Poker Training on Showing Your Hand - When to Show Or Not Show Your Poker Hand
Showing your hand can be a helpful strategy at the poker table, but you should know why you're showing it, who you're showing it to and when it makes sense to show your cards. Want a good rule of thumb on showing your cards? Don't do it!
Anytime you unnecessarily show your hand to your opponents, one thing that you absolutely accomplish is giving them information on your poker game. Depending on the players at the table, they could potentially use that information against you. Keep them guessing, never knowing for sure what you had, and that will more often be to your advantage at the table.
Now for some playing styles, showing your hands can be a good strategy. Take for example an aggressive player that likes to steal a lot of pots. The times when he actually has a (strong) hand, showing his cards can help the table from fighting back during all the other times he's just robbing the pot blind. He shows top pair here, bottom set there... "Ok, this player is just getting some good hands today. Keep foldin'!"
On the flip side, take a very conservative player that 90% of the time plays very tight. But when she finds an opportunity to pull off a bluff, she may want to show her bluff, getting the table thinking she plays loose. Then a few hands later when she's got the nuts, the table might just double her up.
If you incorporate different styles in your poker game, showing your hands can be a way of giving the table the "wrong" impression of your style. Get them thinking one way, and you later beat them with a play they weren't expecting at all.
The other reason why you may consider showing your hands (particularly on a big bluff) is to get a player on "tilt". You can see the steam start to come off the top of their head when you just made them lay down their top set, and you show them rags. Still, you need to be careful who you show your hands to. Show your bluff to a solid poker player that does not go on tilt; well, you simply just gave them information they may use to put you on tilt the next hand.
One final thought, if you call the final bet and you go to showdown, throw a losing hand into the muck. Do not show it. There's just never a good reason to do it, and again, you simply are giving free information on your way of playing.
Showing your hand can be a helpful strategy at the poker table, but you should know why you're showing it, who you're showing it to and when it makes sense to show your cards. Want a good rule of thumb on showing your cards? Don't do it!
Anytime you unnecessarily show your hand to your opponents, one thing that you absolutely accomplish is giving them information on your poker game. Depending on the players at the table, they could potentially use that information against you. Keep them guessing, never knowing for sure what you had, and that will more often be to your advantage at the table.
Now for some playing styles, showing your hands can be a good strategy. Take for example an aggressive player that likes to steal a lot of pots. The times when he actually has a (strong) hand, showing his cards can help the table from fighting back during all the other times he's just robbing the pot blind. He shows top pair here, bottom set there... "Ok, this player is just getting some good hands today. Keep foldin'!"
On the flip side, take a very conservative player that 90% of the time plays very tight. But when she finds an opportunity to pull off a bluff, she may want to show her bluff, getting the table thinking she plays loose. Then a few hands later when she's got the nuts, the table might just double her up.
If you incorporate different styles in your poker game, showing your hands can be a way of giving the table the "wrong" impression of your style. Get them thinking one way, and you later beat them with a play they weren't expecting at all.
The other reason why you may consider showing your hands (particularly on a big bluff) is to get a player on "tilt". You can see the steam start to come off the top of their head when you just made them lay down their top set, and you show them rags. Still, you need to be careful who you show your hands to. Show your bluff to a solid poker player that does not go on tilt; well, you simply just gave them information they may use to put you on tilt the next hand.
One final thought, if you call the final bet and you go to showdown, throw a losing hand into the muck. Do not show it. There's just never a good reason to do it, and again, you simply are giving free information on your way of playing.
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