Do I have to show my cards?

If a guy behind me pushes the action in a showdown, do I have to turnover my cards?

That is if I have the losing hand.

Nope.

Generally, the rule is that the last player to bet has to show first. All other players then decide if they want to show or muck.

Some casinos use a different rule where if there is no river action, then the first player to the left of the dealer has to show first.

Technically, the betting player can request to see the caller's hand even if the caller has the losing hand. It's considered bad etiquette to do so, however.

This is true but it is really frowned upon to do so.

The way i figure it is you have paid to see his cards. So if you really wanna know what he call you with ask.

Not the situation the OP is describing. He's not the one betting, he's calling so technically he paid to see the cards. If they're turned over and he loses, he should be able to muck without showing (except online where you always get to see).

Agreed. Sorry misread.

dont mean to hijack this thread but i think OP has been answeared, but what about this...

it was at a home game and was in a hand vs my brother. he raised PF and c bet the flop. i bet the turn and river tryin to bluff him off his hand. i know that if hes callin me he has at least a pair and i was betting a busted st8 and flush draw so i know im losin for sure. he calls the river and i say, "u got it, its yours" and go to muck it but he forces me to show. i know technicaly that i have to show but is it also bad etiquitte to make someone who is givin you the pot show their bluff?

The way I see it is that I paid for my information by calling the bluff, so I want to see what the villain was bluffing with. If it was a difficult decision for me then I almost always ask to see the hand even if the villain says "you got it."

Still bad etiquette imo. If you force him to show, you also have to show to win the hand. If he mucks, you don't have to show either. So you win the hand and no one knows what you're calling with. Also let's say he misread the board and actually backdoored a straight or something, if you force him to show his hand he might win the pot when he otherwise would have mucked. Basic rule of thumb should be don't make people show if they don't want to and expect the same from them.

I had looked up the rules for this as it came up in a home game and cause a big rift. Home games can have any rules as long as they are set up front.
But generally you do not have to show a losing hand, you can muck and concede the hand was what I had read.

I.E. If someone had forced Ivey to show his hand where he made a flush. Lol.

I've never had a problem with someone showing me their cards if I catch them bluffing. I don't ask to see them, but more often than not they will flash them and say good call.

Anyone missing their draw doesn't even really need to show their hand, you can usually tell if they were looking to hit a str8 or flush.
Personally, I think it's good for new players to try and look at every hand they can.

You know, I have been wondering this for a long time. Me and my friend debate on it. He says only the first player to act has to show or the player who thinks they have the best hand. After the player knows he is beat, he can just muck. I said that players who pay should see the cards.

I understand that this is considered "rude" to ask a player, but I don't see why not. You paid for the information, so you should be able to see it. If everyone played solid poker, then it would be an equal field. You get a edge by maintaining and acting on information, so I feel as asking to see the cards is perfectly ok and both sides should understand.

From what I read you are paying for the pot, not to see the other persons hand, if they want to muck and concede the pot it is their right.
Like I said this is just from what I read while searching the rule.

Wow, a lot of responses. I'll come back to the ones I missed after I make a quick comment on the issue of requesting to see a losing hand. It is in fact bad etiquette to do so and should only be used in the case where collusion is expected (cheating). You should never ask to see the losing hand in order to get insight into a player's game.

That said, thanks for answering my question.

Okay, did a quick skim on the remaining posts and got the gist of it. To clear up some of the confusion, the rule is players behind the winning hand do not have to turn their cards over, and according to the answer to my OP, this begins with the last person to push the action then the player left of dealer. However I'm not sure if last action is considered throughout the entire hand or just the river. In other words, if everybody checks the river do you follow the normal order starting from left of dealer, or do you consider last action through river, turn, flop, preflop? Maybe someone could clear this up for me.

I'm not sure what position the question about showing the losing hand was referring to, but as long as the player is in front of you I don't believe it is bad etiquette asking to see the hand. There's no other way to know if you're beat and you could potentially forfeit the right to muck by turning over your cards out of turn.

