Do you show uncalled hands?

I'll do it sometimes. If someone is folding often to my raises (either preflop or on the flop) and I've got a solid hand I'll want them knowing they did the right thing, feeling good about laying down their hand, and thinking that when I raise like that I DO have a hand. But if I'm not getting called enough, I'll show the occasional bluff to encourage more action. It's a fine line, I think.

But most of the time I'll not show, and keep it a mystery. Smile

I tend only to show a great hand, just for show off reasons, like quads, a straight flush or if I flop the nuts. If you show people you give away info about you which may help in the short term, but it won't help over time. Also I get paranoid that if I've shown a good hand with a good raise, what will they think I have / had all those times I raise and didn't show.

Last night I played at a live tournament. I'll give a hand history of a few more on another post. But this hand history matters here.

I was delt [ King of Hearts

,

]

I had big blind (40), everyone limped to me (no one was out of this hand) I raised 200 (big raise considering the blinds) I had 3 ppl in.

Flop came [ King of Diamonds

,

,

]

I raised, I had 2 callers.

The turn brought [ King of Diamonds

,

] [

]

I bet another 200, one guy raised it 2,000 more. I thought for a long time. This guy has shown that he will play Ax, Kx, Qx and sometimes Jx. I figured him for the 5 and folded face up. I showed my cards and said, "I hope this will give you incentive to show yours as well."

He didn't.

Later he went chasing after a lot of stuff and didn't catch anything. He also admited that he threw away bad hands. (example, he threw away 7, T and the flop came 6, 8, 9) He said the poker gods were punishing him for not showing me earlier.

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I almost never show hands. I play pretty tight too so most times I usually don't want to reinforce that fact that I rarely try to bluff/steal. However maybe on the rare occasions when I do steal a pot with nothing I should show to have them change their thinking about me.

I really nailed some guy in a $25 NL ring game the other night. I had AQ and limped in with about 8 other limpers. Flop comes rag rag Q rainbow. I check when it comes to me (i usually always bet) and some more check until someone calls 0.50. so everyone calls the 0.50 including me when another guy raises to $1.00. 3 more people call the $1.00 when it comes to me. I think about it for a few seconds and raise it to $5.00. Everyone folds up like cheap suits except the guy that raised to the $1.00. Now he totally thinks I'm trying to steal the pot he originally was trying to steal.....lol. Anyways he calls and the turn comes with another raggy card. I instantly went all in for my last $20.00 (trying to keep him thinking that I'm still trying to steal) and he thinks about it for a while and calls!!!! Needless to say he didn't hit his King or Jack on the river and I won about $32.00 in that pot. It was soooooo sweet.

I think i'm gonna do a little more checking with hands like that to see how it goes. The key is you have to have limped and you need to be certain u have the better kicker so you can bet with confidence later.

Every now and then I'll show my hand, either a bluff or a solid hand but generally no, I don't show my hands.

I never show a hand, unless i think it will put someone on tilt.

I played in a 1000$ freeroll maybe a month ago. Dude would constantly raise a little every hand and I get 9 2 and go all in with only him left and he folds. I show. Very next hand get QQ and im like hell yeah. Go all in like last hand. Get called and take him out. Those Queens came just at the right time. Besides in tournament bluffs I almost never show.

I only like to show off the nutz!! Twisted Evil

I'll selectively show hands to create a false impression. If I'm playing very tight and aggressive, i'll occasionally go for a cheap bluff and show... or vice versa.

There are very few, very specific times I'll show. Only if it's heads up and only if I'm trying to finish a tourney. So it's really only to try to get my opponent to go on tilt and/or change their opinion of me depending on how I had played up to that point.

Of course, that's only if it's a serious game or a tourney. A friendly home game and I'll show if it's funny or an incredible hand like flopping a boat or bluffing with a Brunson etc.

In a 2 table SnG $20+1 it was down to the final 2 players.

I had Ace of Hearts

I have 16000 to his 11000 blinds are 300/600.

I bet 2k. He calls.

Flop Ace of Clubs

I check(slowplay), he bets 2k, I call.

Turn Ace of Diamonds

I go all in, he thinks for his max time, and says he will fold but would I please show him my hand. So I do. He had QQ.

After that anytime I went all in over top of his raise he folded. Sometimes showing does help.

By the way, this was a very tight player.

I just had an instant that I showed my cards. I rarely show, so I felt a need to share.

1st hand of a freeroll, 3 people go all in with stupid hands.

2nd hand of a freeroll tournament. I was delt KK

Tripped it on the flop, No Ace even came out, no flush, an unlikely straight possibility, I practically held the nuts.

He folded on the river. I showed to prove that I wasn't one of those crazy players who just wants to bet all night to win.

