Under what circumstances can a player's hand be declared dead by a tournament director, in circumstances where cards/info are disclosed during the hand? I'm not exactly sure of the rules covering this, and perhaps it varies from room to room.

Hand A.

Situation last night involved two overseas players who were friends and had greeted each other at the table a few minutes earlier.

The player in question is given a warning the hand prior about speaking in a foreign language at the table, against local room rules.

Then in the immediate next hand.

After substantial action, third player moves all in for 3/4 PSB on a 2c3h6h flop 6s turn.

Overseas player (the one cautioned the hand previously) thinks for a few seconds then as he is calling, says to his friend in a foreign language "i can only beat a flush draw here". His friend then pauses and folds.

We call the TD immediately. The player is given a warning only and advised that he will be disqualified from the tournament for any subsequent breaches.

Hand B.

In a different tournament with different players we're on a bubble. player raises then BB looks at hole cards and smiles. He then lifts his cards and shows two other players not in the hand. He calls. The flop comes Kxx. He says 'I've hit the flop' and bets small.

Stakes are high, so raiser calls the TD and asks for a ruling. the hand cannot be declared dead, but the BB is cautioned and all players asked not to disclose cards to anyone at the table during a hand.

I have never seen a hand declared dead in a poker room. Except when a player threw it forward facing a bet and then tried to retrieve it. Or a player discarded his hand face down at showdown, could not regain physical possession of his hand (the dealer had it) but the hand was not in the muck.

I have seen players warned not to do things like OPTAH warnings. But because the player who receives the help hasn't explicitly asked for it, the TD wouldn't kill their hand because in theory the player could have figured out his hand was good (or bad) on his own.

I am surprised that in Hand A the foreign player who spoke the 2nd time in a foreign language was not given a one round penalty.

In Hand B, the hand will never be declared dead. But the Floor could easily have ruled that what was said was the equivalent of exposing cards during a hand. Which could have resulted in a 3 hand penalty or a full circuit penalty.