subject: To Show Or Not To Show, That Is The Question [print this page] With apologies to William Shakespeare, the issue of showing one's cards upon the completion of a hand is always a difficult question. As a general rule, I almost, hardly ever show my cards after a hand is completed unless, of course, it is on a showdown and I am called and, therefore, forced to show. Because poker is a game played with incomplete information, every time I show my cards to an opponent or the entire table when I do not have to do so, I give away valuable information about my game that I otherwise didn't have to reveal. The simple fact is that my opponents will use that information against me later in that session or even days later when we play again.
When to Show
Sometimes you want to advertise. Early in a session, for example, you might want to show a big bluff to let others at the table know you are capable of such a move. But showing the bluff also carries with it some disadvantages as well. When opponents know you are capable of bluffing they will play back at you more often making bluffing less effective. After I show the big bluff I tighten up for a while, playing only solid hands to counter the effect of showing my hand. I won't bluff again in a cash game until the table has some new players.
It is to your advantage to show big laydowns early in a session to advertise your willingness to let go of big hands. Of course, there is a disadvantage attached to this move as well. When you show the big laydown, opponents are likely to think they can move you off of any hand with aggressive betting. Like showing the bluff, I tend to play tighter than usual after showing the big laydown. I then play hyper-aggressively when I have a big hand.
Showing the big hand when everyone folds to you and you take a pot uncontested is another way to advertise. In this case you are telling your opponents that you only will play big hands. This move, however, may tend to produce little action in future hands. If opponents are led to believe that you play only your big hands, they are less likely to play back at you and surrender only small pots to your standard bets.
Playing after Showing
I believe that the disadvantages of showing hands that I am not compelled to turn over far and away outweigh the advantages gained by advertising so I tend to muck hands I do not need to show. That being said, I do sometimes show a hand because I cannot resist doing so. When I do show, however, I make careful note of the situation, the type of hand I chose to show, my position, and my opponents. When I am faced with a similar situation during that session I make a conscious effort to play the hand differently than I played it when I decided to show. This allows me to advertise a willingness to make a move but is deceptive enough so that the move does not become a pattern.
Online Play
I never, not almost never, but absolutely never, show a hand I don't have to show when I play online. I set the option to automatically muck my hand leaving me no other option. Even when I want to show, the software doesn't let me do so. That makes it simple for me, takes away a decision that has more disadvantages than advantages, thereby causing my opponents to guess whether or not they have been bluffed or mucked to a superior hand. It makes bluffing easier and produces larger pots from aggressive opponents.
I choose to automatically muck online because the circumstances of play are far different than playing live in a brick and mortar poker room. When playing live I tend to talk, not a lot but some, at the table. I want people to like me, to play with me because they think I am a nice guy. I am, but not at the poker table where there really are no friends, just opponents. I want people to engage with me. Online, however, this advantage simply doesn't exist. I rarely use the chat box because it takes away concentration from my play. It is, therefore, much more difficult to create the aura of friendship online. So, online I tend to be far more guarded than in live play where I can see who paid attention to my moves, who buys in to my calculated action and how my actions actually buy me a later advantage.
