Showing your hand when you don't have to

[Fiery Jack]

I notice some players on line will happily show their hand when they win uncontested, even though they are not obliged to.

Usually its for one of 3 reasons

a) To show they had a strong hand
b) To advertise they bet with nothing and got away with it
c) They were in the BB and nobody completed the bet

I never show my hand under any of these circumstances, anyone think I ought to sometimes?

[Cpt Spaulding]

I do all the time... If I show a string of strong hands then that plants a seed in the others minds that I don't mess around and opens the door for bluffs....Then I will show one of my bluffs and that will confuse the other players on my cards...Always keep the same betting style though...If someone constantly mucks winning hands I feel they would be more likely to be called by a so so hand. If they have shown stronger hands in the past that might get the other to fold the iffy hands....Do what you are comfortable with. If not showing your hands works don't try to fix it...

[golFUR]

Unless it directly contradicts a certain image and playing style I think showing hands is a must.

So much of poker is about information, what you are able to pick up about the players at your table. Just as much though, and I believe a lot of 'younger' players neglect this, is how you are perceived (and how you can use that to your advantage). Showing hands is sometimes the best way to get some useful information out there.

The best examples of these are found in heads up play and the analogy most useful to me is Paper, Rock, Scissors. Granted, poker is a more complicated game, but the thinking is similar. You have a very limited number of options and the best plays are going to be made by the best informed of the players. The analogy only breaks down in that rock never outdraws paper...

If I build up an image of a tight aggressive player, if in the first 40 hands of a SnG I only show down big pairs or suited black jacks, very soon people come to expect those hands from me. If I keep the image going with a show every once in a while it ends up being rather easy to steal pots and to steal blinds later on.

If on the other hand, I bring in a speculative pocket in late position, say 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif T /images/graemlins/diamond.gif and hit with it... If I show this my 'image' is busted. Not to say I'll give up a pot, but I'll do my darndest to win without having to show it...

The simple 'advertising' play I've never much cared for. To raise big preflop with garbage and then to show... This only advertises one thing, that you hope to be called later, it fools very few people.

Good shows to me include:
Showing a monster laydown to induce bluffs later.
The 'goodwill' laydown wherein you confirm a good player's good fold, especially a chip leaders or the like.
The third in a string of blind steals in which you can't not raise but you just know the field isn't buying this many pockets.
And of course heads up... deserves its own forum...

[esknights]

Don't listen to these other guys. Never show your hands and you never give away any information.

[Cerril]

The only time I show my hand in a B&M setting is when it's folded to me on the big blind. Then I haven't played the hand so I'll just flip it over. The most I do otherwise is to tell people 'good laydown' on a fold or something. And that's only true some of the time.

Online I keep the 'don't show' buttons checked all the time so there's never a decision on that for me to make. There -is- value in advertising a play style now and then, especially a bluff, but you have to know your audience.

[stir]

Online they are either so inexperienced, or so clueless about giving away information, that the don't active the:
Muck any loser button

[rodeonut]

I almost never give away informaiton. If someone wants to see my hand then they can pay for it. Some players will start to pay you off just to see your hand. I think it is better to keep them in the dark with as little information as possible.

[Cpt Spaulding]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't listen to these other guys. Never show your hands and you never give away any information.

[/ QUOTE ]

Garbage....Giving away specific info to mislead others is very important. It is about just showing every hand..Strategically show hands. Make them think what you want them to think about you, so you now have more info on them by knowing what they know about you and your style of play. It is all about strategy and manipulation.

[Cpt Spaulding]

[ QUOTE ]
Online they are either so inexperienced, or so clueless about giving away information, that the don't active the:
Muck any loser button

[/ QUOTE ]

Then there are others who don't have the skills or experience to know how to use the muck any loser hand option...So they just muck them all...

[BusterStacks]

I rarely show unless I'm 1 or 2 seats from leaving the table and I push someone off a better hand.

[uw_madtown]

In a SNG tourney (the bulk of what I play) I'll show when it's getting down to 3-4 players and I'm in the BB and everyone folds. I haven't played the hand at all, so they aren't gaining any information on my play. So sometimes I'll unclick the Muck Losing/Uncalled Hands just to show an uncontested hand like that.

If I've played the hand at all, I won't show.

- UW

[felson]

If you show your hand when everyone folds to you, then you're not doing it for strategic reasons. Are you trying to be friendly?

[Fiery Jack]

Interesting to see mixed opinions on this. I'm still undecided...

How about this scenario:

You make an outrageous bluff with nothing. A guy with only an average hand makes the mistake of folding and you win quite a big pot.

Show your cards to him or not?

On the plus side:

- It may make the guy go on tilt.
- It may make him call more with worse hands.

On the minus side:

- He now knows you are capable of bluffing, you won't be able to make that move again
- It may make him play better, which isnt what you want

On balance I think to show your cards is bad here.

[Cpt Spaulding]

Like I said before strategically showing hands...Not everytime just when I want to show a monster hand...I don't show every hand just a select few.

[esknights]

[ QUOTE ]
Garbage....Giving away specific info to mislead others is very important. It is about just showing every hand..Strategically show hands. Make them think what you want them to think about you, so you now have more info on them by knowing what they know about you and your style of play. It is all about strategy and manipulation

[/ QUOTE ]

Good players know what you are attempting to do when you show hands and bad players just don't care or pay attention. Therefore I choose not to show hands.

