Showing cards to a neighbor

[andyfox]

mike l. posted a hand on the mid-stakes forum where a player showed his cards, after calling a raise, and that player ended up having pocket aces. mike felt he should have known this because of the fact that the player showed her cards to a neighbor.

My experience has been that when a player shows his/her cards to a sweater, especially a spouse or boy/girl friend, they usually have close to a monster. As if to say, "look, I'm investing our money only on this big hand." But when showing to a neighbor, it's usually a more speculative hand, either a smaller pocket pair or A-xs or A-Q something like that, as if to say, "look, I'm calling this raise with a pretty good hand, watch the play with me to see how good/bad I'm running and how well I play this."

Any thoughts?

[Kenshin]

Caro offers a similar analysis in his Book of Poker Tells. He begins on page 61 if you wish to read his indepth argument. For those of you without this book I will quote the highlight.
[ QUOTE ]
Usually if a man is involved in a hand that he knows he shouldn't be playing, he will not share it... If he does share it , it's probable that the hand is strong. (Caro 62)

[/ QUOTE ]

[mosch]

cards flashed are typically strong, but that being said, it's not always true.

I've had friends and neighbors flash me absolutely atrocious hands, especially when their goal was to tilt a tight-playing steamer. More of a 'look how mad he'll be if my 52o takes down this pot' than anything else.

[Clarkmeister]

Andy,

In Vegas, there is a peculiar form of this. When it is headsup, regular players at the Mirage will frequently put their cards in their hands such that only one card can be seen. They will then place the stacked cards in their hand, pick them up in the air and show that one top card to their neighbor. It is top pair virtually 100% of the time, and when it is not, it is the one-card nut flush draw.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Andy,
While it is useful to know general tendencies, it is MUCH more valuable to know what it means when THIS person shows his cards to a neighbor. It might mean that he has a great draw, dreadful cards, a hand that he thinks is ahead, but could easily be outdrawn, whatever.
The important point is to record what kinds of hands he shows, then look for similarities and differences the next time he does it.
You should also consider his expression and manner, especially on the river. People will often show busted draws, essentially asking for sympathy. They say, in effect, "See, I can never make a flush, or look what happens when I raise with AKs!"
Once you find patterns, it's almost as if they were playing their cards face up.
Regards,
Al

[mike l.]

in this particular case andy cites the player was a tightish but mediocre player who was trying impress a very tight decent female pro on his right. that combined with the way he played the hand on the flop and turn should have made it very clear to me what he had. nevertheless i value bet my no good pocket kings on the river in a form of some sort of blinded tilt.

[elysium]

hi andy
sometimes when i'm totally bluffing, i show my cards to my neighbor. yes, i know, but what i then do i say, "shhhh". but sometimes that doesn't work either.

when i show my cards to my neighbor when i'm totally bluffing, how can i stop my neighbor from shaking his head?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

People rarely show a weak hand to a neighbor, spectator, or B/G-friend. If they let someone sweat they are most likely strong.

al

[JayKon]

While this is true, most players will do it without forthought and intent. Somehow, the act of showing your hand will cause many players to call, when they wouldn't have otherwise - adding a big-bet to your stack.

It's a varation on the Caro "Squrim to induce a call" trick.

I don't use it often, but between the curiosity it invokes and the Squriming intangable, I'd say it adds 2-3 big bets a month to my stack. Not much, but enough to take my wife to dinner.

Jay

[LetsRock]

hmmm, uhhh, don't show him your cards? /images/graemlins/confused.gif