Live players, when do you look at your hole cards?

I know the proper thing to do is wait until action is on you, then look at your cards. But I've noticed at most local card rooms here the majority of the players look at their hole cards as soon as they receive them. Only a handful of players wait.

When do you look at yours?

yes the proper this is to wait till it your turn, but if you like looking at them when ever then I say do as you wish, totally up too you, as for me I wait till the action is on me and make funny faces ...lol

I try to wait, but like Roundcat said, everyone else looks at them right away. When I try to watch the other players, I never see anything that I could use at as a tell...unless they have junk, in which case they fold anyway. I tend to watch betting patterns and such. Seeing their mannerisms while playing the hand tends to help me more.

Definitely as soon as they're dealt. You get to watch the other players, and in the case that you accidentally give some sort of tell when you peak at AA, all eyes won't be on you when you first see them.

combuboom said:

Definitely as soon as they're dealt. You get to watch the other players, and in the case that you accidentally give some sort of tell when you peak at AA, all eyes won't be on you when you first see them.

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I'd be pretty confident I wouldn't give off a tell right when I looked at AA, much like the pros on TV don't. But I might have a harder time acting calm until it was my turn if I looked first thing. I might bet quicker or something. Though I guess everyone's different.

When Freak and I played last in Reno, I noticed almost everyone looked first thing and that's when I picked up the most tells on them because they had to wait their turn. Waiting my turn before looking also kept my mind clear so I could keep track of the action before me without my cards clouding my thoughts. It helped me create a routine I could repeat every time. Chris Ferguson has a repetitive routine where in he waits 9 or 10 seconds after looking & before betting every time. Again, to each his own I guess.

OK, a follow-up question:

If you look at your cards right away, what do you do with them if you plan to call or raise, and what do you do with them if you plan to fold? Do you set them down and move your hands away in any case, or stick chips on them, or hover over them until it's your turn to act?

A friend who was at my table last time I played said that although she couldn't see my face, she always knew whether I was going to call or fold because of the way I held my hands after looking at my cards.

When I have small games at my house I can prety much tell who is going to stay in and who is going to fold by how they hold their hands. No matter what I have I put my cards down infront of me and cross my arms on the table.

I look when it's my action.

Here is what you do and why.

I focus on the people to act after me and the blinds. You catch a couple tells and know in advance what they may do is a huge advantage to what you should do. Think about it. You have a marginal hand in late or middle position but know that 2 of the next 3 are planning to fold to any bet. What do you think you should do? It makes stealing alot easier. Gets really handy once the blinds get pricy and worth stealing in tournaments. You also know when to lay a marginal hand down and not push the action. I have done this in a couple of ring games at casino. Makes for easy pickings of small pots when you know when to push or fold in late position with marginal hands.

You can't give a tell if you don't look so wait. Good players wait till it is there turn so you don't give anyone info about your hand for the reasons stated above. Helps you in the blinds so it is harder to steal if they don't have any clues to what you may hold.

To answer the other question about what you do after you look at them. Do the same thing everytime.

My preflop pattern:
1) put chip or protector on them right away. Don't want someones mucked cards to hit yours and force you out of the hand. Happened once, never again.
2) look
3) set cards back down and remove hands
4) think about what I am going to do for about 8-10 seconds
5) grab chips to bet and then put guard back on hole cards or muck

I do this every time. I know it sounds stupid but you need to pause after looking at your cards. This pause hides the difference between your monsters and your steals. When you see AA you know right away your going for a raise but I think about how much before I even touch my chips. You have QK in late position you may want to think for a second before you act. That pause is a sign of weakness unless you do it every time.

It is the little things that someone can pick up and milk you to death. I play alot live and if you can isolate someone's tells, you can milk them all night. You won't find them every day but if you are looking, they are there. The day you first spot one, you have a hard time not smiling.

titans4ever said:

4) think about what I am going to do for about 8-10 seconds
5) grab chips to bet and then put guard back on hole cards or muck

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My GOD!
Tell me you don't take 8-10 seconds to muck 2-9off UTG!
If you are folding, you don't have to hold a poker face on your action, just muck the bloody cards.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I only think if I am going to stay in the hand. In reality it is probably 5-8 seconds to think. I think quickly, I hate the people who sit there all night and then muck and do it every time. Poker is not life and death, unless you suck out on me.

Tell me you don't take 8-10 seconds to muck 2-9off UTG!

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I see no problem with this. It's the Chris Ferguson approach...It could be a lot worse. ...not that I play like that or anything. lol

Titan- lol sorry man, didn't mean to accuse you of being "THAT GUY"!

Wsorbust - THERE IS A problem with that. you are just holding up the game.
There is no need for it, and unless you are bigstacked in a tourney, or looking to move up in the money in a tourney there is no need for it, it only hurts you. In a cash game with a time charge it's just dumb, and in a cash game with no time charge it is merely annoying.
10 seconds is a looooooong time. As for the Chris Ferguson "method", there is noone on these forums that plays in games even close to those games. It just makes no sense.