Through the entire hand.



Also, as a side note, to avoid getting called on to show your cards you can just make sure that when you fold your cards they hit the muck, then they're dead and wont be shown. Really only advisable if another player is already showing a hand that can beat you.
May not work in home games depending on which rules they choose to follow.

So once your cards hit the muck they can't be in play regardless of strength. Interesting. Thanks for that bit of information and for answering my question.

Never show your cards until heads up for intimidation once in a while

I believe that when you call a raise after the river you are paying to see the hand. You can sometimes even call small raise just to get the information. If you show your hand first then it is pointless to ask to see because other player would probably muck their cards when they see your hand so if you want to see hand you're calling then wait to flip your cards over and dealer should tell the person being called to display their cards first.

It's pretty much all been said above. Note that this is something that changes from card room to card room and can be different depending on whether you're playing a tournament or a cash game.

Typically at showdown the player who made the last aggressive action has to turn their hand over first and if people are hesitating the dealer should make that player turn up.

In a cash game the other player has the option of mucking their hand without showing. Any player at the table can ask to see it, though as mentioned above it's usually considered poor form (especially if you folded preflop or something). In a tournament the rules in certain situations (particularly all-ins) dictate that both hands need to be shown regardless.

wow, i didnt even consider that someone who folded preflop actually has the option to see the mucked hand. who would have the nerve to ask to see the hand in that spot. i know id stop inviting them to home games thats for sure.

Yeah - there was a televised hand from the 2007 Aussie Millions where Andy Black asked that a player's hand be turned up, even though Black wasn't one of the players that went to showdown. It wasn't a popular request, to say the least...

Did they honor it?

The Andy Black / Aussie Millions hand? Yeah, they showed the cards.

No you can muck your cards.

...unless (as has been said above) someone else in the hand asks to see them.

Or if it's a tournament all-in, in which case the dealer is compelled to turn all the hands face up regardless of what any of the players want.

ya, ive seen that andy black hand before. kind of a weird request for a buddhist.

I don't see a problem with showing your hand in some games. When it appears that I am bluffing, or a player comments that I bluff a lot, I generally show if it is a good hand. That gives them the impression that you are only playing quality hands.

If they catch on and it is a ring game, then it is time to change tables. It doesn't take long if you watch players and see what they do. The All-In player who consistently plays all in a lot may be bluffing, and it may be worth the effort to take them out. I definately show if I have a good hand. Otherwise, conventional playing, I will muck or simply not show my hands regardless how good they are. That's just me.

On carbonpoker the player that made the last bet has to show his cards. But the caller can chose to muck his losing hand. (online poker )

Mmm. I'm guessing if you click on the hand replay button or have a HUD it will retrieve the information.

While you have the option to muck, hands that go to showdown are ussually available. I haven't played on Carbon so I can't say from personal experience... But I recently found out the information is available.

A few things I'd like to add to the discussion -

At some of the casinos I play at when I'm home - when somebody is all-in and goes to showdown, (say, HU) any player at the table may ask to see "both/all players hands", and after killing the hands the dealer will expose them.

I guess it's a pretty thin line and depends on the house rules. Some of the casinos I play at while not @ home, if you're all-in then your hand is face-up once all betting is finished, regardless of if it's on the flop, turn, or river, provided of course you get called.

Not really directly to OP's question, but I think his question has long been answered.

Also some casino's have a house rule. Any player may ask to see a hand at showdown - not only is it considered poor etiquette (if it gets you information it gets you information) - but if the winning player asks to see a hand and the hand beats theirs, they forfeit the pot to the revealed hand.

Kind of a nifty trick to discourage people from requesting to show with mediocre hands - if your opponent misread their hand (didn't notice they paired their kicker, for instance), they win.

Generally it's frowned upon, and doesn't happen too much (never have I once witnessed the winning player ask to see their opponent's hand...)

But it usually doesn't happen too much that people are asking to see hole cards at showdown unless the action at the table is just getting stupid.