It seems to be conventional wisdom that you should wait until it is your turn to act before you look at your hole cards. This is because you should be watching the other players as they look at their cards to try and pick up information. This was how I was taught to play poker, and it seems to be the norm still.

At some point in time, I heard Joe Navarro say a few things that made me think about this a little bit differently. He said that some of the most reliable physical tells that your opponents will give off occur in the split second directly after they look at their cards. They cannot hide their initial reactions because these reactions are part of the human physiology.

Knowing this, it seems like waiting until the whole table is looking at you before you look at your cards would be the worst option that you could choose. You should check your hole cards when nobody is looking at you at all if it is possible. You can usually find time to do this without missing any vital tells from your opponents, especially with all the stalling that people do these days at the table.

I'm pretty sure that I have plugged Joe's book a few times on the blog before, and this probably won't be the last time you hear me talking about him either. Joe Navarro was an FBI interrogator for 25 years and he probably knows more about table behavior than any poker player. If this kind of stuff interests you, I suggest that you check out his book; Read 'em and Reap. You can read more on his website; http://www.navarropoker.com/