up, sometimes with fake hesitation or speech, and leaves an opponent hanging on a result that is already decided. 

Most rooms see this as bad etiquette rather than a technical rules breach, because it slows the game and can come across as bad sportsmanship.

Slow roll poker meaning usually starts with intent. A “true” slow roll happens when a player knows they have a strong or unbeatable hand, stalls on purpose, then shows it after letting an opponent believe they might be ahead. 

Some spots still confuse people, especially when action is multi-way or the board is paired and tricky. A player can look slow rolled simply because they are double-checking the board or counting the pot.

Typical slow roll style showdowns include:

There are two main explanations for why slow rolling is viewed as bad: it drags on the hand and it is widely seen as disrespectful to the player who loses the pot. Showdowns already take longer than preflop folds or quick continuation bets, so any extra pause with a clear winner stretches out the wait to lose. In a nine-handed cash game that averages around 25 to 30 hands per hour at low and mid stakes, three or four extra 10–15 second stalls each orbit can shave multiple hands off the hourly rate over a long session.

Slow rolls also clash with how dealers and floors want a table to run. Dealers are trained to pull bets, build the pot, and get the next hand started with as little dead time as possible.

Poker slow rolling is not the same thing as a long “Hollywood” tank or regular slow play for value. A slow roll targets the showdown moment, where the decision is already over. 

Hollywood tanks happen during the hand, when a player uses up their clock with a strong hand, sometimes for show, sometimes to disguise their range. Standard slow play keeps the action going, for example by flat-calling with a set on a safe board. Many major tournaments now use a shot clock. 

If you’re playing at online or live platforms, they often have built-in tools that reduce classic slow rolled showdowns. Auto-muck settings, fixed action timers, and automatic reveal on all-ins mean players rarely control the exact moment their cards appear once the last bet is called.

Live streams have turned poker slow rolling into a public incident instead of a private annoyance. 

One of the most watched recent examples came from Hustler Casino Live in Los Angeles, where a controversial slow roll happened in a pot worth around $186,000. The hand and the delay were replayed across social media, and the reaction focused less on the strategy and more on whether the winner had crossed a sportsmanship line.

High-profile tournament series see the same dynamic. In September 2024, Daniel Negreanu was slow rolled and eliminated from the $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event, a tournament carrying a $25 million guaranteed prize pool. The call with pocket kings came after a noticeable tank, and the subsequent flush on the river turned the moment into instant content for hundreds of thousands of viewers.

In another widely discussed high-stakes tournament, during the PokerStars EPT Malta Main Event in October 2025, a player revealed quads near the bubble in a way that many observers read as deliberate showmanship.

Formal rulebooks rarely mention “slow roll poker” directly. Instead, they frame it as an etiquette or “ethical play” issue and rely on timing tools, general conduct rules, and floor discretion. The table below shows how different environments handle slow rolling and deliberate stalling in 2024–2025.

The 2024 Poker Tournament Directors Association rules list “play in a timely manner” and “practice proper etiquette” as player responsibilities, which gives floors broad room to treat repeated slow rolling as an etiquette issue when it harms pace of play.

Exact penalties vary by the type of the poker room, event and house policy, but all these environments give floors or support teams broad discretion to protect game flow and table atmosphere.

Many disputes vanish if everyone treats showdown as a simple, quick reveal. 

The goal is not perfection; the goal is to avoid patterns that look like stalling with a hand that already has an opponent crushed. A clear personal routine helps, so other players know what to expect every time you reach showdown:

When someone complains about a “slow roll” in online poker, the issue usually comes from how long an opponent took to call with a strong hand rather than from the reveal itself. In most regulated clients, once an all-in bet is called, the reveal sequence is automatic, so etiquette debates tend to focus on tanking before a call rather than on manual delay at showdown.

Showdowns run smoother when players treat the reveal as a routine, not a performance. A steady rhythm, fast enough to respect the rest of the table, helps cash games and tournaments move along without tension. Straightforward showdowns build a reputation for fairness, which carries from local rooms to streamed events and online lobbies.

In games that rely on trust and clear action, reducing slow rolling and keeping decisions honest protects both time and atmosphere. Over enough sessions, players who show their hands promptly and act with steady tempo tend to be welcomed in more lineups, invited into more private games, and remembered for their conduct rather than a single painful hand.

If poker or any kind of gambling stops being fun or starts to feel out of control, contact the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-GAMBLER.