Game #539251370 - Tournament Supermodel - 10/20 No Limit Texas Hold'em - 2004/07/10-13:02:04 (CST)
Table "Supermodel 295" (MTT) -- Seat 3 is the button
Seat 1: Rontech1 (1,500 in chips)
Seat 2: Humphrind (1,500 in chips)
Seat 3: JAZZ10 (4,500 in chips)
Seat 6: keyway (1,500 in chips)
Seat 7: meat ball (1,500 in chips)
Seat 8: gamblin kid (1,500 in chips)
Seat 9: gambler68 (1,500 in chips)
Seat 10: GM2121 (1,480 in chips)
keyway : Post Small Blind (10)
meat ball: Post Big Blind (20)
Dealing...
Dealt to Humphrind [ Kd ]
Dealt to Humphrind [ Kh ]
gamblin kid: Fold
gambler68: Call (20)
GM2121 : Fold
Rontech1: Fold
Humphrind: Raise (80)
JAZZ10 : Fold
keyway : Fold
meat ball: Call (60)
gambler68: Fold
*** FLOP *** : [ 5h 7d Ks ]
meat ball: Check
Humphrind: Bet (150)
meat ball: Call (150)
*** TURN *** : [ 5h 7d Ks ] [ 6d ]
meat ball: Check
Humphrind: Bet (240)
meat ball: Call (240)
*** RIVER *** : [ 5h 7d Ks 6d ] [ Ts ]
meat ball: Check
Humphrind: Bet (600)
meat ball: Fold
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: 970 | Board: [ 5h 7d Ks 6d Ts ]
Rontech1 didn't bet (folded)
Humphrind bet 1,070, collected 1,570, net +500 (showed hand) [ Kd Kh ] (three of a kind, kings)
JAZZ10 didn't bet (folded)
keyway lost 10 (folded)
meat ball lost 470 (folded)
gamblin kid didn't bet (folded)
gambler68 lost 20 (folded)
GM2121 didn't bet (folded)

Why not let people think you are on the river? You're not worried of getting outdrawn there.

I more show when I steal blinds, if I have a really big hand, and they fold. Since I'm likely to steal a lot of blinds with a lot weaker hands later on.

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Right, but if you didn't show, maybe next time you have a big hand on the river you would get a caller. Let people think you're a maniac until they pay to find out otherwise.

Here's one I just showed. Its been a while since I had.

I'm in the small blind with QJs, and haven't had any playable hands until this one since I've switched tables in a MTT (about 20 minutes ago). BB is 150, and I have 2k in chips.

A guy in middle position min raises preflop, I call, BB calls, everyone else folds.

Flop comes rag rag K.

I check, BB checks, preflop raiser bets 300 into a 900 pot.

I know he's trying to buy it, so I reraise to 900. BB folds, middle position thinks about it, and then folds.

I show, and say "Don't try to bully us small stacks". He jokingly promises not to again.

Wow! Next hand I have with him, I have AQ and raise 3x BB after he already limped in, and he calls.

The flop is 33Q. I bet 3x BB again after he checked, and he raises me. I go all in and he calls with QJ, and I double up with a 7k pot. If I hadn't shown him a bluff earlier, who knows if he would've called.

He didn't think he was beat on the flop. When the 3rd ace hit on the turn, he folded to Vasumi's quads.

I only show for show off reasons other than mentioned above.... I play my position strongly, many of times winning decent pots w/ 2-7o and 2-3o. that is the only time i will show, is to completely embarrass someone, will never show the nuts. For the most part i am a tight player so showing these bluffs usually come back to help me, losing their respect and beating them later w/ great hands. I do sometimes play mind games w/ people that actually work more than u would think. When i have the nut, and am in a situation where a player is contemplating a call, i type something like "Ill show", or in the opposite situation typing "not showing". The reverse psychology surprisingly works quite often leading them to call my nut or fold against my medium hand.

I show, but always with a purpose. Like has been said several times, if I'm not getting called and buy a pot, I'll show my weak hand. If I've won a few too many pots too close together without showdown, I'll show my strong hand.

I always try to think about what other informatin it might give away though. For example, if I slowplay to the river, then spring the trap and don't get called, I'd never show.

A few months ago I was playing with a real jerk, and I showed my 83o after I bet him out of a small pot. He called me some names and groused about it during the whole next hand. As the very next hand was being dealt, he finally said, "what did you expect to accomplish by showing that?"

Looking at KK, I'm like "Tell you in a minute" and raise 10XBB. He goes all in, I call. He had like 9T and didn't catch anything. "That" was all I said. He left the table without another word. It was fun.

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if you are playing against weak competition i think it has its advantages. its very easy to create a false impression of your style against these inferior foes. You can easily get them thinking what you want and control their emotions. But against these people you usually dont need it because they are inferior. Just makes the game a little more fun i think.

However against strong competition, they tend to see right through your showing your 2-7 off suit. Any good player knows not to consider a shown hand because your opponent is showing it for a reason. He wants to throw you off. The only time i might show in a strong game is if i have the Absolute nuts. Otherwise, i think you are just hurting yourself if anything at all.

I very, VERY rarely show my hand. But here's one time when I did

I was holding King of Hearts

I raised big preflop and got one caller.

Flop came Jack of Diamonds

My opponent made a medium sized bet to me, and I moved all in on him (for a LOT of chips).

After a long time thinking, he folded and showed his cards, Ace of Hearts

I dutifully showed him the kings and he got "rather" frustrated.

