The significance of a player’s showdown percentage
Bluff those who don’t like to stick around
The showdown percentage of a player is one of the most important stats to be aware of in no-limit hold’em. Since on the face of it no limit hold em provides ample bluffing opportunities, you can win a lot of money by pushing tight players out of pots. However, the reality is that players come in all shapes and forms and liberally bluffing a player who regularly goes to the showdown is a recipe for disaster
Look before you leap
So before you even start a game, look at the percentage of hands going to the showdown in the game and which players and what sorts of hands are they holding when it goes to showdown. This is easily done online, often, site depending, you don’t even have to look at the game. You can just keep the table open and come back half an hour later and review the hands either via the chat box or some hand history option.
Use poker tracking software can help you
Furthermore there is even software such as Holdem Manager and PokerTracker that you can save your own hand histories so if you have played against an opponent before you already will have some vital information about their showdown percentage as well as other information.
Can’t bluff, just relax and wait your turn
What you are looking for in a game is many showdowns. While pure bluffing becomes next to impossible in a game where many players will routinely call you down all the way, if you stay patient you can earn a lot of money in such games where players refuse to drop marginal holdings. In short, you make money from these loose poker games by making players pay to go all the way to the river when you do have a good hand. If people look you up too frequently, you can punish them for their fishiness by making decent sized bets, perhaps even pot-sized or even larger bets on occasion when you catch a top hand, i.e. big overpair or better.
