Hi,

I got into a disagreement the other night. The turn card was dealt before some players had acted. The card exposed would have given me the nuts. I turned to my friend who was not in the hand and showed him my cards.

Is this action of showing cards during a hand against the rules (every poker rulebook every written)?

In Mike Carros book of tells he talks about getting reads off of the bystanders who are shown a players hole cards. So how can showing cards be against the rules in all rulebooks?

The WSOP rules state:
116. Exposing Cards and Proper Folding: A participant exposing his or her cards with action pending will incur a penalty, but will not have a dead hand. The penalty will begin at the end of the hand.

But does this include showing cards to a player not in the hand?

And in the Australian Poker League (APL) rules it states:
The following actions are improper, and grounds for warning, suspension, or barring a repeat offender:
- Revealing the contents of a live hand in a multi handed pot before the betting is complete

My question regarding the APL rules is, "Revealing to who?" We can't reveal the contents of our hand to players still in contention for the pot obviously, but can we reveal our hand to all others?

Thanks

The answer is NO , to nobody ! Its unfair and unapropiate ..

Where is the official ruling on this?

Not against any rule that I know of.
But ...

Can be interpreted as asking for advice ... a no no.
Your neighbor can offer unsolicited advice ... another no no.
Most rooms would honor a request that your cards be shown after the end of the hand (Show One, Show All).

Showing your cards to a neighbor is typically not against the rules in most rooms. We had a thread exactly like this recently in which Suit stated that it is against the rules in his room.

While not against the rules, it is quasi-unethical because of the potential for cheating like the poster above explained. It would be better for all poker games if it didn't happen.

I would have thought it was only bad for the player who shows their cards because observant players can get reads off the person being shown. Clearly a player can not receive any advice on how to act in the hand, but from what I'm reading it seems it is LEGAL to reveal ones hand to someone not contesting the pot. Correct?

Are you okay with showing your cards to everybody else after the hand is over?

In the situation I gave in the OP, absolutely. (But if showing cards to a friend watching (not playing) I don't think someone should have to show everyone else at the table).

But the main question is: is it a consistenly official rule to not show any player your hole cards while in a hand? And the answer seems to be no. It is not a rule that is consistent amongst poker leagues and casinos. It varies. And the places that disallow it, I want to know which ones they are -- basically so I can win the argument I had

I never show my cards while a hand is in progress, although if the hand is over I will usually show my hand if someone requests that I do so. You might inadvertently show someone who is in the hand and influence the action. If someone passes me their cards after they fold so I can take a peak I just muck them. AFAIK showing your cards to anyone is forbidden, and if it isn't then it certainly should be IMO. You should never do anything that might threaten the integrity of the game, or even simply give the appearance of doing so.

In Caro's Book of Tells, he lists showing a friend your hand as a strength tell, so you may wish to abstain from this behaviour for that reason alone.

If you have revealed your hand to another player, you have exposed your hand. One could argue that you have now given that player information that can be useful that no one else has. One can also argue that you are soliciting a reaction or advice. If this is chronic behavior and other players have complained, you can be penalized (I have never seen a penalty after one instance of this behavior, especially since 90% of the time someone does this, they fold).

Every tournament rule set I know of has a rule against exposing your hand with action pending.

What exactly does "exposing your hand" entail? I thought it meant exposing your hand to players still in the hand.

For example, let's say I folded, and the hand played out, and then at the end of the hand I flip my cards and say "Hey, look, I would have had the nuts", would that be against the rules?

Or, what if I fold, and then show my hand to a player not in the hand? I'm still exposing my cards with action pending under the definition you gave IF the definition means do not show cards to anyone with action pending. However, if it means to not show cards to players still in the hands then it would be fine.

If you truly folded first, you don't have your cards any more.

The dealer does.

In the muck.

Obviously. I'm making a point. And it seems many are confusing the issue. I'll try and make it clearer, these are all DIFFERENT SCENARIOS:

1. I show my hand to a friend not at the poker table before throwing them in the muck.

2. I show my hand to a friend not at the poker table and continue in the hand.

3. I show my hand to a player not in the hand before throwing in the muck.

4. I show my hand to a player not in the hand and continue in the hand revealing my hand to the table when the hand ends.

5. I show my hand to a player not in the hand and they give advice.

6. I show my hand to a player still in the hand.

7. I show my hand to all players still in the hand.

Which of these are against the rules?

My thinking is: 5, 6 and 7. If 3 occurs rarely then it is okay, but if consistently should receive a penalty.

Any place that uses TDA rules should be against it, at least in tournaments.

