Playing a self-dealt SNG tournament for low buyin. I'm dealing and situation came up when villain 1 bet big on the river and took down the pot with no callers. He showed his hole cards briefly to villain 2 beside him ( who had folded before the river) and tossed them on top of the muck. They were still clearly identifiable as his cards. I asked villain 2 had he seen villain 1's cards. I was very confident that he had but did not want to auto-flip as a courtesy. Villain 2 refused to answer and claimed no comment.
Rules-wise is he required to answer? My instinct was that he is not required to answer and in a B&M tournament the TD cannot make him answer but that under the spirit of the game and in order to maintain the integrity of the game he should, and hence acted immorally when he refused to do so.

This is something that we rules nits worry about a lot more than necessary. In the vast majority of real-life situations, SOSA is not a big deal.

The way I'd recommend handling it:

-- is anyone asking to see the cards? If no, muck them and move on. You don't need to by a tyrant as dealer, you're there to serve the players.

-- if someone is asking, could player 2 have seen the cards? Then you don't need a response from him, they should be shown to the table. Player 1 gave up his right to privacy when he made them visible to anyone at the table.

Thanks for the response. There was requests to see the hand, my main query was does the player have to declare that he saw the hand or not? Is the intention to show alone enough that the cards can be shown to the table or do they actually have to be seen by another player?

I would treat it the same as an exposed card. IF someone could have seen it, and someone asks, I'd show 'em.

Usually, I'm in favor of picking up the pace, and showing cards just seems to slow things down. In this case, I think I'd just flip them without much of an explanation/debate.

The scene: bright light, shinng in the eyes.
Knife sound, sharpening, in the background.
Black hooded figure can be seen, barely, in the shadows

Host: "So, punk- ya gonna tell us, or is Matilda over there gonna make you a REAL man?"



.... or, did you have a better method in mind, for the interrogation?

If it might have been seen, flip'em if you want to send a message... and potentially change the future tone of the group. Be careful that you don't reap what you've sown....

The observer doesnt HAVE to say anything...after all, he didnt ASK to see the player's hand, right? A conscientious and fair player, however, SHOULD and would respond that he had seen them.

So yes, your instinct was right. Immoral might be a strong word, but it applies. On the other hand, he may just be trying to avoid being labeled a "snitch", which is completely understandable and takes a bit off the "immoral" label.