When somebody can’t define YOUR range then he or she is in big trouble.
Now of course, playing with just about any 2 cards also means that you will lose a lot of hands. The best way to get the cake and eat it too is to establish a loose image early on and then tighten up your game, while still bluffing every now and then.
It works wonders. For some reason people never believe someone to be capable of changing gears midway. Once they place you within an archetype and a range they will almost never readjust that image no matter how your game evolves.
Also another fact that works to your advantage is a simple psychological mechanism. People tend to remember the bluffs, but not the genuine hands, they remember the active players and tend to forget those that fold a lot. So show your bluffs and you can profit from it.
This is also the reason you should muck your cards. Showing cards helps your opponents gain more information about your range of hands. While it may be tempting to shut up a big mouth who thinks you’re bluffing, this only helps your opponent get a feel for your play style. But I think there is one exception; when you’re first sitting down at a table, it may be wise to reveal a winning hand to establish credibility for a big bet, which can help make opponents more respectful of future plays— some players are willing to pay to make sure a new player is honest.
I think there is one situation where showing a hand could be beneficial: showing a bluff after a pushing your opponent to fold and winning a sizable pot. If you know your opponent is an aggressive or emotional player, you can push him into tilt, causing him to form an irrational association between you and bluffing that, if encouraged, will persist in the face of any evidence to the contrary. This makes it much easier to punish him for risky play in future hands when you have monsters.
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