I only show when I get something huge, someone folds when I go all in, or if I bluff someone out of a hand that they showed when they folded. Otherwise I don't show much. Also until last week I played tight/conservative, and had bluffed once in the last month or so. The last game(Friday) I played loose and agressive and bet more and bluffed more then usual, so it threw them off tilt. Once a month to once every 20 minutes throws many people off.

I occasionally do. At my buddies house I had one amazing bluff where I went all-in in Omaha with nothing. He had a flush, but ended up throwing it away because I was tight and "never bluff"

If someone asks I will usually show, but I get very upset if people look at my cards when I give them to the dealer without asking.

A play I really like is telling them what I have. For instance, the third club falls on the river. I put "Oh boy, I just made my flush!" I might even add "Ace high at that!" in for good measure, if it is indeed Ace high.

Inevitably I will get a caller, and that really screws with them when you have the hand you told them you had. Now you can mess with them later if you want to steal a blind.

Obviously, I don't do this very often, and never when there is a lot of money on the line. I find it to be especially effective in Freerolls.

I think nothing messes with an opponent more than you telling them what is in your hand, and then showing it to them when they show you down.

Fun stuff.

I have 2 reasons to show. I want to see their cards, I want to prove I'm not a maniac.

Live tournament. Very 1st hand,

I have QQ, blinds are 10 / 20.
Pre-flop, I raise to 80. 3 callers.
Flop comes AT3, 2 Heart

s I am first to act. I throw out 100 and get raised to 400. Everyone else folds, I think for a long time. The guy I'm against is a good player, I've played him before.

400 bet and the pot is now about 770 (after his bet)
The thought pops in my head that he knows I play pretty tight. Could he be trying to make me fold? Is this bet size to ask me to call? After I already put in 100, I figure he wants me to call, he has either tripped his pocket pair, or hit 2 pair. I think he's too solid to be playing just an A, but that's possible too.

This is obviously going to be expensive to chase a 2 outer.
I fold, face up.
He mucks and takes the pot.

In this case, I showed for both of my reasons. But it still kills me not to know what he had.

Ok I had to reply. I read this thread earlier and wanted to share my experience tonight.

Opening hand of a $5 2-table SnG at Poker Stars. I get dealt pocket rockets...so I told the table Razz

Who knows how it ends but damn, that was fun. People probably think I"m nuts, but who cares. It was worth it just to hear their responses.

Agree with some one else above - I play tight early in an SNG, then open it up to start stealing blinds later - so if I have a monster early or in the middle I like for everyone to see it so they'll respect the blind steal later.

I never give my opponents free information.

I usually play with my friends, so if it is a full out bluff with pure shit I'll show every once in awhile just cause the game is played for fun and not just to win money, but when I do show the shit, I make sure I show them my good hands too.

Since posting above, I've pretty much stopped showing hands, mostly because I realized that I like it when others show hands, so they must like it when I do.

Once a while back in a 10/1 PS SNG we were down to 5, one big stack, two middles (one me) and 2 small. I try a blind steal with A7s, get called by the other middle stack from the BB. Flop is 10 7 2r. The guy was pretty tight so I decided to roll the dice and push. He thinks for a while, uses half the time bank, then he says A 10 and folks.

I showed the hand. Very next hand he pushses AI with A5, I call with KQ (I assumed he was titled and was pushing with garbage) I catch a K and knock him out.

Its good to show sometimes not all of them.

If I am playing with buddies of mine I will generally show if anyone asks, or if I am making a big laydown I will announce it afterwards.
I will muck if I feel it is right even against friends late in tournies though.

sometimes is good even if bluffing, cause someone will think you are always bluffing, same as if you have a good hand, people will think you will always have good hands, and when you bluff people will be afraid

I never show my hands.

In a tournament - sometimes to set people up for later
Ring game - never

one of the best moves in poker that doesn't involve betting, if an emotional hand is not called, and everyones dying to know, show just 1 card, and if you won a hand representing (or having) trips or 4 to a strait on the board whatever it may be, show the off card, gets people more riled than folding both.

Sometimes you've gotta muck out of respect for the other person.

In a RoyalVegas tourney, about 40 players left, me and the this other guy are sitting pretty near the teens in ranking. I've been blind stealing left and right because people have been letting me.

I get dealt K 17 off. He has A 10 and is two seats after me. Dealer button is between the two of us.

Flop comes Q J 10. He checks. I bluff, he thinks I'm bluffing (correctly) and reraises me. For some stupid reason, I call.

Turn comes a J. He bets a little (I'm putting him on a scared queen right now), and I raise it up HUGE, about 1.5x the pot. He uses almost all of his time bank and makes it a crying call.

He checks the river blank and I put him all in on my Ace high. He folds.
There is no WAY i show this bluff, both out of respect for him and for my table image.

I mean, I WANTED to show this bluff, but it would have in no way helped me win the tourney.

Remember that.

Hmm, only recent hand I can recall showing is a quad I hit.

Oh... I'll sometimes show especially bad cards in the bb if everyone folds around. Sometimes that gets the guy on my right to limp on a sb with nothing if it's folded to him, then I raise.

Can't count how much I make doing that. It's pretty massive.

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Do you show uncalled hands?

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Do you show uncalled hands?