"I Want To See Both Hands"

I finished my last blog on a bit of a rant about having some degree of decorum at the poker table. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that a poker table should resemble tea with the Queen, but it shouldn't resemble a bar room brawl either. There are many reasons one plays poker. Some play for the competition, and to win money, others play for relaxation and entertainment, but whatever the reasons may be we all expect to play in a safe, non-hostile, yet still competitive environment. So one point which I briefly touched on a couple of months ago, and I will elaborate on here is when players ask to see one or both hands when one player has shown and the other mucks as they are beaten, or a player calls and his opponent says "good call" and mucks. Frequently, someone will say "I want to see both hands." When asked why they respond "I want to learn how they play." Well, man up, the rule which enables you to see both hands is for the suspicion of collusion. In fact when you ask to see a losing hand, you are calling a player a cheater. In the old west you might be shot down right there at the table or at the very least asked to go outside for a gunfight. What I say to those who want to see both or the losing hand, is learn to play better.

One story which I love, which took place at my local casino in Rancho Mirage, where a regular player who is nasty beyond belief, has a marginal skill set, and when he wins is really nasty, was beginning to run over the table in a limit game (getting lucky like crazy, and playing his rush). Then a huge pot developed, where it was capped with 4 way action pre-flop and on the flop. Capped with three way action on the turn, and then in heads up play on the river there were four raises. Finally the nasty guy called the last raise and turned over top set, his opponent looked crushed and is in the process of mucking his hand when the apparent winner say's "I want to see that hand." The other player had released the hand face down but it hadn't touched the muck yet and he flipped it over showing he had flopped top two pair, but wait a minute he also hit a back door flush and won the pot! So Mr. Nasty goes crazy as the pot is pushed to the other player. I absolutely loved it. After losing that pot, and don't worry he complained to the Floor Supervisor who ruled correctly since the hand hadn't touched the muck and the original player tabled it face up himself it was still live. The best news is that he then went on tilt lost all his chips, rebought and went bust again. It's rare in life and poker that you get to see justice served so beautifully, but it is sweet when it happens.

The Oracle

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Roy-Winston/36778