Should I show my cards after a tough beat?

Let's say I have A's in the hole and an A falls on the flop, maybe with a 8 and a 4.

Pretty good hand.

I bet big and, for whatever reason, a player stays with me.

Turn is a 9.

I still feel good, and I bet pretty hard again and get called.

River is a 10. I see the possible straight, but with a set of A's I bet and let's say he just calls.

He turns over a J Q.

(it's a fanstasy hand that I'm just creating to ask my question)

I'm not trying to comment on what a stupid play that would be to make that suck out, or even debate how my betting might have been flawed to help the situation along.

Any reason to show your set instead of mucking?

Are there situations where you would want the player (and the table) to know what you were playing with?

To me, it seems like you would always muck. No reason to give away information.

It sounds like maybe you wanted to justify your play to your opponent. Not necessary, I'm sure he recognizes that he's the one that got lucky on the draw -- you don't have to prove anything.

I think most serious poker players would advise against ever showing your cards if you don't have to. At least that's the gist I've always gotten, including having it hammered home repeatedly in the Vorhaus book I just finished. You can give away a lot of information by showing cards unnecessarily, and playing good poker is all about denying your opponent information. However I've seen many players do it just to needle or tilt their opponents (especially with bluff hands). In your case though it wouldn't have had that effect, although it might have emboldened your opponent to chase more draws against TP hands, which could work to your favor long term.

OTOH, if you go all the way to showdown then you must show your cards if asked, according to the rules as I understand them. I wouldn't just offer it voluntarily though, only if the winner insisted.

That was the thinking that led to the question, whether or not you would gain something by showing (to the opponent and the table in general).

Kind of thinking out loud. I always muck my cards.

Either way doesn't matter. When it reaches showdown they can look in the HHs anyway to see what you had (or if they have a HUD most likely it'll show the cards automatically on their screen).

Maybe he's talking about live play Zach.

Stupid Q .. but whats an HUD??? Im headed to the lingo section now!

Showing Your Aces Might Slow him down though...Im sure he would realize you werent just pushing chips around with a lowly top pair or some crap like that!

i never show my cards ,,, if i don't have to,,,, maybe to mislead,,,,some people would. just my thoughts

take care

No I meant online (but the spirit of my question would be the same either way).

And is HUD heads up display? Is that what the Poker Tracker info that is onscreen is called?

Generally I'll show if I want to reinforce a tight table image, but the general consensus would probably be not to give out free information - your betting trend/style when you have a monster.

I find it funny on High Stakes Poker these guys are always showing their hands to each other after the hand is over. Even Doyle will do it. Its sort of a courtesy to guys you play with all the time I guess. I guess its odd after all the pros advise you to never show your hand.
They will also tell each other what they had. But often lie. Sammy Farhar is notorious for that.

Online it really doesn't matter for a couple of reasons. First, like Zach said the info is available to all who want to see it in HHs. Secondly, a lot of people wouldn't get it even if you showed. They'd just think your opponent was brilliant for calling all the way and catching. I rarely show live, but if asked I might tell them what I had or what I want them to think I had.

Wait what? People still play live? Is that just like people without internet?

Most sources say don't, sometimes I do and other times not, most of the time when I am! I'll be trying to buy some pots along the way, lot depends on what type of game it is and the other players, I'll often show in our cardschat tournys for no particular reason at all, just being friendly with my bro's and sisters here.

no reason to show at all unless u have to justify it to urself

If you have to ask. Never Show Your Hand.

Online, they can obviously check out what you had...

Live... NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER... (did I mention) NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER show your hand if you don't have to.

Your job: Gain as much info as possible w/out giving ANY away. Every card you show gives them a little piece of who you are, and what you think. Good players will pick you apart

"But what if he'll tilt if I show a bluff?"
CRAPOLA TO THAT! When you show to get under skin, you're playing w/ ego, which will eventually lead you very bad places.

When you win a huge hand... muck w/ no emotion (like you've been there b4)

When you take a huge beat... muck w/ no emotion (like you've been there b4, and it means nothing to you!!!!

If we talk about show/muck i always choose muck because i dont want to show what cards i had and next time he will know that i have something like i had that time. If i play Heads-up then yes there i sometimes show to let him think that i am bluffer

There may be a few situations where showing could be profitable. If you show your cards in that situation and you bet really aggressively in the following hands, people will probably assume you are on tilt. If then you actually have a big hand, you're more likely to get paid off.

In a nutshell: I'd only show for metagame reasons.

You have an OPTION to show. There are advantages for showing and advantages for not showing. Sometimes I will talk at a table and just hammer and hammer a guy. And be like nice K7 or whatever junk hand I think he got lucky with. I'll then show second best hand. Knowing I can't beat anything in hopes he turns over that K7 as a courtesy. That K7 he shows then will tell the table "DONT GET IN MY POTS". It's quite nice for when you need a timely bluff later in the tournament. (Pending you don't get moved.) I show all the time but I'll show the nuts or bluffs. I feel I treat the hands I play pretty much the same way. And most of the time when I'm caught they'll value bet the river anyways and it'll allow me to muck and thing of a decent hand to fold. I'll either type in the truth or a lie. But won't show. Just to keep them guessing. I have won hands showing 32hh reraising pre then betting the pot when an ace hits and got JJ to fold. Or I'd do it nailing a set or with AA or just 84s. If you show be advised to have a WIDE variety of starting hands or else you're signaling just what hands you play.

