Question: Is there ever a time to show your hand if you don't have to? Does being a lady at the table factor into your decision to "show the bluff"

I went to play last Sunday at MGM ($1/2 NL). I forgot to eat before I left the house (too excited!).

Sat down UTG next to a big stack in BB. First hand I looked down at AK. I hadn't gotten my poker nest made yet. No chips, needed my eyeglasses, lip gloss, headphones, etc so I just limped from UTG. Table folds to BB who raises $10. I call and we go to flop of 672. I check, BB bets $15. I don't believe him. I call hoping to float turn or catch an over card.

Turn comes 2 and we both check.
River comes J I bet $30.

BB thinks for 30 seconds or so and says "Your hand was shaking when you bet. I know you got it sweetie. I'm not going to call you. I know you have the ace." and he folds. The he asks..."Did you have it?" My canned response to this question is always "A lady never Tells".

I pull pot and I was thinking "was my hand really shaking when I bluffed river?". I usually don't shake until after I'm stacking chips. Then I looked at my hands.

Yep...shaking...Not cause of the bluff, but because of the fact that I didn't eat and my sugars were running really low (it happens to me). I didn't show my hand and let him think I had the A.

It was hard to get action from him for the rest of the session.

Should I have shown?

No. You really don't want people to know your capability or what you have in your arsenal.

+1 Mirrion!

I would coyly hint that I had it and use it as an excuse to become laggier.

Generally giving any extra info is -ev. However, I sometimes will prove that I'm capable of a bluff because my image is almost always tight/nitty (in cash play), so if I think I need to generate more action I'll show down a bluff or two if I think my image is TOO tight.

Tournament my image is very different so there's pretty much no reason for me ever to show, IMO, although sometimes I will because I can't help myself.

While I agree in general with the concept of don't ever show anything, there are situations where you can use showing to manipulate your table image. It's picking your spots carefully.

Usually I have a fairly tight image and will show a lot of my big hands to reinforce that, even though I'm actually bluffing a fair percentage of the time. For some reason people seem to overestimate how much of a nit I am and I don't want to change that.

This is especially true if I've dragged a few uncontested pots in a row. If I can show a big pair to make it look like I'm on a rush instead of just stealing everything I can get away with, it slows players down from looking me up.

If I show some junk, it's usually because I've already decided its time to switch gears and tighten up. Change my table image to a bit looser when I know I'm only going to be playing good hands for a while.

This is against run of the mill donks, I adjust to level 2 or 3 thinking when I believe thats where the opponents are at. It's all about keeping them guessing.

The shaking hand tell is a classic, btw. If you can do it on cue, you can bluff some observant opponents.

Shauna

i agree...hell no...don't tell....especially because it's your first hand...later after playing a while, after you have set up your image, maybe yes....but if you are doing it right from the get go it hurts later when you really want to do it.

just my thoughts

I have the exact same false tell, my hands are just naturally shaky as hell and get commented on all the time, I'll be pissed when it gets someone to call a bluff because of my "nervous shaking".

Usually it works like it did in your scenario though and they tell me I must have a monster, I'm generally aware of it now that I'm careful to consciously try not to shake when playing.

Oh thrasher...I'm just the opposite. I would love to be able to have shakey hands when I want them and smooth as silk when I don't. Imagine how much we could all steal if we could control the shakes. It would be a blast!

I just try to take deep breaths and be as relaxed as I can if I notice my hands getting really shaky, though this usually doens't help completely and they still shake. My hands are never smooth as silk but moving my chips into the pot quickly and keeping them placed on the felt while thinking keeps them from appearing super shaky.

Obviously if some player at the table has commented on my shaky hands as being a good hand then I'll let them shake all over the place when I throw out a second barrel but generally I try to just be calm and eat some food to get my blood sugar stable lol

A gentleman never tells, either. You want to think about why you want to show a hand. At least at LLSNL cash play (2/5 or lower) your problem isn't getting people to call, it is to get them to fold. I don't care what you do, if someone has Q high on a flop, they just aren't going to look you up no matter how many times you showed a bluff.

No need to show - but I think he would of called if he had a club.

I have a tendency to shake in big hands as well (bluffing or monster), and I actually don't try to control it because I do it in both situations. It's just from the adrenaline rush.

I've had people fold and comment they "knew" I had a monster because my hands were shaking (IDK who you are playing against, shaking hands are almost always supposed to indicate extreme strength, not a bluff) and I just smile. When I actually have had a monster and get called, I'll call attention to my shaking hands since I can use it to bluff as well.

For me it's purely an adrenaline response and apparently I get just as excited trying to pull off a bluff as I do when I'm holding the nuts.

This !
My hands are shaking too when playing big pots, no matter if I have the nuts or pure air. Lately I am really trying to work on my body language, and I havent gotten any comments on my hands, or any other part of my body, since. At first it took a great amount of focus to really controll my body, now its just routine.
As for showing a hand: I usually never show a hand if I dont have to, only if its a straight flush / royal flush. I rarely ever show a bluff. Usually only if my opponent has talked trash about me a lot on a table (happens more often than you would think, although I acutally never talk when playing), just to tilt them a little bit.
Online I have Never Show Winning Hand or whatever the option is called activated.

Just my opinion on that, although I am Gentleman - so what do i know

interesting. I actually have what are called "inessential hand tremors," ie my hands shake constantly. I actually take medication to control it because of live poker lol. I just prefer to actually be able to control what "tells" I give off.

As for showing hands, I sometimes show big hands because people tend to think I am always bluffing lol. But mostly I never show.

If your hands are shaking all the time, it's not a tell.

