| by Al Sousa (site owner)
We have all read that we should not look at our hole cards till
it is our turn to act. It seems logical to do this but what are
the real reasons why? What difference does it make if we look now
or later? Here are some situations when you peek before and what
could happen.
Tells: Lets say you quickly peek at your hole
cards before its your action and find 2 aces. How do you react?
Are you calm or
nervous? Well no matter how cool you think you are probably
giving something away about your hand. Even if your hand is terrible
you react a certain way and may affect the actions of other players
behind
you. We are all human and subject to emotion or non-emotion to
different stimuli. A perceptive opponent will pick up on this
and exploit it at sometime during the tournament.
Many weaker players love the excitement
of looking at their cards before its their turn. If its a good
hand they start
paying attention to the other players. If its bad they look elsewhere
and may even hold their hands to toss them. Watch for this to take
advantage of it.
Attention Span: Peeking at your
cards before the action comes to you shifts your attention from
the action at the table to "how am I going
to play this hand" or "this hand isn't important" and you drop
your table attention. A very important part of poker is watching
other players. Peeking at the hole cards distracts you from doing
so when you have a hand and when you don't. You might miss someone
else's raise or how many opponents limped in. You might miss a
player behind you peeking at their cards and their reaction.
If I wait everyone will be watching me?!: That
is true but in this case it is expected. They know its now your
turn to act and
the
action won't move on till you decide what to do. You can take time
and think, ask questions, look around the table. You now are prepared
for your hole cards and can mentally adjust to trash or rockets
and play accordingly. It is much better to have the whole table
watch you look at your cards when its your turn and you are prepared
to do so than give away information earlier or miss information
that can cause you to misplay a hand.
Watching and Listening: Both these actions are passive at the
table and require less mental energy than dealing with what to
do with your hole cards and the action at the table. If you are
a male players this is very important as men have trouble focusing
on two things at once, thinking about their hand and listening
for example. Focus on what is happening around you then shift your
attention to your cards. You pick up more by doing so.
It slows down the game: Actually it does not.
If you stop paying attention at the table you might have to ask
the dealer "who raised",
"whats the pot", "how many limped"? This causes more delays than
waiting your turn. It also might cost you the tournament as you
might raise not realizing the guy with aces two to your right just
raised himself and now you are committed. Even if you disagree
with me, so what. You paid for that tournament you can take time
to look at your hand and decide what to do when its your action. |
