To Show or Not To Show, That is the Question

In my last post, I said I would try turning off the always muck winning hand option so I could show the hammer when it wins the pot. I tried this on Doylesroom last night. With the option disabled, it gives you about 1 second to decide to show or muck. If you do not make a decision, I assume that your hand is mucked, but it is impossible to tell what it does. What I found out was very interesting. You become very tempted to show some of your hands when you have this option. I would be in the BB with something like 52o, and everyone would fold to to the SB who would complete. The flop would come down something like AQT, and the SB would check. I bet the pot ($2) and the SB folds, and I am so proud I just have to show this bluff. Or I would get JJ and raise preflop, and get 2 callers. Flop would come Kxx, and I would bet 2/3s of the pot and then show the JJ after everyone had folded. Or, I would win a couple pots in a row, pick up QQ, pop it 4x and show the Qs after getting no callers. In hindsite, I think showing your hands is a horrible idea, especially if you are multitabling. You are giving up way too much information about your game, for little or no gain. If you are going to show a hand, it should be for the purpose of confusing your opponents because you are about to shift gears and start playing differently. With 4 tables going, you do not want to be shifting gears all over the place, but should really be playing a consistent solid style that includes some deception. It is just about impossible to keep track of what table you showed the stone cold bluff on, and what table you showed a bet with a solid hand. I would highly recommend that you do not show your hands under any circumstances when multitabling. I can see some value of doing it in a live tournament, if you just made a play that you will probably not be making again to throw off your opponents. It is much easier to manage this at a single live tournament where you have the time to really keep track of your table image. Do not show, that is the answer!

Quick hammer update. Picked up the hammer in the SB and everyone folded to me. Popped it 5x, and the BB went all-in over the top. I folded. It seems strange that a hand like 72 does not hold up all the time. I guess that's poker.