When I started I knew I wasn't good enough to ever show a hand win or lose. Now it's 7 years later and I'm still not good enough. But I have to admit I sometimes do. Once Chris Furguson was next to me and I bluffed him with 8 high, I just had to show, cus he does that commercial. It was really a nothing hand, but I was quite proud of myself. I got a "NH".

If I've been bullying the table and no one calls a few times, I'll show a good hand to quell the "I'm gonna have to look that guy up" script in someones head. Kinda gives em a freebie.

Tough beat, I usually muck but not always. (I play online so it doesn't really matter.) Let them know they got lucky, put the table on notice that you were playing the nuts, whatever, but never whine about it. You want to encourage them. Very situational though.

Unless you have a very good, clear reason just auto-muck.

goldog

The high stakes pros are much more skilled at getting into someone's head and cashing-in. For the rest of us it's as likely as not to backfire.

When someone says,

"Get out of my pots," they might as well say,

"It's really important to show you that I'm a tough SOB, and my ego is very important to me."

Good players know you're showing to make them think X, so next time you'll be playing X instead of the X that you expect... You allow a good player to get a whiff, you're toast!

The best metagame strategy:

BEING A TOTAL MYSTERY! THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING, BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T SHOWN THEM A DAMN THING!

I show all the time in friendly games.

If I'm playing "for serious," I rarely show. I pretty much only show to reinforce an image I'm trying to build. I'll also show if I've got a big stack in a tournament and am up against another big stack. I'm trying to convey a friendly "lets not mess with each other and pick on the easy marks" message.

Showing is also useful if I want to represent steaming. That is, if I show that I had a big/frustrating loss, and then I get a big hand soon after, I'll often bet more than average to represent steaming.

If you're up against a good player, you can use this to your advantage. After you've shown a big bluff, just run a big bluff again. They will give you credit.
Against a bad player, you need to do the exact opposite. He will remember you showing that bluff and call you down with second pair.

Unless the opponent knows you'll do this, and knowing that you know he's a good player and would think the shown bluff indicates betting next time thus will expect a bluff. I think basically against a good player not showing is best simply because when we get into multi-level thinking, the good player will probably always be a step ahead of you. If you just don't show they can't use the information. I'd be more inclined to show to bad players knowing that pretty much I can out-think them.

Negreanu had a chapter about this in his new book. I'd tell you what it said but I forgot, I was reading it at the store.

He basically said if your a beginner forget about showing, especially if you're playing people better than you. But when you've reached a higher level there can be a lot of advantages to showing your cards. He claims that when he does it in a game it's a very calculated move and not just a courtesy to his tablemates (even though he treats it like that, also a calculated move).

YES HUD = Heads Up Display.

I find myself wanting to say to players who do show "thanks but no thanks".

I don't care much to see what hand caused me to muck. A situation arose where I didn't want to continue, and anyone showing just slows down the action.

I generally don't show. Certainly not to a bunch of strangers. If anything I want them to wonder and wander about wtf I am up to.

In our friendly games, I will on occasion show huge pockets after min raising PF because I want them to know, without a shadow of a doubt that if I min raise PF I have a monster!!!!! On those days when the cards seem to be flowing nicely, it is all those other hands where I raise bigger that will get them thinking. So on occasion I will lead out large with huge hands, but never show unless paid to do so.

It is a meta game thing when you play with the same folks often. And boy, from the looks of things, they got me figured out.........and I know they think they have me figured out, and so I feed them these bits of misinformation by showing.

Few have ever seen me showdown total junk unless it was a dead zone shove.

In general, don't show to strangers. Just like mommy said.


muahaha

Online I never show. But, playing live, I sometimes do show. I try to play tight, but aggressive. So, if I go all the way to a showdown and, in your example, get beaten by a lucky player sucking out, I want to show that player, and the rest of the table that I had a solid hand. This applies particularly when playing Limit Hold'em. However, in No Limit Hold'em, if my set of A's got beat by a suck out runner, runner straight, I would not likely show my hand. Because, if I let the other player draw to his gut shot without first putting him all-in, I would be so ashamed that I would not dare show how badly I played the hand.

You're playing w/ waaaayy too much ego. Cinch that up

No need to show the table that you had a good hand at river. Be confident enough w/ yourself, that showing them actually = mental/emotional weakness. What you're really telling the table w/ your river-show is,

"I need you all to understand that I AM a good player... see, see... I play good cards. That dude just got lucky!

To "SHOW THEM NOTHING" doesn't only mean the cards. Show them nothing in your eyes, body language, your words, your lack of words, and most importantly...

"I'm-so-confident-in-my-play-that-I'll-never-have-to-justify-another-river-for-the-rest-of-my-life" attitude!

Providing your opponent with free information gains you what?