Show One Show All

In my May column I wrote about a series of head scratching hands that I had been a part of. I asked readers to write in about the hands and what they thought of the play of each player. Wow, the responses were overwhelming! Not only did many people take the time to analyze each hand, the responses were very well thought out, and in many cases gave an accurate analysis of the player. In my next column I will give my analysis of each hand.

In May I played in the World Poker Tour main event at the Mirage. Early in the event (I didn't last very long) a loose player moved all in on a flop of A-10-4. When everyone folded, he showed an ace to the table and tossed his hand in. Another player immediately asked the dealer to show the other card. The dealer, to his credit, took the hand and put it into the muck without so much as acknowledging the request. The player that had asked to see the hand then said to the dealer, "I asked to see the other card, why didn't you show it?". He then glanced around the table to see if he was getting support from any of the other players. The player to my right gave him the support he was looking for and started to scold the dealer for not showing the other card.

It was at that point that I couldn't stay quiet any longer. I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to rules, and I often find myself speaking up when a ruling is being made that is incorrect or a when a player is taking advantage of a situation due to a timid dealer. But in this case, I didn't feel the need to support the dealer until the players started to gang up on him. In my nicest tone, I told the players that there was no such rule that would allow them to see the other card, and if any poker room they played at had such a rule, the cardroom should be shut down.

You see, this is a situation that I have felt strongly about for as long as I have been playing cards. Over the years I have run into this situation often, where players will refer to the "Show One Show All" rule, and thinking they can manipulate an inexperienced dealer or floorperson, actually get a dealer to show the other card when only one has been exposed by the player. At times I have even heard of players talking management into changing the rule, or adding another rule, that would make it legal for them to ask to see it!

Time to step off of my soapbox.

Quoted from Bob Ciaffone's rulebook (which I consider the bible of poker rule books), the Show One Show All rule reads: Show one, show all. Players are entitled to receive equal access to information about the contents of another player's hand. After a deal, if cards are shown to another player, every player at the table has a right to see those cards. During a deal, cards that were shown to an active player who might have a further wagering decision on that betting round must immediately be shown to all the other players. If the player who saw the cards is not involved in the deal, or cannot use the information in wagering, the information should be withheld until the betting is over, so it does not affect the normal outcome of the deal. Cards shown to a person who has no more wagering decisions on that betting round, but might use the information on a later betting round, should be shown to the other players at the conclusion of that betting round. If only a portion of the hand has been shown, there is no requirement to show any of the unseen cards. The shown cards are treated as given in the preceding part of this rule.

A player who shows one card is never obligated to show the other card. I advise any cardroom that has a rule contrary to the one above, or is considering a rule, should think twice about it. A few overzealous players who don't like to be needled, and don't like to be told no, should not be able to change your rules.

Michael O'Malley is the poker room manager for www.Partygaming.com and can be reached at [email protected]. His website is updated regularly at www.rzitup.com.