I can see your hole cards

I have a poker etiquette question....

Playing at a brick and mortar casino, the guy to my left (peaking at his hole cards) inadvertently keeps raising his cards where I can see them. I don't think he knew that he was making it easy to see his cards.

I felt morally obligated to tell him but on the other side of the coin, if he is stupid enough to show his cards then he gets what he deserves.

What should I do in this situation? Tell the guy or keep this lucrative information to myself? What are your thoughts?

This is quite the dilemma...I see what you're saying....

I'm thinking of it like this tho.

You're not so much cheating HIM if you don't tell him, you're cheating the rest of the players at the table. I also think that it might be an issue, if one of the table bosses noticed that you were looking, they MIGHT accuse both you and him of collusion which opens a whole new can of worms.....I say...you have to tell the guy.

yeah. i would tell him and then if he still does it your clear imo. you cant make him not do it. all you can do is give him a headsup. its then his responsibilty to handle it from there.

I wasn't even thinking about collusion....ouch.

I did finally decided on taking an action......I don't want to tell everyone what I did yet. I want to hear some further opinions. I promise I will tell but like a good book, I do not want to give away the ending :-)

Happens at least once a week to me. I always tell them.

Kinda feels funny taking advantage of em. Might even be considered cheating if the player didn't intend for you to see them, and you made some sort of positional change, eye movement, head movement, etc. to facilitate viewing them.


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we had a guy used to come to the poker house here in town, that whenever he leaned down and peeked at his cards, you could see a perfect reflection of his hole cards in his glasses if you were looking right.

i mentioned it to him and he always thought i was screwing with him. i would bring it up in the trnys every once in a while after that, but NEVER in the cash games..LOL

I just played my 1st live tourney about 2 weeks ago, the lady to the left of me let me know she could see my cards, we were packed tight, it was hard to be careful, so i started lifting them back away then got faulted from the dealer for them going past the table edge, wasn't sure what to do then, I managed somehow. I think its just wrong if you didn't tell him.

If you don't know him, I'd say take every advantage you can. The ultimate tell.

If you know him, then it's your call. When we were in Reno, I told Freak I could see his cards. I think he'd do the same for me, too. So I guess it depends.

Remind me not to play live poker with you Mr.Sticker!

Most B&M poker rooms have a house rule that is each players own responsibility to protect his own cards.
Weather you tell him or not is up to you but you are not under obligation. I have told and not told on occasion.

I would be forced with the dilemma of the devil on one shoulder, and the angel on the other. But in the end, my conscience would get the better of me, and I would have to tell him.

I did have this happen once, and I did tell the person. They were so grateful, that when we were in a multi-way pot, and I had flopped top two pair (AQ, if I remember correctly), and bet out, another called, he raised, and slyly showed me his flopped nut flush. After the hand, I told him, "Dude! Thanks, but don't do that!"

While the goal in poker's to make money, I want to do it by outplaying my opponents, not by looking at their cards. Maybe it's just the online background I have, but I think it's pretty common courtesy to let them know once. If they want to keep showing you then I say take advantage of it if they want to be that stupid.

I play in a bar poker league. We got into a somewhat heated conversation about this very thing. This guy was just holding up his cards to look at them so that 2 people on both sides of him could see them. This one lady was saying that he was not able to do it and that it was against the rules. I told her that he can hold his cards anyway he wants and that if he doesn't care who see them then it doesn't matter. Anyway, they went and changed the rule to if you show your cards to anyone, even if they are out of the hand, that you automaticly muck.

My opinion on this is that we are all adults and if you don't know enough to protect your cards then oh well. That is as long as the person sitting next to you is sitting in a normal position and doing nothing on there part to try to look at them, other than just looking in your direction. I watch the people at my table as the action goes around and if someone doesn't protect their cards??? I know I am a bad boy! I just believe in personal responsability.

Tell them once.

Some interesting views on this subject, at the end of the day, a poker player looks at an opponents face, not their cards, all I can say is if a fool is daft enough to show their cards during a hand, they deserve all they get. Though funnily enough, showing cards h/u during a hand is allowed. At all other times, telling the truth means you have to fold.??

^^^ this. tell them once. if he doesn't get it. that is his fault. you did what you had to.

shocked at some of the people saying go for it .
someone can only show you their cards on accident once , the other times you are peeking .

I was born with a devil on each shoulder , one would say keep quite and keep peeking and the other would say yea if he's that stupid see if you can steal some chippies too .
I don't listen to those guys anymore .
I've only played live with friends and never told anyone when it happened but just made an effort not to look in that direction when they were peeking .

It IS actually a rule that your cards are not supposed to leave the playing surface/table.

This might sound horrible, but i don't care. Online if you can see, i consider it cheating cause you have to have a program. LIVE ONLY, if the idiot next to you is showing his cards on accident, its not your fault. We play poker for an edge if you have it in any way possible against your opponent, and if you can isolate him knowing what he has, THEN isn't that a better edge than learning his betting patterns. IT MOST DEFINATELY ISN'T YOUR FAULT THAT HE'S SHOWING YOU HIS CARDS!

