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To Show or Not To Show

published on 02/21/06 at 12:31 pm

[The following is John "The Greek" Leontakianakos' opinion to an ongoing debate in the PokerPlasm Forum, Muck or Show?.]

To Show or Not To Show. That is the Question. There seems to be an on going debate about this issue. Conventional wisdom tells us “never” to give out information especially for free. Well I disagree. Poker is a game of information; in fact, it’s about everything except the cards. As such, it is also a game of misinformation. If I decide to show a hand there is always a reason. Here are a few examples:

From time to time I will wander into a cash game and find myself at a very loose table. Loose tables are dangerous and, as such, I have a tendency of always tightening up in the beginning. When up against a loose player at this type of table, I will show down a good hand just to further instill in their mind the “conservative” read they already have of me. A couple of good shows and I have license to steal, as I will rarely get called, especially on a re-raise on this type of table.

Now if I happen to find myself on a very tight table the opposite holds true. I will intentionally show down a draw or a bluff in order to motivate the other players to bet into me or give me action. I found myself in just this situation last week at an underground card room in New York. The table was running extremely tight, so I decided to shake things up a bit. I showed down a couple of weak hands on a bluff and re-raised several times while on weak draws. Two of those hands came down to a showdown. I won one and paid off the other, so I broke even on that investment. However, 30 minutes later, when I actually began to catch cards I had two callers all-in twice while holding the nut full. 90% of my take that night came from those two hands. Had I not showed down some weaker hands earlier and mixed it up a bit, thus, establishing the illusion that I was a “calling station”, I would have never been paid off in the end.

Showing down a hand is a strong weapon as it enables you to control the flow information that is obtained. When used wisely, it is a very powerful tool that can yield profits for its master.

John “The Greek” Leontakianakos is a professional poker player with 27 years of experience. He is currently in the process of publishing a book on poker and runs his own website called JohnTheGreekPoker.

1. Under the Gun-Part 2
2. Putting on the Breaks
3. Under the Gun
4. The Danger of Playing Weak Hands in No Limit
5. The Ability To Read A Player: An Essential Poker Skill