We're not talking about looking where you're not supposed to here, or marking anything.
It's more about knowing what they had when you folded. Or when they folded.
Suddenly the game might be completely different.
It might even start making more sense.
You wouldn't need to second guess people. You wouldn't have to sulk in frustration (although that remains optional).
And your reading skills would be verified within seconds.
And that familiar bellyache of the beaten, "will you show if I fold?" would be a thing of the past.
Because in Showtime Hold'em, the new limited-time cash game on PokerStars, your opponents have to show their cards. It's in the rules.
Of course, that means you do too.
Showtime Hold'em is like regular hold'em, but with this one crucial difference -- every folded card is done so face up.
That counts whether it's pre-flop, post flop, on the turn or river.
Which makes this form of online poker one of complete information... at least eventually.
But while it might be about satisfying your curiosity, it's also about learning a new way of playing the game you already know backwards. Seeing what everyone has, and specifically what they fold, opens-up all sorts of new ways to think about the game.
So if you're curious about what your opponent's cards are, or how you might take advantage of this new information, check out the no-limit Showtime Hold'em games in the PokerStars client.
Simply log in to your PokerStars account and click the Showtime tab. Games with automatic seating start at $0.02/$0.04 (for a $2 buy-in). Or, click the observe button when prompted and watch how it's done.
Unless you're not at all curious about what cards the other guy had.
Read more about Showtime Hold'em, this time from the people who created it.