You have played the pre-flop, flop, turn and river hand and now is the time to show your cards. Should you “muck” (“give your cards back to the dealer keeping them hidden”) or show them?

For most of us, this is one of the easiest decisions to make in poker. You have to respect the rules. If you are the first to act, it is customary to show your hand. If your opponent shows their hand first, you show when you beat them and hide them if they don’t. But sometimes weird things happen. I will discuss some of these situations that I have encountered in this article.

Do Not Reveal Your Hands In A Big Pot… Attention!

When you’re in a big pot, you shouldn’t throw your hand away too quickly.

I got there while I was playing a game of € 2/4 poker at the Deauville live online casino Malaysia . An inexperienced guy (let’s call him “Noob”) had AK and the flop was AJ6 with two hearts. His opponent (“Reg”) bets the flop and Noob calls.

The turn is the 5 of spades. Reg bets and Noob calls again. The river is the 9 of hearts. The Reg goes all-in. Apparently Noob thinks Reg is bluffing because he pays. Reg very calmly returns KQ reds. Noob looks at him in disgust and throws his hand down. The rest of the table stares in disbelief at Noob who throws his hand down. You pay and you can’t beat height K? Reg had the K of hearts and Q of diamonds. Noob made a good decision. But Noob only saw the two red cards and he then thought there was a flush in the face… But, he was wrong, but since he threw his cards, he loses the pot!

What can we learn from this? It’s simple, if you’re betting big make sure you take a good look at your opponent’s hand twice before deciding you’ve lost and throwing your hand away. And when you’re still not sure you’ve won or lost (because you’re drunk, blind, or stupid), don’t throw your hand away, show it and let the dealer handle it.

I remember when I started out in poker, I threw a straight… I realized this when the other player said to me “I had little that you are 87 for a straight”. Fortunately, it was in an associative tournament.

Don’t Always Bluff  Your Cards

Some people bluff on the river and throw their cards away as soon as they are paid. You should never do this!

There are two reasons why you shouldn’t do this. First of all, because it can easily be exploited by experienced players. When they notice you are doing this, they will call you out with any hand when they think you are bluffing because they know you are going to throw even before the cards are revealed. That way they win even if they don’t have anything either.

Also, it sometimes happens that people pay you with the ace high if they think you are bluffing. You might think you are bluffing, but you still win the hand. For example, you have ace-two on a 2KQQ5 board and your opponent calls you with AJ, thinking their hand is better.

Additionally, showing a bluff can be good for you if you have a tight image. If your opponents see that you are able to bluff, they might call you more easily when you have a good hand.

In addition, you miss out on some important information. You would like to know which hand your opponent paid you with. Did he have a huge hand or did he just read your hand well? If he had a big hand, you could try a bluff again even if it’s not very well built. If he had an average hand, you should bluff less against that player and bet harder to pay off when you have a big hand.

Finally, it’s a little rude not to show your hand after getting paid. If your opponent has the guts to call you out, they deserve to see your hand. Don’t fool around and show some respect. After all, poker is a social game.

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