Showing cards

[Tboner7]

When is it good/bad to show your cards? I almost never show my cards when I don't have to.

[HopeydaFish]

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When is it good/bad to show your cards? I almost never show my cards when I don't have to.

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I very rarely show my cards, but when I do it's for a very good reason.

For instance, the other night at my home game I was the BB with 65o, the button and SB had limped in, I checked and saw the flop. The flop was 993 rainbow, everyone checked. The turn was an A. The SB checked (and he never slow-plays so I knew he had nothing), I looked up at the button and could tell he had nothing and was getting ready to check, so I bet. He folded right away, as did the SB. I showed them my 65o because I knew that the next time I bet, the guy who had been on the button (who's a very emotional type) would call me if I bet into him. I've played with him for years and know that he goes on tilt quite easily. From that point onwards I didn't try to bluff him -- I'd bet into him only if I had a hand, and he'd usually raise me with nothing, and I'd re-raise him and take down some pretty large pots. That little 3 bet steal with my 65o paid off many times over thanks to me showing him my bluff.

One other time that I used to show my cards, but don't anymore is what I suffer a bad beat online. When my AA gets beat by some fish who called my pre-flop raise with his 89o only to make his runner-runner str8, the natural inclination is to show my AA to the table to show everyone how I was victimized. However, I've come to realize two things over the years: Nobody cares about your bad-beat, and showing my AA (or AK or AQ or whatever) is giving my opponents extra information about my betting patterns that they didn't pay to receive. Giving away information for free is definitel -EV.

[Mez]

I show in tournament play when I want people to think I'm tigher than I am. Or sometimes the opposite and show a bluff. But I think that you should avoid showing your cards in most instances. Either way, you're trying to decieve your opponent.

[PokrLikeItsProse]

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When is it good/bad to show your cards? I almost never show my cards when I don't have to.

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Showing cards is good if you know how it will affect your opponents and how you can take advantage of it. This requires you to have an idea of how your opponents think.

Showing cards is bad when you don't know how it will affect your opponent or when it will adversely affect you, such as when showing a bluff motivates an opponent to play better against you.

If you think you understand how other players think at the table and can affect that, then by all means try it. You should be able to tell if it is working amd whether or not you need to stop.

[Bluffoon]

I think it is a bad idea to show your cards and I never ever do. You have to pay to see 'em. And if someone asks me what I had I always tell them AA. Even if there are three on the board.

I love when my opponents show me their hands. This is information that I often would be willing to pay for and they are giving it away for free. Also their strategy is usually ridiculously transparent. Someone showing me a bluff is going to encourage me to call with their legit hands. Someone showing me their strong hands is soon going to try to bluff me. I don't play any higher than 5/10, so maybe better opponents will not be so transparent but I haven't run into them yet.

[johnc]

The only time I've shown my hand when I didn't have to was when I had 64o in the big blind, I limped & flopped 735 rainbow. I bet, two others called me on the flop & turn bets & folded to my bet on the river. Not much else I could have done. I showed my 64o just to "justify" my betting. Looking back it was not really neccessary and one guy gave me a dirty look because I don't think he saw the straight when I flipped over my 64o and thought I bluffed! I make it a point now to never show because the players who care will use that info against you and the idiots don't have a clue anyways.

[EarlCat]

I've always thought of showing cards as a way to create table image--show your bad cards when you want to look reckless and show your good cards when you want to look tight.

I made a mistake last night, though, in a sit 'n go. I caught some really good hands right away and was a big chip leader. Most of these went to showdown and everyone saw that I was playing monsters. For about the next half hour the whole table would fold to just about anything I raised. Then I made the mistake of showing an AK suited. What I believe this did (since I only felt compelled to show them this one, but not the 20 previous) was indicate that I had been raising hands that really weren't that good. After that, I started getting called almost every time I raised, and this led to several hands that I had to let go.

I think from now on my cards are my business.

[KingDan]

If I'm playing weak players, I wll show. I doubt they will be able to use it against me, anyway. This usually is enough to encourage them to show me their cards later.

[EarlCat]

Good point. These weren't weak players though.

[Pinga]

I am a novice so you may wish to discount my opinion appropriately.

I have never heard anyone suggest showing your cards every hand. For sake of argument let's say that that exposing 100% of your betting/bluffing strategy is so harmful that this is a very poor choice.

People do argue that never showing is the right thing to do. Hiding as much of your betting/bluffing strategy as you can sounds logical.

The question is, are there times when it is worth exposing your strategy to gain an edge? I think so, but it's hard to quantify.

You may not need to expose much. Is anyone going to be shocked that you raised KK and bet bet bet? No. Are there times when showing that KK may make people change their play towards you? Yes. Can you predict that change and take advantage of it? Oh, boy, that's the tough one.

