Thou Shalt Not Show Your Cards to Another Player

In my last column I discussed flashing cards in cash games, but flashing cards in a tournament is a horse of a different color, so to speak. A friend of mine recently played a small Omaha high-low tournament at a Las Vegas casino in which the player in seat No. 1 (a well-liked, regular tournament player) continually flashed his cards after folding to the player in seat No. 2. In a threehanded pot between the flasher, the player in seat No. 2, and the player in seat No. 6, the lady in seat No. 6 complained to the dealer and asked him to warn the flasher. She knew that giving an opponent an unfair advantage over others in a tournament by showing him your cards is a violation of tournament rules, ethics, and etiquette.

"I've already warned him," the player-friendly dealer responded.

"Then call a floorperson," she requested. At that time, player No. 1 folded his hand and the dealer continued without calling the offense to the attention of the floor. Clearly, the tournament manager should have given the careless flasher a stern warning, because he already had received a warning from the dealer. If the floorperson then had to return a second time, the flasher should have been given a 20-minute penalty away from the table.

When you are going to fold your hand, is it OK to flash your cards to the player sitting to your right, who already has folded his hand? Technically, this is not a violation of rules, because the information cannot be helpful in the current hand. However, the danger is that someone still involved in the pot may accidentally get a view of the exposed cards. Another reason not to do it is that the player who is seeing the flashed cards will get a line on your play and can use it against you. This also gives that player an advantage that no one else at the table has – and that's what made the lady in the opening example so mad.

A reader who had watched the final table at the 2000 World Series of Poker asked me whether it was OK in heads-up play for T.J. Cloutier to show his hand to Chris Ferguson after Ferguson had folded against T.J.'s raise. My answer is yes, that's OK, because the hand was over and showing his cards did not influence the outcome of the hand. Many times, a player will do this in order to create an impression in his opponent's mind as to what he may do in future hands under similar circumstances. The impression may be either false or true.

Is it ever "legal" to show your cards to anyone, even a railbird or a sweater, in a tournament? If the hand is still in progress, the answer is a definite no. Another no-no is speculating on the strength of a player's hand while the hand is in progress. Many players pride themselves on their ability to read other players, making comments such as, "I know you've got aces," or, "You must have A-K." It's OK to say things like that if the action is heads up, but when other players also are involved in the pot, such "spot analysis" is out of line. Even players who are not involved in a hand occasionally give a running commentary on the play of their tablemates. These guys are even more guilty of poor tournament conduct.

Suppose that you are playing Omaha high-low. On the river, you bet with the best high hand. Your final opponent appears to be ready to fold, but lifts his cards from the table to take one final look-see and exposes them to his neighbor, who says, "Oh, you have a low." Your opponent then quickly calls the last bet and splits the pot with you. This is a major breach of poker etiquette. The "one player to a hand" rule always applies in tournaments, and it is the responsibility of each player to be able to determine the strength of his own hand. I believe that a penalty should be enforced upon the player who spoke out of turn. You don't know whether the caller would have called had he not been told that he had a low. This is a good reason why players need to leave their cards flat on the table at all times. Sometimes it's just carelessness, but no matter how or why it happens, exposing cards or calling them at the tournament table is just plain bad for the game. When cards get exposed for any reason at all, we can and should expect players to complain and dealers or floor personnel to take action.

I was impressed with Erik Seidel's description of a situation in which three dealers in a row in a big cash game were dealing the cards "high" and an expert who was with Seidel told Erik exactly what the cards coming off the deck were. "Scared me to death," Erik said (in Card Player's "Interview With a Champ"). It scares me, too, folks, because a dealer's expertise is so important in tournaments. Let me cast my vote right now: I am in favor of Erik's suggestion that the deck should be kept flat on the table and the cards should be dealt in the European fashion, by pushing them with a finger flat across the felt. With the deck flat on the table – and every tournament player following suit by keeping his cards flat on the felt in front of him – card flashing would soon become only a flash in the pan.

Keep your cards to yourself, your intentions clear, and your emotions even, so that one day soon we may meet in the winner's circle. Till then, I hope to hear from you at my website, www.tournamenttalk.com.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the co-author with T.J. Cloutier of Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em. For more information on the Championship series of poker books, visit www.pokerbooks.com.