A completely useless hypothetical question...

Ok, so my friend and I were just goofin around, talkin about poker the other day, when this question arose:


If you could choose between the ability to either


a) See all your opponent's hole cards, or

b) At preflop, being able to see the eventual final board


Which would you prefer?


I went with b), because you would know exactly what cards would win, and if you had, say AA, and you knew the board was gonna be, 89TJQ, you probably aren't gonna win that, so you might even muck it preflop and save yourself a few bucks... on the other hand my friend preferred a), because you'd be 100% accurate on bluff attempts and the like.... What do you guys think?

A) of course.


In this way you'll eventually know all the cards. With B you still don't know if you have the best hand.

Interesting quesion. I don't know. I was leaning on seeing everybody cards. But on the other hand I could would show a profit from hands i would never play like 2,3 off. If I know its gonna make a straight i'm gonna pond it all the way. So I think I would make more with knowing the borad because I couls play more hands. And put more money in the pot.


If you just know what they're holding it doesn't mean your gonna win with garbage and still have to throw alot of hands away. You still have to muck garbage hands preflop because they still won't beat better hands in the long run. Although they are worth more when you know what everybody has. Hehe. I would take either one.

With AA-like-hand I prefer seeing the hands.


With 87s-like-hand I would like to see the board.


My decision is based on the reverse/implied-odds-koncept.


Maybe we should also discriminate between short-handed play and multi-way-action ?

I guess, B should make you a *lot* more, as you can start building the pot for your runner-runner draws right from the start. Also, it will allow you to play more hands in the first place.


cu


Ignatius

Sooga -


As you may or may not know, Holdem is a game that rewards aggressiveness. With either "A" or "2", you will still need to be able to


1.) have the ability to make draws pay


B.) Have the ability to have some sort of hand reading skills (for B) or Pot-Odds calculating-ability (for A).


If somebody were to offer you the skill of either "a" or "b", you should definitely reraise.


Worm

This is actually quite a good question. My initial reaction was B but now I'm not so sure and want to think about it.

I would *guess* (b). You will always profit when you have the nuts, and you can just try to build a pot. When you make a non-nut hand, there will be many times you can judge it is best with high enough probability to be profitable. Other times you could try to get a possible better hand to fold. For example, if you would make runner-runner small flush, and fear it could be beat, then play to get a possble better hand out.


At PL or NL I would say (a).


Dirk(MildManneredMathMan)

well, according to TOP, whenever your opponent plays differently than they would if they could see your cards, and vice versa. i think in the long run id rather know my opponents hole cards. i could determine where they are playing at in their 'bandwidth' (see tommy's earlier post). i could determine their playing styles, habits and patterns much better, while i am in a hand, and while i am not in the hand. this would allow me to take advantage of the times i have to decide whether to raise with players behind me or just call to bring the rest in. it will help to know when i am drawing dead. it will help to know which players i can bluff off their bottom pair with a measly AK. it will help to know who is going to be too aggressive with their straight when i have a flush. the list goes on.

I would say (A), because the opportunities to make huge hands by knowing the board are a lot less frequent than the opportunities to make your opponents make mistakes if you know exactly what they hold. I'm positive I would make more money with this knowledge.


Of course, this is a lot like asking the question, "Would you rather have your toes sucked by Jennifer Love Hewitt or your fingers sucked by Denise Richards?" (Unless, of course, you're a heterosexual female, but what are the chances of that?)

id rather have denise richards and britney spears take turns sucking my.... never mind...