Something last night ... 3-way all-in on J74 .. board goes running 7s.
Player A, BB flips over JT, Player B, MP flips over QQ, Player C flips over cards but only shows a Jack on top. Dealer pauses, mucks A's, tables B's in front of the board and starts to muck C's cards when he goes nuts and says "I have Jacks full. He only has 7s full!" Dealer then re-tables B's hand and splits the cards showing JJ.
I have no problem with a dealer separating the 2 cards of a players tabled hand to make them both (more) visible. Obviously I prefer if a player does it, but it should be fine for a dealer to do it instead. Certainly that should be done before mucking the player's hand.
(Note that this is specifically different from having a dealer turn over any of a players cards.)
Separately, if it was purposefully done by the player, I would have the floor warn the player that if it had gotten mucked he would have had no recourse, so stop being a ****ing jackass and table your hand normally.
Every time a player does the routine where they stack the cards on top of each other so you can only see one I feel like I'm being set up as a dealer. I feel like the player is trying to put me in the position that they can complain no matter what I do.
If I spread them they complain if I insist they do it they complain.
Whether dealer should muck a hand just showing one faceup with other facedown is context specific. In a beginner game, or if player is obviously a novice at live games, if the one card is enough to beat all other tabled hands, dealer should educate player rather than screw him. If the one card is a loser, and it seems obvious he's just showing that he was ahead at one point in the hand, then muck 'em.
If only one card is visible and other is hiding underneath, I would prefer dealer fast spread them so that any dumbass slowrolling is kept to a minimum. And if the hand accidentally gets mucked now and then, so be it, stop being a dumbass if you want the pot.
In general I assume that when a player stacks his cards that his "tabled" hand should be exposed. Sometimes it is accidental and the player can argue with some justification that he laid both cards on the table face up.
I wouldn't give a crap if a player responded angrily (edit: I realize I would be foregoing some tips. And I would politely explain my rationale that I was trying to protect the player from an accident).
If the player only wanted the table to see one card, he will learn to turn over the card he wants everybody to see and not the other one. Or he will stop doing it altogether.
My post had an obvious error stating that the dealer re-tabled B's cards .. it was C's cards that were re-tabled (and split) but doesn't change the issue.
B clearly acted as if he had won the pot and was reaching for it but gave no resistance to C's claim once the cards were split up. GL
I played with a guy who would intentionally stack his card and then complete with sound effects (think clanking gears) slowly move the top card until the bottom was uncovered and finish with a swoosh sound effect. He did it at least twice in one short session. Once to me when I tabled 2 pair and he uncovers top pair and slowly reveals a better two pair.
For this guys if I were the dealer I'd be seriously tempted to instamuck his cards once he reveals just the one. Unfortunately I think he pretty much kept his hand on the cards the whole time.
Nothing like a slow roll that takes 5 seconds and comes complete with sound effects.
