Showing when it folds to your raise?

[Dave D]

I'm just wondering how many people show their hand when its folded around after a raise or whatever, particularly in the money, but also in general. Also, how often? I figure around the bubble/just after the money its good to show, just so people believe you raise with good hands so then you can bluff later. What do people think about this?

[Lloyd]

As a general rule, I never show.

[DVC Calif]

Two schools of thought on this:

Good to show - Showing premium hands allows you to keep your Shania in tune. Helps with your stealing abilities if others think you only play good hands.

Bad to show - It may give the other player a slight advantage if he thinks he made a good laydown. He made a right decision, think he has good read, and that boosts his confidence. It may be better to keep such a player in the dark and have him steam for awhile thinking he made a weak laydown. He may be more inclined to play back later when you have a good hand again to take a stand against you...the big bully. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[TheTimeIsUp]

If you raise with a big hand in a stealing position and show, you will get tons of respect in the future. However, don't get carried away and start showing every big hand you get that isn't called. Way too predictable.

[mts]

i have muck losing hand and don't show winning hand perma-checked.

[Percula]

Most of my MTT play is live, which gives you a lot more options with this.

I am of the third school of thought... Dont show unless its to your advantage.

For example there are a few people I play with regularly that go on tilt easily. Sometimes it is nice to show them a bluff re-steal and fire it in the muck.

Another is some of the people I play with sometimes are super aggressive, I like to show these people the big ones.

But for the most part I just muck, maybe I will toss out a "good laydown, or you were dominated, or glad you didnt call I want you at the final table with me, or damn I wanted to double up off you why did you fold?!?!".

Two things you can do in live play that can be helpful.

1) With lots of practice you can muck your cards so only the card you want "accidently" flips up. A little corner under a finger nail can do wonders with that A2 you just took down the blinds and antes with.

2) You can "roll" one card to the top and then back down and fire the cards into the muck.

Note: Becareful! Some rooms, TDs and/or dealers consider the "show one show all" rule to apply to cards, as in show one card show all cards. And that is why I like #2 better than #1; I dare any dealer to find my cards that just went into the muck at about 60mph LOL.

[Dave D]

Yeah I mean im talking about primarily online and situations where say you have AK and you raise your standard 4x the blind raise and everyone folds. Not really stealing situations, but when you take it down preflop without really meaning to. Do you show to get respect?

[Wetdog]

I somtimes show bluffs to induce/continue tilt in opponents, especially the drunk ones.

[James Lang]

I usually show when I'm in the CO or Button and I raise a premium hand to show them that I wasn't just stealing.

[luggyfugger]

Howard Lederer said, "Poker is a game of incomplete information." Any time you show, you are giving information away -- FOR FREE.

So if you're gonna give away free information to your opponents, you better be damn sure you know what you're doing. Simply showing your cards to "prove you weren't on a steal" isn't good enough. What do you gain? Unless you plan on stealing with a rag hand in the near future, you've probably cost yourself more than you'll gain.

You have to know exactly how you want your opponents to respond to the new, free information you're giving them. What are your intentions? Why are you showing? What do you hope your opponents will do? Do you want them to fold to your future raises?

If you never show, you will leave them guessing. And confused opponents is exactly what you want.

If you have to think twice about showing it, don't.

I seldom show any hands, but when I do, my goal is very specific: I want to push my opponents sense of confusion to new limits. It's an extension of the "changing gears" philosophy -- mix it up. Change speeds, change hands, change styles.

Consider this. Everyone folds to me after my standard raise on three separate hands. One time I flash 73o. The next time I flash KK. The next time QJs. You mix in some calls with these types of hands and your opponents will be unable to pin you down on your starting hands and raising patterns. But, conditions need to be perfect. You need to be confident people will fold when you make your rag raise, otherwise you forfeit your ability to flash (or find yourself immersed in an expensive multi-round bluff).

There is one time when I make a habit of flashing. That's when I'm short-stacked, it's (usually) late in the tournament, and I'm trying to prove that I'm only going in (probably all-in) with excellent starting hands. I'm trying to build my stack by avoiding showdowns. I want people to think, "I'm not going trifle with this short stack because he's gonna have the goods." I want to reward and reinforce their decision to fold by showing them a strong hand. Of course, this requires that you actually HAVE strong hands. And KQ isn't one of them - lol. Hardly scary.

I also routinely flash my strong hands when it's been folded to me when I'm in the big blind. I never show rags in this situation, as it makes people think, "Oh, I had that beat. Next time, I'll call. Better yet, I'll raise." This is extra effective late in a tournament against tight players. The blinds are usually so high, you want to do everything you can to encourage everyone to fold.

On a related note, I wish online sites gave players the option to flash one card. This is a key advantage to live games that can really screw with players heads.

Does anyone remember the obnoxious Englishman in the WPT Aviator's tournament? He kept offering his cards to his opponents, saying, "Pick one. Go ahead. Pick one and I'll show you." Funny as hell when he had QQ. And I like the previous poster's A2 hand for this move. Heck, let fate decide whether he thinks you were stealing with 2X or had a bonafide AX. And what's he gonna make of your offer in the first place? Crazy? Dumb? Silly?