Like other poker moves, you need to think on multiple levels and evaluate the opposition. A nonthinking opponent will likely take your show for exactly what it was. Show him a bluff and he'll probably call you. Show big cards and you will make him nervous.

A thinking opponent may go right to the opposite, and you should think about this.

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Also their strategy is usually ridiculously transparent. Someone showing me a bluff is going to encourage me to call with their legit hands. Someone showing me their strong hands is soon going to try to bluff me.

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Exactly the thought process I'm hoping for! For the thinking opponent we may wish to show a bluff when we want to bluff more and show big hands when we want calls. Sounds like this is what happened to Earl.

Some thinking opponents will start to respect your bets more if you show them a good hand after they make a tough fold. Depends on the person and timing.

On a mixed table, showing your cards might induce two of the players to do one thing and two more to do another. How you handle future hands should depend on who is in and what sort of hand you have. It's not simple. You may have created a good time to bluff someone or slow play a big hand. You may have just shown your cards for nothing.

People talk about creating table image as if all the players at the table hold the same opinion of you. This is not true! A novice might be sitting there scared of you while someone experienced is laughing at your clumsy moves. If you aware of both of these opinions you are the one with the advantage.

I find showing cards is more useful in NL, when that one moment of advantage can turn into a whole stack. It's hard to get too much change out of people on the limit table. If someone decides you are a complete bluffer, though, you can get calls for a while even when you tighten up.

Sometimes I like to go on Brown Thumb forays and take my low limit profits and mess around on the higher limit tables. I am usually partying and having fun; expecting to lose. This has led to some funny card showing experiments.

* I come onto a table of sharks. I'm out of my league and I know it will show before too long. So I take the initiative. I tell everyone, "I'm just learning you guys are going to take my money". Every time I do something stupid/weak I show it to them. Six out of nine opponents start playing differently (incorrectly). The best way to make a good player play poorly is to drop a little fishy in front of him. The feeding frenzy can be quite entertaining and occasionally profitable.

* I enter a new table and show every single time I can. Bluff, one pair, full house, whatever. Show them all. The three weakest players at the table also start showing all of their cards. I thought this was really funny, and I think the good players at the table did as well. Sometimes the better players will start showing as well.

* I was on a winning streak on a table and one guy starts talking about how I was bluffing everyone out of their money. I told him I never lie. Then I proceeded to play serious ABC poker and show the table every single hand. Flopped a K, bet a K. Flopped 5 8, had a 58. Flopped two hearts, had Ax hearts. After a while I asked if he was ready to believe me. He was. So was the rest of the table. It took a long time for anyone to call my bluff.

In my opinion it is occasionally useful to show your cards. It is most useful when you feel a need to change something about the table conditions.

Why show your cards if all is well and you are winning? If everyone is folding, good. Keep betting. If everyone is calling, you're probably showing enough cards anyway.

Showing is more effective when used in combination with table chat. A good comment to go with the play can get all sorts of reactions.

Somehow this turned into an endless ramble. Sorry!

Best,
Pinga

[Bluffoon]

"On a mixed table, showing your cards might induce two of the players to do one thing and two more to do another. How you handle future hands should depend on who is in and what sort of hand you have. It's not simple. You may have created a good time to bluff someone or slow play a big hand. You may have just shown your cards for nothing."

Good luck figuring all this out and developing an effective strategy. I still say that you are giving away a lot of valuable information and I am betting (pun intended) that in the end you are going to only outsmart yourself.

[JRegs]

Sometimes I'll show cards if it will get my opponents to show me their cards in return (this hand or a later hand).

For example, I might show AK if it was obvious I had two overcards, and I hit the ace on the turn. A few hands later, my opponent will usually be more likely to tell me what he/she just played if I ask. In other words, I like to give a little if I feel I can get a lot in return.

[Reef]

unless you play medium/high stakes and use it for advertising- don't

[Triumph36]

Online - I have almost never shown. One time I did (on UB, where I can show and fold), folding top two on the flop to a check-raise. The guy showed the nut straight; I have no idea why he showed that he got outplayed. But no, showing is a bad idea online.

Live, I'll show more often when I don't get a caller, especially if everyone else is showing. Really, I'm not giving people much information, all I'm doing is keeping the game friendly and trying to make believe I'm one of them. I don't think I'd be doing this if I were a limit player, as value betting is so incredibly important.

[EarlCat]

A friend of mine today reminded me of that winner-take-all invitational tournament where Annie Duke put out Phil Helmuth to win. On one hand they both held top pair with kings, but Annie had two pair with K9. Helmuth was already having a bad streak and was getting frustrated. She got him to fold and when he did he showed his king. She showed him just the nine. Classic.