Mental Factors and Tilt,
Online Poker,
Tournaments,
Betting Strategy
May 8 2009
Showing your hole cards, for most players, is a very poor play. Poker is a game of information, and the last thing you want to be doing is giving an opponent that for free. Only two types of players show their cards. Very weak, novice type players who most likely don't even have a playing style as they're so new to the game; the competitiveness isn't important to them. The other type of player that shows their hole cards is a highly experienced player who knows that he's in a rare situation where showing his cards gives him an edge.
One such situation would be when he just made a
bluff at a player who is obviously emotionally charged up. When a player is running bad, and losing pots, finding out they got pushed off one that they would have won can send them over the edge. They steam even hotter, and it leads to a feast of their chips. Another situation where showing your hand can be beneficial is early in a session to establish a table image. Showing good cards after you've forced everyone out of the hand establishes that you're a tight player. Just stop doing it after a couple of times.
