An Unusual Ruling and a Bad Call

Dave Brown, from the Chicago area, e-mailed me recently to ask my opinion on a ruling that came up in an Illinois casino. This was the situation: It was a $2-$5 blinds no-limit hold'em cash game on the late shift. A new supervisor had just started working the late shift and had announced to the players the previous week that anybody exposing cards to other players would have a dead hand. This rule applied even if play was heads up. Dave stated that he had taken his concerns to other supervisors, but had gotten no response. Then, the inevitable -- from Dave's point of view -- happened. Dave was in the big blind, and the player to his left straddled it for $10. There was seven-way action for the $10, so Dave called $5 more with the 9 4 and saw the flop. The flop came K J 5, giving him a rare flopped flush. Dave decided to lead out, and actually overbet the pot, making it $100 to go. Everyone folded around to a late-position player, who raised an additional $200. After about a minute, Dave decided to expose his small flush, trying to get a reaction from his opponent. The supervisor came over and did not immediately declare his hand dead, but did put him on a one-minute clock. The supervisor then announced to the table that this was Dave's last hand, threw him two racks, and told him to pick up his chips, as he was done playing for the day. Dave timed out, and his hand was declared dead.

Dave asked for my opinion of the situation. He wanted to know if there were any governing rules on this heads-up situation with exposed cards. Dave asked, "Tom, what percentage of the casinos in the U.S. allow exposed cards when heads up? Any info on this matter may help me persuade the casino to change its policy!"

Well, Dave, I have plenty of opinions on this situation, but you are not going to like some of them. First of all, calling the extra $5 preflop was OK in my opinion. Leading out with the $100 bet was also a good play. Your hand would be vulnerable to anybody with a single big diamond in his hand if another diamond hit on the turn or the river. The $100 overbet helped make it expensive for anybody to draw against you. When you got raised an additional $200, things became sticky. This is where knowledge of your opponent comes into play. What is his playing style? Does he make a lot of aggressive moves or is he on the tight side? Would he raise with a pair and a flush draw, perhaps? You get the picture. Whether or not I would continue playing the hand at this point would be based entirely on my assessment of the situation at that moment.

So much for the hand analysis. Now, why in the world would you challenge a supervisor in this situation when you knew what his position was in advance? Whether it is a good rule or not, it is the casino's rule, and unless it had been changed prior to this hand, you were asking for nothing but trouble by exposing your hand. Do I think it is a good rule? Not especially. This is why I believe we need universal rules that are used in all casinos. This is becoming more of a reality in tournaments, thanks to the Tournament Directors Association, and this type of situation is covered in its rules. Its rule states that the hand is still live, but the player who deliberately exposes it is subjected to a penalty away from the table (a smaller penalty the first time, and larger penalties for additional infractions). I like this rule, but since you were faced with a different rule, you had to abide by it. What I wasn't quite sure of was why you allowed yourself to be timed out, and if you had called your opponent's bet, would your hand still have been considered live? I assume that it would have been, but I am not entirely clear about this point based on your e-mail. As to what percentage of casinos allow exposed cards when heads up, I have no idea. If you want the rule to be changed at this casino, perhaps get a petition signed by other players who agree with you. Don't expect to have them flock to your banner, however. Oftentimes, people resist change -- both players and supervisors -- or might not agree with your point of view.

Now, to change the subject, I am going to discuss a hand that was played recently at a supersatellite at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In the satellite, everyone started with 4,000 in chips, and it was now in the second round of play, with the blinds at 25-50. A player who was under the gun made it 150 with the A K. One player in middle position called, and so did both blinds. The flop came A J 9. The blinds checked, and the A-K, having flopped top pair, bet 500 into the 600 pot. Only the small blind called. On the turn, the 3 came, and the A-K bet 1,200 into the 1,600 pot and again was called by the player in the small blind. The J came on the river, and the small blind bet 2,000. The player with the A-K had 2,200 left, and said to himself, "I really don't think he would have called twice, drawing to the second pair." A backdoor flush was a possibility, but shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Well, I can't save this last 200, so I'm going all in." The small blind called and turned over the K 10 for the backdoor flush. He had called a preflop raise from the under-the-gun player, a big flop bet, drawing to a gutshot and a three-flush, and a turn bet, drawing to a flush as well as the gutshot -- still nowhere near a favorite to make his hand. Then, he bet out after making it. His bet was certainly correct, but his calls left something to be desired. What about his opponent? I will leave you with this thought: He could have folded on the river and still had 2,200 left, with which to make a possible comeback. He also could have saved his last 200. This was a bad call. If a player expects to be called on the end, especially the way this hand played out, he is not bluffing. Two pair just has to be beat in this situation. Simply fold and live to fight another day. Unfortunately, that player who went broke was me. Sometimes the teacher needs to remember the lessons he gives his students.

If your hand is not exposed and your A-K holds up, I hope to meet you in the winner's circle.



Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He can be found playing under his own name on PokerStars, and is happy to chat when he can.