I shake my leg constantly while I play, so it means nothing. After someone pointed it out, I'm not careful to not shake my leg, I'm careful not to stop shaking it while I'm in big pots.

For me, my "tell" is a slight tremble I get when someone's staring at me while taking a long time to make a decision after I made a large bet. But the good news is, I do it whether I'm value betting or bluffing. When I'm value betting, I'm hoping that they think I'm nervous and call. When I'm bluffing, I'm hoping they think I'm shaking from adrenaline and fold

In certain cases, it might be +EV to show a bluff as a woman. There are still those who try to run us over. Hell, sometimes other women even try to run me over!

If someone thinks I'm weak-tight and specifically targets me with overly aggressive play, I'll sometimes show a re-bluff such as a 4-bet bluff pre-flop or a check-raise turn semi-bluff to send the "I'm not weak-tight so stop picking on me. I'm not going to fold" message.

In the example in the OP, I would never, in a million years, show the bluff. Let the entire table think you have the nuts.

I would say that a majority of the better players that play 1/2, do not bluff that often, but would bluff often [or atleast sometimes] on "good" bluffing spots -- such as: 4 to a flush, one card straight, A river after four low cards, flushdraw on flop hits river, etc. This is because elite players are seldom playing 1/2, and because bluffing in general is not a good way to win at low limits (because players are in general paying off too much.)

In general, showing is usually -EV, but it may be correct to show a bluff because many guys have a big problem with getting bluffed by a girl and it can induce all sorts of extra spazzes, which is what you probably want if you are generally valuebetting.

The first time I played live poker was on a cruise ship and it was LHE and a guy folded to a standard c-bet because he could tell I had a monster because my hands were shaking (I didn't have a monster and I didn't even notice my hands up to that point).

I've never had anyone call a bluff due to my hands shaking but ironically they shake much worse when I'm bluffing.

I don't buy this whole "poker nest" thing. I understand why you would have that urge, but strategically we need to raise this hand, so you need to force yourself to do that.


I don't think women should show bluffs at the poker table. Women being really tight players and not being capable of bluffing is one of the most widespread stereotypes in the poker world. Take advantage of that. If I was a woman I would make sure to make at least one cold 4 bet bluff every single session, you can make people fold all hands except AA which is a really powerful position to be in.


One of my roommates last summer was a pretty blonde girl who played 2/5 at the wynn a lot. I was playing with her one time and she bet the turn on a 4cJc5d9c board and got called. After he called she said" uuummm...can i raise?". The guy in the pot with her looked at her like she was crazy, she potted the blank river, he folded and she flashed me a red card. It was the best use of girl power i have ever seen at the poker table. guys will underestimate you, understand that and profit from it.

Elky once said in an interview that with regard to image it is far more important to understand ones image than to create one. Generally trying to create an image is going result in you not making the best possible decision in each individual hand. If you are trying to cultivate the image of a maniac, you will find yourself in too many spots where you hand has no equity. If you are trying to cultivate the image of a nit you will find yourself folding it spots where calling or raising would have been a more +ev play. Just play the best you can every hand. Every once in a while take some time to reflect on how others probably perceive you at the table, but dont let it effect strategic decisions during the hand.

U should never show unless u have a lot to gain. I only show a bluff to put people on tilt or so that I can just wait for a big hand after that and get action

I tend to agree, but since I'm sometimes tight enough (or perceived as tight enough) to qualify as a super nit, if I'm having trouble getting paid off, then showing an occasional bluff can help me get paid on future hands.

I don't do this often.

I don't recommend showing your cards if you aren't called. If you decide to do so, I think it should be with a specific reason in mind. For example, in the first rounds of a NL tourney, I'm not interested in picking up the blinds and will usually fold on the button if I don't have a hand since risking $125-$150 to pick up $75 from the blinds isn't a great risk/reward. I would rather them remember that I folded on the button so that later in the tourney, it will be easier to steal from late position. Therefore if I get a great hand on the button like K-K, and I raise and they fold, I will usually show the kings so that they think I have a hand when I raise on the button.

I think it is usually wrong to show a bluff because it will tend to get people to call a bit more lightly in the future. People remember bluffs. Bluffing should be one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal so why would you want to make it less effective in the future by showing a bluff? However, if you don't intend to bluff again (not a good idea IMO), that would be a reason to show the bluff.

Basically the only time I ever show is if there is a big fish at the table who is an action junkie and he perceives me as being nitty. I want his action, and I want him to know I'm willing to gamble with him. Yes, I can sit there and steal a few bb's off him with my nitty image for a while, but if he's someone that is certainly going to bust soon to someone at the table, I like to make sure I'm in the running for his entire stack. Otherwise, no. I really never show.

- A few hours into the first time I played live, I was UTG+1, but lost track of the button and thought that it was my turn to be in the bb. I reached for my chips, but before I actually put my chip out there, I realized my mistake and put the chips back in my stack. UTG mucked, I look down at AA and raise... After the hand was over, UTG (a kind, older gentleman who played about 98% vpip), told me that he had folded because he saw me reach for chips before he entered the hand so he knew I had a monster... Cost me two dollars, but it was a cheap way to learn a lesson about "preloading"

- As far as showing cards, I rarely do it, but I with my normal home game crowd, I will occassionally let them choose one card if I know that one card could represent a value hand while the other could signify a bluff. For example, the other day I triple barreled Ad5d on a 6d4d6hTcKc board where my opponent open folded pocket 7s on the river... I let him pick one card, he flipped over the 5 and went on monkey tilt for the rest of the game. So, I agree with the consensus of (a) rarely showing and (b) only doing it for a particular reason.