It is often said, there are no friends in Poker and I am a strong believer in that theory. I don’t care if my mom sits down at the table next to me if mom is she is an opponent then she’s getting pounded, I know my mom feels the same way. Often times when I go play I will see players voluntarily show their hand to the table, even if no one calls. I never understand this, in any competition the goal is to give up as few advantages as possible, in Football you don’t decline penalties even ones that were wrongly called, just to be friendly to your opponent. Dictionary.com defines the word call as it relates to poker as….A. to demand a card.
B. to demand a showing of hands.
C. to equal a bet
Essentially if someone doesn’t call your bet you can assume that they don’t want to see your cards. Many people watch the pros on T.V and they see them playing the old show one card game. Well, that is a completely different dynamic. Many of these players have played cash games together for years. Seeing the card of their opponents is a strategic ploy designed to gather information. They also understand which card to show. In many of the 1 -2 NL games I play in I see this being done time and time again by 1st level thinkers or players who only understand the strength or their hands. They do this because.
1. They want the other players to think they only play solid hands.
2. They want to let other players know they don’t bluff
3. They are excited to show a big hand
These are all valid points but lets examine the pro’s and con’s to see if they are valuable points.
Point #1 Whenever level 1 thinkers tell me this, my response is always the same. “must be nice.” Essentially what you are telling me is that when you come to the table you expect to get a number of solid hands. And at your discretion you are going to show some of those hands to your opponents for free just so they think you only play solid hands. Do I have that correct? Unfortunately the game doesn’t quite work like that. I don’t know about you but the majority of my poker sessions are filled with mucking trash and looking for spots to 3bet. The idea that I will receive a number of “solid hands is foreign to me” When I do get these solid hands and they hold up I want people to pay me, I certainly don’t want to let them off the hook by giving them a free look during the hand, it would be considered a mistake and considering that the game is constantly in motion it is also a mistake after the hand. The last thing I want them to do is find out for free that I only play solid hands this is only going to provide me with less action over time.
Point #2 This statement is so contradictory, in the same breathe that they make this statement players will say “Everyone at the table is terrible” It can’t be both if the players are terrible they certainly won’t be able to recognize the significance of you showing your hand. In your average 1-2 game many of the players are not paying attention to what is going on when they are out of the hand. Some times they are even oblivious to what your hand means. For instance when you bet the river on a As - 4s Js 2h 10s board with Ks - Kh in your hand your opponent folds on the river and then you show the table your hand. Many at the table will only glance and see that you were betting Kings with and Ace on board, in their mind you are a bluffer. If you consider the players at the table to be above multi level thinkers than you shouldn’t be showing them anything for free for fear of giving away information. So either way it is a bad idea.
Point 3 This is the one point that I can empathize with, it is hard to make a big hand in poker and when you do make one you start to feel a little rush of adrenaline. Your so disappointed that no one called you that you feel like you have to share your enjoyment. If this is your feeling let me let you in on a little secret. No one at the table cares about your enjoyment. The players are there to take your money, so unless you have to turn over you hand to collect a jackpot just keep em to yourself. You might not recognize it right away but in the long run it will pay off. Remember your cards have value to you make em pay to see them.
