When to show your hand?

Dave

As the topic says, when should you show your hand? When would you show bluffs or big hands?

Normally if I get moved to a table and I'm betting aggressively with my first hand I'd usually show the cards to the table, just to show that I'm not bluffing. I never show bluffs though.

Culchie

Dave wrote:

As the topic says, when should you show your hand? When would you show bluffs or big hands?

Normally if I get moved to a table and I'm betting aggressively with my first hand I'd usually show the cards to the table, just to show that I'm not bluffing. I never show bluffs though.

Very rarely show cards, but I would show a bluff before I would show strong cards.
For me, if I'm showing cards, I'm giving information, so it should have the deisred effect on opponents , so if a bluff re-raise puts a fellah(s) on the back foot and not knowing where he stands for the next hour or so, it's far more affective (IMO) than showing AK or AA.

Samba

Showing good cards can pave the way for a less risky bluff imo, providing you replicate your actions if at all possible when you had good cards.

This is especially effective in heads up play.

Hitman Actual

I'll sometimes show good cards to a passive player whom I've been playing aggressively against... e.g. to the BB when I'm on the button. The reason being that I dont want the player to start playing back at me (which he eventually will if he feels like he's being bullied), and leaving me with some harder decisions to make.

TimFoil

I will always show some select winning hands. Having spent years never showing a hand I eventually realised that the success of a move or bluff is enormously increased if you have shown folks that you're hitting some hands, or that you generaly play strong cards. People, whether good or bad players, will instinctivly peg you with a certain style often unconsciously, once theyve seen a couple of hands and this can have huge advantages. Obviously, it may not be wise to show a hand where there has been plenty of action, or your opponent has had a tough fold to make, that kind of info is best kept to oneself. But there are simple hands that should be shown early on, or when you're about to change gears. Regarding showing bluffs, whilst theyre a much rarer occurence, I may use them when the table is shorthanded, or I believe an opponent is titlable/steaming. Use with great care though, never for vanity's sake.

Hectorjelly

TimFoil wrote:

I will always show some select winning hands. Having spent years never showing a hand I eventually realised that the success of a move or bluff is enormously increased if you have shown folks that you're hitting some hands, or that you generaly play strong cards. People, whether good or bad players, will instinctivly peg you with a certain style often unconsciously, once theyve seen a couple of hands and this can have huge advantages. Obviously, it may not be wise to show a hand where there has been plenty of action, or your opponent has had a tough fold to make, that kind of info is best kept to oneself. But there are simple hands that should be shown early on, or when you're about to change gears. Regarding showing bluffs, whilst theyre a much rarer occurence, I may use them when the table is shorthanded, or I believe an opponent is titlable/steaming. Use with great care though, never for vanity's sake.

Good Advice, people cant help but be affected by what you show them, however you need to you keep constantly aware of what every player is likely to think of you, including every bit of information that you leak when you show. Thats why its a bad idea for beginners because they will have no idea how much an experienced player can pick up from just one hand if shown.