When to Look at Your Cards

Phil Gordon says not until it's your play (Gordon, Little Green Book, p. 26). Cloutier/McEvoy say look at your hand as soon as you have both cards (C/M 121). Gordon's reasoning: if you look before play gets to you, you might lose interest in the hand and not pay attention to play in front of you. Or you might give the other players a tell if you have a good hand.

Cloutier/McEvoy's reasoning: if you look quickly, you'll be free to observe what's happening. Basically same reasoning as Gordon, just different approach. According to C/M, you won't miss what's in front of you and you'll have plenty of time to watch the players behind.

Holdemscholar tried it both ways at the Midnight Madness tournament at the Taj and found that, all else equal, he preferred looking immediately. This allowed me to interpret what was going on with other players in light of what I was holding. I could start thinking strategy immediately. This was particularly true when I was in early position, such as 2nd or 3rd to act. If I waited until play got to me, I felt like I was rushed to make a decision on my hand. This could just have been inexperience but, for now, I like the Cloutier/McEvoy advice. I have read elsewhere, can't remember precisely where, a pro saying that only novices look at their cards immediately. Well, apparently this pro has never played against Cloutier. I'll keep this an open topic.