Waiting until it's your turn to look at your hole cards?

[MrBrightside]

this is exactly what I do. I take a quick look immediately as I get my 2nd card if I'm in early position or a quick look after I see UTG's response/action if I'm in late position. Furthermore, I don't really see why it takes people longer 5 seconds to decide what you are going to do preflop unless you are a noob.

Another habit I've gotten into: memorizing suits so I never look again. this way I don't give off that "I have to check if my ace is a heart after a flop of 3 hearts" vibe. I just repeat in my head the suits... like "ace hearts, jack diamonds". Once I do this, I don't have to look again. I once won a decent size pot because of this once ... the guy said later he didn't believe I had the ace of a suit that was four on the board because I didn't look back.

[runout_mick]

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I wait and I don't care if it slows down the action any [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] this is mostly tournaments and Higher NL cash games. Where its more then 1 -2 dollars to call...

PS I'm not worried so much of them getting a read on me, but I like to pay attention to get a read on them prior to my descions [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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This is what I do.

Before I look, my ranges are set in my head, and I essentially have my bet or raise amounts ready to go and in mind (if I choose to play, my bet or raise amount is not associated with my cards).

It takes me less than 1/4 second to fold from the time the action gets to me.

It takes me less than a second to say "Bet 25".

It takes me less than a second to say "raise to 80".

The only time I take time is if I have a tough decision, ala QQ with a raise a call and a reraise before me. I think you pre-peekers get stuck here too.

I agree that players taking forever suck, but don't blame it on them waiting to see their cards. I'd be willing to bet that I take less than 1/2 as much time to perform my actions as anyone on an average NL table.

I'm not the guy slowing you down, it's the poor players. The poor players will be slow regardless. Let them run their Hellmuthian routine and keep them happy and in the game. If you're harping on it, they just may take their chips and go home.

Just my $0.02...

[Wake up CALL]

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It takes me less than 1/4 second to fold from the time the action gets to me.


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Take this test then tell us you can still peek at and muck your hand in 1/4 of a second.

[terp]

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Don't sit there leaning back with your arms crossed and when it comes your turn only then look around, take a deep breath, lean forward and ever-so-slowly squeeze out the two cards, then set them down and ever so carefully cover them with your WSOP-brand Chip Protector, lean back and cross your arms again, look very thoughtful, stare at everybody again, and then very dramatically and very sloooowly lean forward again and ever so carefully remove your WSOP-brand Chip Protector, and flick the cards into the muck.

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funniest hypothetical in a long time

[runout_mick]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It takes me less than 1/4 second to fold from the time the action gets to me.


[/ QUOTE ]

Take this test then tell us you can still peek at and muck your hand in 1/4 of a second.

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Ok, I may have exaggerated a tad, but
I stand by my claim that I'm quicker than the average player by at least double.

[SlowStroke]

I am a contrarian on this issue.

If I can position myself so I can see my cards with a quick, fraction of a second glance, then I look before the action gets to me.

After playing thousands of hours, I'm not too concerned about giving off tells.

And I feel that the extra time I have to think and strategize more than offsets the risk of someone reading me.

[wrschultz]

I look VERY quickly when I get my cards... Then if I see a flop, I always check them as the flop is being dealt for confirmation... More than once I have initially misread my suits and it could have cost a significant amount of money. By looking right away, I have plenty of time to make my decisions, and I have plenty of time to watch each player.

[somapopper]

I wait to look at my cards because I don't like protecting a hand that I'm not going to play. If I put a chip on the cards, I think it takes me more time to remove the chip and muck then it does to look and muck. If I don't use a chip, I fear that the way I keep my hands on the cards/ the interest I have in the hand, will be a tell that I'm planning to fold.

I find it interesting that I'm the first person in this thread to express any reservation about giving off a tell themselves.

And of course, watching that first five seconds of action/ reaction seems pretty important to me. No, I can rarely look into the soul of a limit holdem player and say he has aces, but I can often tell if someone on my left is planning to fold.

edit to add: I don't really care if I slow down the game by a few seconds. I'm not going to be rude, but I'm not going to cater to the hyped up on goofballs crowd if there's any chance it's costing me.

[iron81]

One thing I usually try to do is look at my cards just before the action gets to me. That way, I can watch the other players look at their cards if I want, but I don't slow the game down.

[MrBrightside]

somapopper: I find it very easy to avoid giving off tells. I do the same thing everytime. I quickly glance at my cards and drop a chip on them, then watch everyone else. If i'm doing the same thing everytime, I don't see how that's a tell