Why Are So Many Against Showing Their Cards?

Quite often I see a guy saying "Will you show if I fold?" and it's always followed up with a No. A lot of people playing online poker simply set their cards to auto-muck and never show, even when asked.

What the hell? Why are people so against showing their cards now and then? What's so bad about it that people are against it so much?

Pay to view......I only show when I bluff and hardly ever then. The only other time I show is when playing with friends in a home game.

You give away too much information when showing hands.......it's a big NO NO even in live poker.

You can benefit greatly from showing your hand (1 card or both) in specific situations. Mostly in tournaments.

It has to be part of a plan / strategy.

Dick Tracy said:

You can benefit greatly from showing your hand (1 card or both) in specific situations. Mostly in tournaments.

It has to be part of a plan / strategy.

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Gotta agree with this, sometimes showing 1 card to a tilty player can earn u some big $$$ in tournaments, especially with lower time controls (5-10 minutes a level).

It gives your opponent information about you. He can use it and beat you in the future.

the real question is....why do people keep asking?

insecurity?

almanik said:

It gives your opponent information about you. He can use it and beat you in the future.

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What if you reverse it and use the information he thinks he has on you against him?

Example, two times you successfully bluff him out of a pot and show him the bluff both times. He now knows you're capable of a bluff and will be more likely to pick it off in a similar situation if you try it again. You get heads up with him and make the exact same play against him, and he calls this time trying to pick off the bluff, except this time you show him the nuts and hand him the keys to Value City. You get paid off and the information he thought he had against you goes out the window since now your range in that situation is polarized, and he no longer has an advantage.

Poker is a game of incomplete information. Why would you want to give the villians information when you dont need to?

Im actually surprised that you needed to ask.

My personal opinion is this:
1.Why you need to know his hand so desperate?
2.If People constantly show their hand you will know how they play and that is vast disadvantage for them.
3.If a player is aggro and shows a bluff the people will be more likely to call him more often,and vs his style this is also a disadvantage.

Foxhound3857 said:

What if you reverse it and use the information he thinks he has on you against him?

Example, two times you successfully bluff him out of a pot and show him the bluff both times. He now knows you're capable of a bluff and will be more likely to pick it off in a similar situation if you try it again. You get heads up with him and make the exact same play against him, and he calls this time trying to pick off the bluff, except this time you show him the nuts and hand him the keys to Value City. You get paid off and the information he thought he had against you goes out the window since now your range in that situation is polarized, and he no longer has an advantage.

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Depends on the ability of your opponents, but, mostly you are just providing free information.

I never show because I don't like giving away free information. It's not just what your hand is on the river, but how you played your hand entirely from preflop to river and the actions you took that give your opponent the most information. That's not information I want to give for free.

Unless you're a pro, you should never show a hand unless required to. You're giving away information about how you play every time you show cards, its not in your benefit to do it.

Poker is a strategy game.The more you know opponent tactics the better your chance of winning.Thats y noone shows their cards.

The principle of showing your cards is far greater than simple information exchange. It should be considered and used carefully and precisely as part of your strategy, in terms of game strategy and table strategy. Showing can be used to influence the thoughts of your opponents.

The next time you play, ask yourself, "what do my opponents know about me and how does that influence their game?". If you can give them information that will help them think about you in the way that you want them to then showing your cards may just be for you. Consider this next time you are playing. Also think how you feel when you fold a decent hand and get shown that the winner had nothing but had bluffed you out of calling. It's a psychological game that works both ways!

You dont want the risk of leaking valuable information which can be related to your image on the table.

When I'm playing of big tournament with 2000 people, I'm showing cards, I don't care, but when every player observing other player, it's stupid showing my cards and helping my oponnents...

Dick Tracy said:

You can benefit greatly from showing your hand (1 card or both) in specific situations. Mostly in tournaments.

It has to be part of a plan / strategy.

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I totally agree. I even show the card after a bluff occasionally. It is part of the strategy.

some people show their cards because its a part of their strategy the give some information about how they play so they can hide some bluffs some others don't showthem because they don't want other players see how they play

almanik said:

It gives your opponent information about you. He can use it and beat you in the future.

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It depend on what you show and when
Usually when i play very tight i show at least one bluff.

It is just a personal thing. When someone successfully bluff me, I prefer not to know what they had. It just make me mad when I see that someone bluffed me. My anger affects my next hand plays too.

I always use to show in private / forum games.

I see no problem with showing. I mix things up and play each hand differently anyways. I wouldn't advise it if you are new to poker / playing ABC poker. As others will see this and use the information you gave them against you.

I mostly don't show anymore because I have auto muck on ... if in a private game and someone asks nicely I will show if it is possible to remove auto muck before the hand is over.

i show hands i will show a bluff to a tight table and will show big hands to aggressive players etc..

has to be a strategy i show a lot of hands good and bad in league plays to show i will mix it up at times

yet at times that has bitten me i show a lot of good hands early with people dont know so gives them reason to lay down to me at times

this strategy doesnt always work though

I think showing hands is a bad idea. Do not give any information to your opponents. Don't show hands, answer questions, I would not even verbalize action let chips talk. Any information you give to your opponents is not to your benefit.

I like it when I force somebody to fold and then they show an Ace !

I'm like yeah great ! If your hand is so good just call or raise !

Weird...

And I never show... but only cos I don't know how you do that LOL