To show or not to show?

[sahala]

I apologize if this has been discussed already (this is my first post -- I usually just eavesdrop). I couldn't find anything in the search.

Is there any reason to show cards when you win with an uncalled bet? I generally have a rule of not showing, but I've heard that showing the cards (whether premium hands or junk) has some strategic value. In particular, how is showing your cards helpful when stealing blinds in a SNG?

For some context, I've played about 6300 hands and 128 SNGs...newcomer. My ROI is about 25% and I'm trying to work on my blind stealing at later stages. My stats are showing that I'm playing a little too tight.

Thanks in advance. If this has been discussed let me know and I'll search the forum a little better.

[spentrent]

In a quick SNG I don't see any value in showing cards. If I'm playing a NL ring game with a group for a number of hours, I'll show cards every once in a while for fun.

I show cards because I want to be called by a player who is so bad that he will call a monster bet now because I made a monster bet 30 minutes ago and flipped over 72o. Or maybe I overplayed top pair and I want the bad player -- who thinks he's tricky and makes lots of "realizations" -- to think I always overplay top pair.

Not enough hands IMO in an SNG to fool around. It just slows down the game for me. Besides, it only works to bait bad players. A good player won't be manipulated by cutesy card capers.

I like Caro's insanity tips for draw poker in Super System. The goal is quite clear: get called more when you bet with the best hand. Caution, only works with bad players.