I'd never heard of the TDA rules. Thanks for posting this, this is what I was looking for, it's the first time it makes it clear that the action is illegal.

Among other things, this rule prohibits showing a hand to ... another player, advisor, or spectator.

Ok, so that part is sorted, it is in some (if not most) cases illegal to show cards to anyone while in a hand. The next question I have is, is it ever explicitly LEGAL to show cards in ANY tournaments or casinos?

This might be the more difficult question because in some rulebooks it seems inferred rather than made explicitly obvious.

As a side note, I still think it's a bad rule. It is nearly always to the players disadvantage to show their own cards, to anyone.

You can see TDA rules here.

For your next question, it depends on house rules, which differ from room to room.

As a side note, it is nearly always to the players disadvantage to rip up his cards. It's still a good rule to ban ripping up your cards.

Right and that's the point I was making initially at the tournament I was playing in. The players spoke as though every poker game ever played, it was the official ruling, to never show cards at any point. It's clearly the most common ruling...

As a side note, it is nearly always to the players disadvantage to show his cards. It is a bad rule to ban showing his cards. Your example does not negate the strength of this argument. The reason it is bad to rip up cards, is because it slows down the game and costs the venue money. These reasons can not be applied to showing ones hole cards to people not in the hand.

The reason it is a good rule against showing one's cards is not because of any advantage or disadvantage given to the shower. It is because of the advantage given to some of the other players over others, and because it is unseemly to new / non-regulars in a room to feel like the regulars are often sharing information he is not privy to.

Showing cards to other players also slows down the game and costs the venue money (in lower rake). Not as much as ripping up cards does, but it slows the game down a bit. If another player then is forced to ask to see the hand so he doesn't have an information disadvantage, it then slows the game down even more.

Good points, makes sense. But on the odd occasion (for example when the dealer misdeals a turn card), I would think it is okay.

Exposing or revealing your hand after the hand is over is not the same as exposing your handwith action pending. If the hand is over, no action is pending, and you can expose your hand (though, in that case, you have to expose it to everyone not just one player). You are trying hard to find technical exemptions in a straight forward rule. You cannot expose your hand (to anyone) with action pending. This rule is not terribly vague.

So, let me make sure I understand. You acknowledge that there are good reasons for the rule. You acknowledge that the rule exists (though you are still valiantly arguing the technicalities of the rukle even thiough no techniocalities exist). Now you are arguing that the rule, although a rule for good reasons,shouldn't apply to arbitrary situations that you designate because...I am not sure why.

Dude, not to put too fine a point on it, but you were wrong and they were right. It maybe shouldn't have been made a big deal, but it is against the rules in most rooms and all TDA tournaments, and bad etiquette everywhere to be blatantly show your cards to one or two people with action pending. A lot of places, the regs won't make a big deal,because the recognize that someone who does stuff like that is exploitable usually. But that doesn't mean it is OK.

Haven't really digested all the posts ...

Poker is a game of (incomplete) information. The way you react, especially in a spot like this, will alert (most) others to 'better' information about your holdings, which in turn helps them make better decisions with their holdings.

Even asking the Dealer to set your cards to the side is enough for me to speculate about what you want to show us. Say you 3-bet PF from the B and are called in two spots. Flop comes JJ9 and you get Donked and called into. You pick your cards up, show your neighbor and slam them down in front of the Dealer while saying "Cracked again!!" My Gosh ... I wonder what you had? I'm totally lost here, can you help me?

I'm one of the first guys to say there's a time and place to enforce the rules. But there are limits. And those limits change depending on the setting you are in.

1) Home games are typically pretty loose with the rules, but they also can be tighter since the host needs to keep things reigned in depending on the Players.

2) Casino cash games are very room dependent and unfortunately can be 'run' by a few regs instead of the Floors.

3) Tournaments need the ultimate control of the game since Players not even at a table are affected by the actions of all the other Players and the influence they may have over just one hand can change the rest of the tournament. GL

It depends on the house rules and it could also be a violation of OPTAH. How does everyone know he's not giving you advice or signaling you to call or fold on a tough decision? Even if he sends a text message that you look at while your tanking. I agree with the rooms that will give you a warning for it the first time and kill your hand if you keep doing it.

Thanks for the input, I admitted I was wrong at the game last night and it's all good. Thanks for straightening out my crooked ways, especially @chillrob who helped me understand the logic behind it.

OK, but just to muddy the waters (just when you thought everything was clear), please be aware that at cash games in most rooms, showing your cards to a spectator or another player not in the hand is common and tolerated, and exposing your cards (when HU) is also mostly tolerated. Tournaments are much more strict about these acts.