Possible new feature - "Hide My Cards"
During my training this morning, I was running max speed through a full ring session, being dealt only the button.
I was specifically playing hands where it was folded around to me on the button. When this instance occurred, I would raise 2.5x regardless of my cards (raise, any two). The 2.5x bet would often fold out the blinds.
This is a simple example, but it brought me to an idea for a new training feature - the possibility of hiding my cards during a session.
The idea of the "Hide My Cards" feature is that it would help players get away from the "I have [X,Y]" mindset and force them to start thinking about their position, other player's actions, opponent hand ranges, stack sizes, etc. - the things that often matter more than the two cards they were dealt.
The player could see their cards after the hand is played, along with everyone else's cards, by using the "Peek at End" feature.
My apologies if the ability to hide my cards already exists. If it does, I couldn't find it but would like to learn more about it.
Thanks
Welcome
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Comments
There isn't any way to have them dealt face down, but you can hide them by clicking on them. That feature is designed to simulate a live game where you have to remember what you have.
We actually tried your suggestion at one point and tons of people accidentally were hiding their cards and couldn't figure out why they weren't showing. So in the interest of avoiding confusion, we switched it back to always dealing face up. We've found the more options we provide, the more confusion occurs!
Thanks Allen,
So dealing cards face down was identified as a worthwhile training aid, developed, added to the system, and tons of people tried it, but because it was too difficult to teach users how to turn it on and off, the feature was removed from the site entirely?
What about making it more difficult to enable by adding a confirmation popup ("Are you sure you want to play this session without seeing your cards?") and/or defaulting all new sessions to "Hide My Cards" unchecked (off)?
I appreciate your consideration.
Thanks
No, almost no one used it (intentionally - almost all accidentally). It was developed to hide cards after they were dealt (not to keep them unseen completely), and almost no one used it intentionally the way we had it set up as an option. Mostly it was people accidentally clicking the option and getting confused. Playing with completely unseen cards is not good poker, so I don't think that is a useful training aid.
Most people who used the feature (and it was very few) complained that their cards should be shown initially, but wanted the option to hide them after they saw them to easily simulate live poker. So we just converted it to the click to hide. It was developed to allow people to hide cards after being seen, which I think is useful for live poker.
Ok, that's cool. Thanks Allen!
There is a fold button. If you are in a situation where it is impossible for you to win, you can fold even if it is checked to you, very much like mucking your hand in a live game.
I understand, because if I'm expecting folds and I'm on the button, my range can get very wide. I don't think you should be embarrassed getting caught. It could help you get big calls when you do the same thing with a good hand. In the world of business, this is deceptive marketing, but in poker, deception is part of the game. Of course I don't recommend doing this too much or you'll run out of chips.