A slow-roll in poker is when a player with a surprise winning hand takes his time showing it, allowing his opponent to think he's won for a few seconds before showing that he hasn't. It's not illegal, but it's tantamount to a baseball player standing at home plate to admire a towering home run or an over-exuberant end-zone celebration in football.
When the 9 fell on the river, it made a pair for Huck and a winner out of a hand that he should have lost. It was a lucky result and Huck felt obliged to apologize for it, which accounts for the "rambling." But it apparently dawned on him that he might have also been slow in showing his winner, so he wanted to make sure that Vanessa knew that any appearance of a slow-roll was unintentional.
For her part, Vanessa was so obviously rocked by the result that it took her a second to respond in the negative regarding the slow-roll. She was shaken, but not angry.
There's a great story on Seed ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Seed") in "The Man With the $100,000 Breasts." The hard-cover edition of this Michael Konik classic that was named one of the "Best Five Gambling Books Ever" by the Wall Street Journal is one of our "Bargain Bin" specials for just $5 (formerly $24.95) click here.