[Cpt Spaulding]

Or you show...Couple hands later you have a great hand...He has a decent one...you follow your same betting pattern from the hand you mentioned. He might think you are bluffing once again and then you drop a monster on him...Really doing this all depends on the players at the table and the general mood and flow of the game...Hard to say exactly what I would do....

[Cpt Spaulding]

We all have our own style of play...If that works for ya...Go with it..Hope to see ya at a table one day and can put our theories to the test...

[Moozh]

I think you're mis-applying the reasoning behind your decision to show or not. At most levels, the only people who are going to be affected by your decision to show hands are the ones who can make good use of it. The people who are going to be susceptible to your 'trickery' are the ones who are so bad that you don't need to bother trying to fool them at all.

Depending on your opponent, two things may happen:

- You show a good player extra information that he is able to use against you.

- You show a bad player extra information that makes him play slightly worse against you.

As far as EV is concerned here, I feel this is very strongly a negative EV decision of yours. Most players I know who actually pay attention to cards that other people show know you're trying to do exactly what you say you're trying to do. By showing your hands it lets them get information about you that they would not have had otherwise.

Again, the only people who are going to be affected by your decision to show are the ones who will gain an advantage from it.

That said, I've shown my hand once and only once.

It was in the middle of a SNG against a player who had been raising almost every hand (he was immediately to my right). It was working well for him and he had built a respectable stack. In my small, he raised again and I immediately pushed. He folded and I showed trash. I showed to let him know that I'd be willing to play back at him. To be honest, I just wanted him to stay away from me so I could continue to play tight. It worked as he rarely rasied on my blinds after that, even folding his small to my big twice in a row after.

[DocMartin]

Showing only your good hands to create that 'tight' image really cant be fooling many people. What is to stop them from assuming all the hands they dont see are junk? You are actually giving them more information since they will know what percentage of your hands are good since they are the only ones you show.

[CarlSpackler]

I love it when other players show me their cards. At worst, it doesn't hurt me and I gain nothing from it. Most of the time, however, I will gain useful information (i.e. this player raised x amount pre-flop with this hand, he will attempt to steal the blinds when in late position, etc.) I never show my hand willingly, only during a showdown. The less information my opponents have about what and how I play, the better, especially online where the number or reliable tells is drastically reduced.

[CORed]

I will sometimes show in situation c (Folded to me in BB) when I have a really bad hand, in the hope that it will encourage opponents to play looser (I don't really have any evidence that it works). In this situation, I don't feel that I'm really giving away any useful information, because I didn't make any playing decisions. I rarely show an uncalled hand, or give truthful answer if asked what I had. I would just as soon not give away any information. I like to keep my opponents guessing.

[mrjim]

I completely agree with this line of thinking. Only the players smart enough to pay attention will notice and you won't be fooling them. There may be a very small number of players who pay attention to your cards, but don't put together what you're doing, but these players will be few and far between. I never show.

Not directed at the Cpt., but I feel most players who show do it to gloat, even if they claim it's for "strategic" purposes.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I sometimes show when I don't have to for reason a, to show a strong hand. I do this when I have been getting strong hands, and wish to reinforce the image that when I bet, I have a hand. It also has the appearance of making me a friendlier player, i.e. I won't bluff them, when I bet I "have it" etc etc. It can often set up a bluff shortly afterwords. Notice if you ALWAYS showed your strong hands tho, you'd make it too obvious when you bluffed and succeeded and and then suddenly didn't show, it would be almost the same as getting caught bluffing.

Showing your hand after you bet with nothing is simply dumb. Now you have set yourself up to not be nearly as likely to succeed in bluffing in the future. Rarely do you EVER need to do something Caro-esque like this in order to get action these days (tho it may have had some usefulness back in the days of draw poker, as Caro describes). Showing uncalled bluffs is always wrong in my book.

Reason C, nobody completing when you are in the blind, is also silly, but not particularly destructive to your bottom line.

Bottom line, if there is any doubt, don't show.

al

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
If you show your hand when everyone folds to you, then you're not doing it for strategic reasons. Are you trying to be friendly?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mostly. I try to be friendly online, although other than chat this is the extent of my "friendly" behavior. I figure there's no harm in showing an unplayed hand -- at most, like someone else stated, it may loosen up the table. Which I'm fine with.

- UW

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Just last night in a barroom SnG, I sit down to a table with a guy I've never played. Its like the third hand with stacks of 20K (I'm out of the hand). He limps in, then the flop comes rags with 2 clubs. He bets 5K, gets one caller. Turn is a waste, and he bets 5K again. On the river he hits his flush. I know this because he is intentionally holding his cards out where I can see them. He then checks, hoping I'd guess for the other guy to bet it. Other guy checks it through and the flush is good.

45 minutes later, I get 88 (and am seated to his left). Flop is Q-high with two hearts and he bets the same 5K. I call. The turn is a Jc, and he bets 5K again. The river is a ragged spade and he bets 5K once more. I call again, he mucks when I show my 88, and I push the table around for an hour or so with his chips before it's all over.

Had he not shown, I would have folded on the flop.

[LethalRose]

I usually play pretty tight and only bet when i have a good hand..sometimes while in the blinds I'll bluff at a pot that is checked to me, i do this so i get more calls against my monsters later on.

thoughts?