LOL I'M KINDA WRONG , BUT KINDA RIGHT. EXTREMELY HARD TO NOT JUST BUST THEY GUY FOR HIS MISTAKE

ya i was in casino one time and dealer was dealing cards i could see from the way i was sitting the cards being delt too players was fkn funny lol i told deal for redeal and some players got mad. i said hey if you want me not too say anything next time fine but i dont play that way .was dealers falt though

MORALS...knowing right from wrong
ETHICS...actually doing the right thing when a moral dilemma presents itself

All potential consequences and excuses aside...the game is designed so that each player is privy to their own hole cards, and all get to see and play from the community cards. If you find yourself in a situation where any advantage you enjoy is not from your carefully honed people reading skills, math aptitude, and understanding of poker theory and the psychology of poker, then you might just be smack dab in the middle of a moral dilemma.

I know that deception is part of the game of poker, but that does not mean that you should work on becoming a liar and a cheat.

Didn't the scandal at Ultimatebet/ABSOLUTE involve insiders having a superaccount that allowed them to SEE THE OTHER PLAYERS HOLE CARDS. Now, imagine you are at a cash table where someone else sees your hole cards, without your awareness, can you honestly tell us all that when the other guy cleans you out and you discover that he could see your hole cards the whole time that you are not going to feel cheated? You feel cheated because you were cheated.

I am too old to be dancing around moral dilemmas trying to convince myself that my "dick" choice of choosing to do something, that if the roles were reversed would leave me feeling cheated, is somehow, nebulously not my fault or my responsibility.

When I run into this situation at a B&M casino I always casually mention to the player that I could/can see their cards. And like training a dog or small child have occasionally had to resort to multiple reinforcements to get them to stop creating a moral dilemma for me.

I am no better or worse than most people in this world. I just believe I should treat others the way I would prefer being treated myself. I am sure I am not alone in this belief. It seems to create a better overall living experience for everybody.

I'll get off the soapbox now.

I say dont tell him for the simple reason that if you do then he might start looking your way everytime he is dealt his hole cards.Therefore he might catch aglimpse of your hole cards

I think we've discussed this thread enough and I appreciate the insights given.

When I sat down at the table, I found myself analyzing each player. After a while, I could tell who was experienced, who was tight, loose, aggressive and new to the game. The guy to my left seemed to be new to the game. I like to watch each player as they look at their cards so I was honestly not trying to peek. I was looking at his face, body language and overall behavior. During all of this, I could easily see his cards. The moral dilemma began and I wasn't sure what to do. Like many people commented, the devil was on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I'm not sure how long he was at the table before me but he wasn't doing terrible. I took full advantage of my new found edge for a short time.
Now…… I couldn't see his cards every time because I caught myself trying not to look at his hand. That's when it hit me..........this just wasn't right. Yeah, some of you are saying “about time” and others are saying “bone head.” I felt guilty anyway. I knew I had to tell him but if I told the guy in front of everybody, it may embarrass him and I didn't want the other players to think I was weak either. When the dealers rotated, I leaned over and told the guy I could see his cards.
This is where it gets interesting; he got mad and I could see it in his face (red). Needless to say, he went on tilt. An experienced player at the table took a chunk of his stack and then I took the rest. This all happened in short order. Nothing fuels TILT like losing all your money. He ended up getting verbally abusive and pushing his chair over. He was asked to leave. I felt guilty again (or still?).
Sometimes the right thing doesn't always feel right and it wasn’t easy at all.

My policy is generally to tell people once. After that, I just keep my mouth shut. If they can't take a peek without flashing their cards it's their problem.

anyone sitting at a table has the opportunity to take a class at the casino to learn. in that class you are taught to keep your cards hidden. anyone that thinks that they are too good to learn more about the game has too big of an ego. therefore anyone that capitolizes on his mistakes should take it as luck. there is nothing wrong with being opportunisitc. imo. of course most of us would feel guilty...bottom line, make sure you know what you are doing before you sit at that table!

I would tell him because of the problems that will occur if all the other players find out your cheating....

I think anything goes at the table to get an advantage, if someone is that stupid to show there hand well, once I bluffed some idiot, after the hand he said good bluff, I said thanks, a few hands later, just us left in the hand he asked me if I was bluffing again, I said yes I wasn't, and cleaned him out, he got all upset, and accused me of being unethical, called the pit boss, who laughed, and it was only a tenner tournament, what do you think.

That's right. If you watch the pro's they cup there card with both hands and lift the edge briefly to see what they have. Are we talking about Holdem or another poker game because if it's holdem and lifting there cards off the table at a casino then fair game. Sorry but they have no business sitting there. I do however have a conscience so after taking a couple bucks for there mistake I would probably tell them. Unless it was a little old lady then her moneys mine.lol

I would say can you see my hole cards and if he says no then say well I can see yours after that you have warned him so its up to him

next time you see someones hc's just act hillarioisly surprized if they are a great hand i.e kings or aces----LoL - but you should tell someone in a polite way. its moraly obliagationly correct to not think someone is that dumb

Old people tend to show me their cards, I dont know why. They seem genuinely amused by it.

The ones that dont purposely show their cards, are like near blind or something and hold them up so I cant help but catch a glimpse, its like a natural reaction. Im not going to go out of my way to NOT look, your fault, not mine.

Ive had to say I can see your cards a few times, but usually I just give up (yes it happens alot).

Good moral question. I would tell him after the 2nd time. That we everyone benefits. But I would defenitly let him know, just seems morally correct.

in on-line games if u got cheat 2 see hole card's that is a problem...but in real life not 2 shure what i would do...take advantige of it or just make the other guy feel realy stupid for not even noticing.....Lol

I could see the guy's cards that was playing next to me in the last live game I played. I told him, it really didn't occur to me to not tell him.