Flipping Cards Over to Another Player

Hello,

Me and some friends played holdem the other night. A dispute appeared because of a certain move.

If I could remember it right, after the flop of the river card, a bet was made. Then there was player 2 who paused for some time as he doesn’t know what to do next. Few minutes passed and he then took his cards and put them in the hand of another player to show off his strength. Consequently, he announced that he was apprehensive as he may lose to a higher full house or the like.

At some point, player 2 never had his cards back to him. Well, the cards were actually in front of the player who was not in for the pot anymore. The cards were faced down. Player 3 then intruded and asked what should happen next. I then explained that player 2 folded and so as player 3 therefore player 1 should win the pot.

Player 1 as a reaction then showed his hand to inform everyone he wasn’t bluffing ever since the game started. Player 2 after knowing what player 1 had said that he’d be betting, therefore we we jumped over him without any doubt.

Personally, I believe that in the event player 2 flipped his cards over to another player, he will be disqualified from the upcoming betting rounds as well as from taking home the winnings. Am I right?

Thanks!

Peter Chik
Peter,

You were mistaken. Player 2 showed his card to a player that is not in a hand. While this is an ethical violation, it is not one that will cause his hand to be dead. The hand should have been played out. Player 1 showing his hand does not kill the action either. Player 2 still has the option to bet if he so desires.

Also, the player should not be asking advice of other players. While this does not affect the hand he is in. He may receive a penalty for doing.

A simple way to alleviate this in the future would be to institute a house rule that players may not show their hand to anyone while the hand is still in play.

Not Sure of My Moves

Hi there!

I played poker last night. At near mid part of the event, a player went all in although he only had river card to show up. I remember I had the A-10 straight then and a draw to the Queen high flush. On the board, well, a flush was possible however he seemed like bluffing and all. Eventually, I flopped my cards over and announced that I’ll still be pondering on if I’d call his bet or not. At such point, many players have given their opinions. Few minutes passed and I called all in. He had a two pair and so I won. He then had his cards as well as chips in and afterwards left in an instant. Well, without saying anything, we have had people throw cards up before.

Am I right by doing all of those?

Thanks!

Dino Todd
Dino,

Exposing your hand before calling an all-in move has been outlawed in tournament poker. This is considered a move used to get extra information in an unfair way. Some casinos allow this in a cash game, some do not. Many pro’s don’t like that this rule is in place, but the only reason one uses this is as a move trying to get a read.

Your opponent thought you were cheating, and based on the rules, you were.

Chip Stacking

Hi there,

I have a concern regarding chip stacking. Just the other day, I watched a live game. I’ve seen that the chips of one player were colored out with two colors. Also, he had his larger chips hidden behind the cheaper chips and had a cheaper chip on top of his larger chips. I don’t know why he exactly did such but I guess he wanted to deceive his opponents. Well, it actually appeared as if he had only stacks of cheaper chips.

Eventually, his opponent went all-in and unfortunately didn’t win the pot. Well, what’s surprising is that they later on discovered that they had the same amount of chips. Losing player was so upset and actually did question the rule about chip stacking and all. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you.

Regards,
Olson
Olson,

In a casino, larger denomination chips must be visible at all times as to prevent deception regarding stack sizes.