When to Show

[Still the Spank E]

I figured this was as good a place as any to post some thoughts on the subject of showing hands that have not been called.

While many, if not most, players will tell you never to show a hand unless called, my experience has been that tight, but aggressive players can generate more action on their legitimate hands if they make sure people see those (for me, anyway) relatively infrequent bluffs and semi-bluffs that didn't get there. If all they ever see are your pocket paint it becomes hard to get paid off like you can and should because they quickly determine that you've always "got it" when you bet. If you show on those rare (and they should be pretty rare) occassions when you're playing junk, you can cultivate an image much looser than the reality of your game. A lot of opponents only need to see that you drove them out with an unimproved K7o that you raised pre-flop as a way of buying the button to believe that EVERY hand you play is a fraud. I play very tight and super-aggressive, and still manage to get people looking me up when they really, really have nothing and I have Aces wired, or something similiar. Try it.