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You Want to See That Hand? - No Problem

by Matt Lessinger

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As long as you were dealt into a hand, you have the right to see any called hands at the showdown. In a B&M cardroom, I feel it is OK to invoke that privilege occasionally, but extremely poor etiquette to use it continually. It not only creates an uncomfortable playing environment, it can turn a potentially good game into a poor one. For instance, when the player with the losing hand is a "live one," forcing him to repeatedly expose his losing cards could embarrass or annoy him, either of which could make him want to leave.

I know a couple of players who do the "I want to see that hand!" thing way too often. Even though I cannot stop them, my opinion of them definitely goes down quite a bit. I assume they are trying to gain information about their opponents' hands, but in a B&M game they should try to accomplish that while the hand is taking place; not at showdown, when the losing player simply wants to muck his cards unobtrusively.

Don't get me wrong. If it wasn't such poor etiquette, I would always want to know what cards my opponents were playing. In fact, I would consider that my job as a diligent poker player. If you also consider yourself to be a thorough, attentive, yet sportsmanlike player, then you are probably better off playing online, and here's why.

Yet Another Benefit of Online Poker

Most sites have a place in the top corner of the screen where you can click previous hand, and you will get that hand's action in its entirety. It will tell you every fold, bet, call, and raise that took place, and that's not even the best part. When you reach the end where the showdown is summarized, it will tell you every called hand - even the ones that were mucked without being shown - as long as you were dealt in.

Not only is this a fantastic tool, I also like the fact that you can use it as often as you like, without any of your opponents knowing you are doing it. This allows you to remain a good sport and not antagonize any of your opponents, while at the same time gathering valuable information about them.

Plus, if the others at your table are not using the previous hand feature habitually, then you are staying one step ahead of them. You know what cards a particular player had, which allows you to make profitable adjustments against him - adjustments that your other opponents may not make.

If you do not repeatedly take advantage of the previous hand feature, you really should. It is simply too valuable. You can see not only the types of hands your opponents are taking to the river, but also the actions they took throughout those hands. That gives you insight into their style of play, and may completely change the way you view them.

A Simple Example

You folded your hand preflop, but you are still watching the action (as a good player should). The board shows A-A-K-9-2. Player A bets on the river and Player B calls. Player A shows A-K for aces full of kings, and Player B mucks without showing. Obviously you know that Player A was betting a solid hand. But unless you use the previous hand feature, you have learned nothing about Player B.
However, your opinion of him will change drastically once you use that feature. Let's say you do that, and then reexamine the showdown. Think about how differently you would view the player in each of these scenarios, once you found that Player B had one of the following:

  • A-J for trip aces. In that case, it's clear he made a perfectly reasonable call, and just happened to run into a monster hand. In fact, depending on the action throughout the hand, he might even be commended for just calling on the river, and therefore only losing one big bet. Either way, you will probably show him some respect when you encounter him later.
  • K-10 for two pair, aces and kings. While his call is acceptable, it now seems a little less justified than in the previous example. It also depends on the action leading up to the river, which you would examine in the previous hand recap as well. If Player A's actions made it pretty clear that he had an ace or a bigger king, then Player B's call could be considered somewhat weak. But either way it's not terrible, and you probably won't formulate a strong opinion about Player B's genius or stupidity from this particular play
  • 3-3 for two pair, aces and threes. Now you might begin to wonder about him. What led him to stay in the entire way with an unimproved pair of threes? Even if Player A is a habitual bluffer, it's tough to justify calling him down with such a weak hand. So now you'll realize that Player B is definitely looser than you thought. Thus you should avoid bluffing him, and instead look for situations to make value bets.
  • Q-J for queen high. Believe it or not, there are many times I have used the previous hand feature only to find that the player who called on the river had no pair, and pretty much no hope. So now, in Player B's case, if you were giving any thought to bluffing or semibluffing him in future hands, forget it. Just wait for any semistrong hand, and expect to get paid off.

Just looking at the two extremes - the first and the last in the preceding - you can see what a huge difference it makes to know what a player called with. In one case you'll respect his action, in the other case you'll have no respect whatsoever. Believe me, when you are in a hand against someone who plays either of those extremes a short time later and flop something like middle pair, you'll be glad you have that information about him.

That's Just the Beginning

There are so many more benefits to the previous hand feature that I feel as if I merely scratched the surface. But that's OK. I'll see you next month, when we'll talk more about it. Until then, the important thing is just to make sure you use it. And if you're on a site that doesn't have it, maybe you should switch to one that does. It's one advantage you can't afford to pass up.

Matt Lessinger's Book of Bluffs is now available everywhere. You can purchase it at www.cardplayer.com by clicking "shop online." You can also find other articles of Matt's in his "Bet With Less" column in Card Player magazine. Please visit his website, www.mattlessinger.com, to learn more about him.

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