Opponent showed his cards before showdown and said, "I'm not going to fold"

I was playing a cash game yesterday with some friends, and we came across an interesting situation. I bet out on the turn card, and my opponent deliberately picked up his cards and showed them while saying, "I'm not going to fold." I immediately told him that I didn't agree with that action, and that him saying "I'm not going to fold" is a binding contract. Of course, he was trying to get a reaction out of me to see where I was at, but I told him that not only was it bad etiquette, but misuse of the betting options and that I thought he had to atleast call.

What do you guys think?

hmmm totally agree with you!!

If he would only say "I'm not going to fold" , without showing his cards, it would be ok because such "tricks" are just part of a good, entertaining game of poker! But with showing his cards, he just messed it up..

Is it like a "binding contract" ??... I dont know, actually you should know where u are now and push the money in or fold.. Then he should show some balls and call with w/e he is holding..

Between friends, just a matter of respect!

i dont know if he would have to call your last 2 bets( if you chose to make them). unless you had rules clearly defined ahead of time for this exact situation i would think he has room to wiggle out of this if he so chooses. in a casino, its still not 100% certain. they will say the decision of the floor person is final, which to me leaves open a bit to interpretation based on individual situations. i dont really think that in most cases he can be held to anything unless he slipped in the words allin there somewhere.

Casinos and my poker league consider that an automatic fold. When you show your cards when no one is all in and the betting isn't over, it's considered a fold when you deliberately show your cards to the players in the hand.

If you see you have the best hand you can push him all-in. He may not lay down anymore if he said this. But you're right saying this not not a nice move...

You are allowed to lie in poker when it comes to talking about what cards you have, you are not allowed to tell the truth.
So by that I dont think any contract would be binding.

How good of a friend and how good of a poker player? Thats just weird, hope he lost.

I think its a fold all the way... that's going to be a fold at any casino... that would be the last time i played with that guy.

If there was nobody else in the hand but you and him, he was within his rights to show the cards.

It does not hafta be a showdown. Just heads up. Three seats, auto fold.

This happened to me in a tourney at The Hustler. I thought that any revealing of the hands was a fold. I put a big bet in and the guy showed his cards and started to do that thing they do before they fold. You now... "I know I have the best hand" and whatnot. I knew he was about to fold and the dealer folded his cards for him. I showed my inferior hand and laughed as I started to rake the chips.

He called the floor man over and complained. By this time I had all the chips stacked so they knew not how much was in the pot.

The floor man reversed the dealers decision and re-ran the hand to see where the money was. They took it from me and gave it to him. The reason. It's not illegal if you're heads up.

Think I was a little annoyed?


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You should of had the video looked at to show he showed his hand

I haven't played in a casino yet so I'm no expert, but I thought it was bad ettiquite to talk about a hand you are involved in. At the wsop this year chuck liddell was given a warning for mentioning that he had 2 pair.??

It is very poor poker. However, Its a home game, so it would really depend on the "house rules". If you have decide to play by accepted Wsop standards and there were more than 1 other player in the hand, he mucked his cards when he turned them over (feel free to correct me if I am wrong on the rules here, but as I recall any exposed card is burned). If it was heads up, he can show you all he wants and is statment of "I am not going to fold" is binding. So the question now is, You have all the information you could ever want INCLUDING the villains move. What are you going to do with that information?

I have seen 1 similar two player situation where the player who showed his cards anounced "raise" too fast (before the villian had finished making his raise in front of him) and then decided didn't want to raise afterall. Players at the table complained and managment reviewed what had happened. He was forced to make the min raise, villian reraised and he mucked at that point of the hand. It was a televised tourney, fwiw.

The outcome of this depends on all sorts of things:

Cash or tournament? It's a cash game, and a lot of things go in a cash game that wouldn't be allowed in a tournament. This may be one of them

Home game, or casino? If it's a home game, house rules apply. In a casino there's a more standard set of rules.

Heads up, or multi-way? Wherever you're playing, this kind of thing is frowned upon at best if the pot is multi-way. If it's heads up it may be allowed.

The biggest issue here, IMO, isn't actually showing the cards (I'm assuming it's a home cash game and you're heads up, BTW) - it's what he said.

He's verbally declared that he's not folding, and in pretty much any game casino or otherwise that should be binding - he should have to at least call you.

I think feer in love war and poker,
Ionce played a game where a guy told us what he had pre flop and then bet hard.
He only did it on big hands and when all was said and dusted, he showed and he never lied.
Gueaa what he won the game.
How does that work?

I guess its a home game so its different but any where else his hand is dead...and find say if he wants to say whatever to entice betting but there is a point i think, after all it is just bad etiquette

Incorrect. The hand should never (AFAIK) be ruled dead. In fact I'm pretty sure the only times a hand is ever ruled dead is if it's mucked or if someone calls the clock and the player allows it to expire without making a decision.

If this happened in a tournament that follows TDA rules the hand won't be ruled dead if the cards are exposed, but that player will be subject to a penalty after the hand if they did it deliberately.

The reason it won't be ruled dead is for situations like this: where they've exposed their hand and made a verbal declaration. If they expose their hand, say "I'm calling any bet", and their opponent happens to have a better hand, they'd be pissed (and rightly so) if the hand got ruled dead and they weren't allowed to make a bet that the offender had to call.

As for the guy in wooo's post... what happens there depends entirely on whether it was in a TDA-ruled tournament or a cash game. TDA have that stupid rule about not being able to tell the truth about your hand, so the player could be subject to penalty in that context. In a cash game, nobody should give a toss.

rules are the question to me here.... in real pro-tourny. i belive that what he did is an automatic fold...? just like when u do fold and other's are still playing you are not saposed to show what you folded..( show's other's two more card's out of the hand)...but if it's a house game....???? i know that woulde never hapen at my house

This is not the case - see my post above.

In a "real pro-tourny", the exposed hand will not be ruled dead or automatically folded. The player may be subject to a penalty, but that'll only take place after the hand is finished.

Pretty much the only thing that can kill or automatically fold your hand is failing to make a decision before time expires when someone's called the clock on you.