Playing in a 1-2 match the stack last night in Houston, been at the table about 4 hours and a quiet spewy LAG (Villain) sits down on my right. I've played with him a couple times before covid hit, hes...... fun.

OTTH:

No Rake, $10/hr seat charge
Effective stacks: $700

Preflop:

Clueless UTG straddles for $5
Villain opens to $25 in CO
Hero flats OTB w/ 9s10s
UTG flats

Flop ($78): 2d 7d 8h

UTG checks
Villain bets $50
Hero flats
UTG folds

Turn ($178): 2d 7d 8h 3s

Villain same bets $50
Hero flats

River ($278): 2d 7d 8h 3s qd

So at this point Hero is staring at the board and Villain mindlessly lifts his cards up off the felt to check them with his right hand and just slightly exposes Jd4h. Couldn't miss it, we are sitting in seats 4 and 5.

Villain bets $125

Pot is now $403

Hero should do which of the following?

A) Tell Villain he exposed his cards then muck our hand
B) Say nothing, raise to $300 and take it down, then say nothing
C) Say nothing, raise to $300 and take it down, then inform Villain he exposed his cards
D) Tell Villain he exposed his cards, then raise to $300

It's the player's responsibility to protect their hand at all times.

If you saw he had a full house and you had nut flush would you call out of principle?

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Villain should understand every you do at the table conveys information.

This is a strategy forum. Rules and ethics questions belong in the Casino and Cardroom Poker forum, so I'm going to move it there.

As for the strategy of the hand, raise the turn. Basically always raise same bets OTT.

All in

I would add that telling villain you saw his cards and offering to let him take his bet back (on the condition he must surrender pot) is an option.

E) Tell Villain he exposed his cards, raise to $300, and he still calls with J-high.

You don't have to tell him, but if you're friendly with him, tell him once. After that it's on him.

-1

There’s pretty much no way to both win this pot and to tell him that u saw his cards without him getting pissed off at u

Those are two independent non-related statements, and the first one is farcical.

If we tell villain we saw his cards, and therefore know he is never calling a raise - raising can look really obnoxious - and in fact, op would often call here if we could win without bluffing.

Villain tried bluffing you - Raise.

If he just checked, I say tell him you saw his hand and a modest value bet.

He tried bluffing the river, in and of itself deceitful (but obviously part of the game).

Obv you came here for opinions, but this is really all on you.

With this being HU you are under no 'poker' obligation to let an opponent know you have an inside scoop. It's no different than you having a timing or betting tell (other than the intel in this spot is probably 100% accurate) that is 'very' consistent.

AFAIC this is a 'normal' bluffing spot for you and you still risk the opponent actually calling you down and you losing the hand. So raise or fold are your options pending any physical or timing tells that the opponent puts on you!

Personally I would probably wait a hand or two and see if similar spot(s) pop up, hopefully when you aren't in a hand, and then let them know what you've seen. CERTAINLY if it comes up when others are in the hand I would announce it as soon as action was on me if you are going to remain in the hand ... it's moot if you fold so stay silent. But in that case I would make it a point once the hand is over.

Trying to chat/angle this while the hand is going on with a Player that you may not have an extensive history with ... or may go off ... might turn the table dynamic upside down and may even cause the Player to leave, which probably would make the others 'not happy' with you. GL

PS ... Raising here is not an angle, it's game play IMO. I would probably withhold the 'extras' that I so love to participate in while playing HU.

Ethically, in this spot. You should make the same action that you would have if you didn't see the cards. I understand that it might not be clear, but doing your best to act the same, at least leaves you with a clear conscience if you raise and take it down.

What would you do if they bet and accidentally fumbled with the cards and dropped them face up for all to see?

I'm all for honesty and integrity. Bluffing is fine.

I would let the player know you saw, at least the first time. In this case, I don't know that I mention it until the hand is over. I wouldn't wait too long, as I'd feel bad if it happened again before I made them aware.

100% if I'm the hero in this spot, I raise and then get insta-called by the villain that somehow misread his hand or some **** lol

I would likely tell villain I saw his cards before he bet. He is then going to check and I am going to bet. This is on him for exposing his hand.

But in general I wouldn't see his cards because I would either have warned him to be careful before they were exposed or I wouldn't be looking at the cards when they were exposed.

If for some reason I do see the cards and I don't tell him before he bets, I would not tell him until the hand was over. This is the toughest spot for me. But I think I have to raise here. Jokes on me if I don't go all in and then he does go all in.

The crazy part of this whole hand is what if he saw your cards? This all falls apart for him if you tell him you saw his cards before he bets. So now if he bets you can be fairly certain he saw your cards...

One of my fond poker memories was playing 5-5-10 PLO and a pot is head-up on the river, Player A (Reg) is out of position and Player B (Old gentleman must have been late 70s early 80s) has the turn betting lead, the river significantly changes the nuts, both flush and str8 draws get there.

Player A, who had been playing quickly, takes his time and picks his hand off the table immediately looks at his cards, and puts his cards back on the table. Player B interprets this as a check and snap tables his hand (one pair A with a K kicker)(reminder this is PLO) Player A goes "whoa, I never checked" and calls the floor. The floor rules that player A may act as he pleases and player B hand is live and he is welcome to play it face up. Player A pots it into player B who snap calls ~1000 dollars with Top Top in PLO and was good.

That's where he gets the guy that is trying to be greedy.
If Hero plays the cards as he would without any information, he folds to the bet. If he tries to get greedy and gets snapped off... ROFLMAO.

That probably has happened to most of us.

Personally, I don't think there aren't many things as tilting as betting the river with a busted draw and getting called by someone who proudly announces "straight" and then tables a better busted draw.

I think that's one of the situations where ethics probably dictate to tell villain and fold but while in the middle of the hand I might just raise TBH.