showing uncalled hole cards

[kmprsdrm]

long, long time reader. first time poster. I've always read and subscribed to the theory of never showing your uncalled hole cards. untill last night. i was in a sit-n-go at PS when a player really seemed offended when i didn't show my winning hand. normally i would ignore his remarks, but we had a nice conversation to that point. so I thought why not, and showed my next 5-10 winning hands. the effect was amazing. after showing 5-10 strong hands people started folding to my raises and within 30-40 minutes i was in complete control of the table and i 'coasted' to my easiest win ever. granted i got some good cards and these were not the strongest players but i am having a hard time completly discounting the idea that a large reason for the easy win was showing some stong hands. any comments/advice on whether this is a viable stratagy, or a unique experiance for this particular table, would be appreciated.

[ccwhoelse?]

showing your hand is useful in tournaments if you can benefit from them in the future. so if your table isn't going to break up for a while, you can have a loose or tight image early on when you show your hands and switch gears later when there is more at stake to gain an edge over your opponent, ofcourse only if he's paying attention. definitely viable. don't go overboard with it.

[squiffy]

As with any strategy, there are always attendant advantages and disadvantages. If you never show your hole cards, your opponents may wonder if you really have it. And if you get great hole card several hands in a row and raise and be all the way, you may start to get more and more callers because they cannot believe you have gotten great cards 3-5 hands in a row.

If you show your cards a lot, you give observant opponents more information about what your starting requirements are and how you play certain hands.

If your opponents are observant enough and skillful enough to take advantage of this information, and if your play is consistent enough, this could come back to haunt you.

If your opponents see that you play tight and always have the nuts, you may be losing money because you may be getting way fewer calls.

You may be able to bluff a few more pots this way, but you may be underestimating the amount of money you may be losing if the table tightens up against you and is not calling you as much, now that they know how tight you play ( I am assuming you play tight. But it really doesn't matter. If you show a lot of hole cards, they will get a better idea of how you play, regardless of your playing style.)

If you show your cards, and then adjust your game, though, I guess this could work. You show your cards. They tighten up, you loosen up, you show your cards, they loosen up, you tighten up, etc.

I think poker is always a game of cat and mouse with no one correct strategy. Like paper, scissors, stone, your optimal strategy depends on your opponents, their playing ability, their playing style, and your table image etc.

There may be some opponents and some tables where doing what you did could hurt you. At other tables, doing what you did could help you.

But let me ask you this. If you asked the top 100 tournament and top 100 limit poker players in the world whether they would ever use this strategy, how many do you think would agree it is a good approach?

If you are facing anonymous opponents online at a low limit, who will rarely ever see you again, and who may not even be paying much attention, then you aren't paying a very high price and the benefits outweigh the cost.

But if you are a top tournament pro and always see the same faces at the final tables of every tournament you enter, do you really think showing a lot of your hole cards would be a good idea long-term?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

As a general rule, showing your hand is NOT a good idea. I VERY RARELY EVER do so. If you think you can somehow gain an advantage by showing, go ahead. Otherwise, screw them and what they think.

Of course you should NEVER show your bluffs.

al