Show only ONE card to win...Legal?

The latest vogue in our poker club is to have what is the winning hand, yet show only the card involved in convincing the opponent. Is this legal?

EG Player one has As 7d and the table is Ac 4h 9s 2h 2s. Player two has 5c 4c, but folds when player One shows only the Ace. I find nothing in the wsop rules that covers this, though voluntarily showing one card if the River is never reached, IS covered.

Thanks, guys!

Per Roberts Rules of Poker:

Page 19. " A player must show all cards in the hand face-up on the table to win any part of the pot"

If you are called you must show both cards, if all players fold to you it's your option. Per Muckets rules of poker. And most card rooms.

I think the question was that the winner showed before he was called in order to induce other player to fold. Is that OK per rules? He was not called.

You must show 2 cards to win, although it is my understanding that if for example the board's Axxxx and you have KK, they show an A, you muck, they then don't have to show the other card. You should ask to see both cards, and when they show their whole hand you can then either show your kings or muck them. This is at least what we do at our home games, not sure about the real rules, but I do know that the real rules do require you to show both cards to win the pot in a showdown.

One card does not win. You need 5 cards to make a hand. Two are in your hand.

The dealer should not give you the pot until you show both cards if called after the river. I've seen dealers correctly refuse to give the pot to a player until they have shown both cards, never seen any give the pot to a player only showing one card.

fold

If a player folds befor the river he loses,sounds simple to me huh

casinos should and most do, require you to show your HAND aka both cards in order to win a pot.

Why do people make things more confusing then they should be lol.

squarer said:

I think the question was that the winner showed before he was called in order to induce other player to fold. Is that OK per rules? He was not called.

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I think most misunderstood the question. The way I read it, the player folded, he did not call. The guy with the ace flashed it before the 5-4 guy (who was clearly beat, no matter what the other card was that accompanied the ace) folded. My question would be if you're even allowed to show a card before the final call/fold, even if you are tipping them off, and benefitting the other player. Rules are rules.

You are not supposed to show any cards before the hand is over. Period.

I know the 2 cards to win rule although you DO NOT have to show both cards if the other player/s muck. For instance. The board shows K5678 - I show a 9 and all other player/s muck their hands (without showing). Their hands are no longer live hands and can not win the pot, the only player left with a live hand can win the pot. Of course the other players can ask to see the other card or just even show their hand which then would require the other guy to show his 2nd card. Although asking a player to show their 2nd card when you are beat isn't ethical.

jamie gold showed one of his hole cards during the ME in 2006 to intimidate the other person he was in the pot with. i dont think any one said anything to him but i do think it is against the rules or should be at least.

Thanks, guys -

Just to clarify, the hand did go to showdown, but when the second player saw the Ace, he mucked his cards without challenging. From your replies, this showing of one card alone is illegal, as I suspected. :stickyman

gns2003 said:

You are not supposed to show any cards before the hand is over. Period.

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In a tournament that follows TDA rules (and actually applies them - *cough 2006 WSOP cough*, you're correct.

In a cash game, there's no hard and fast rule that says that - some casinos and card rooms will allow it, others will not.

Regarding the hand in the OP, if the other player has mucked his cards then he can't claim the pot, but the player with the ace should have to show both cards before he's allowed to claim the pot.

In a televised event, I saw where a player bet on the river, everyone then folded (hence, he was the winner), he showed only one card, and was forced to show his second card after a complaint was voiced by a pro at that table. Appearently, if you show one card, you must show the second if so requested.

As to your question about showing a card to induce the others to fold, I dont know about the legality of the action....but I would venture a guess that it is not illegal. After all, if you wanted to play the game with both of your hole cards visible, I dont think the other players would object, it just would be total suicide, lol.

I find that either you guys are all idiots or I am the idiot.

He is saying, showing 1 card in the middle of a hand while the other player is making a tough decision. Pretty much lets say I got A10os.

The board has 3 spades on it, I flip over my Ace of spades to try and make the other guy think I hit the flush. He folds, I muck my hand unless he requests to see the other card.

BrentD22 said:

Although asking a player to show their 2nd card when you are beat isn't ethical.

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Why is it not ethical, if I am beat and go to showdown I want to see both cards, in fact I paid to see both cards.

OzExorcist said:

Regarding the hand in the OP, if the other player has mucked his cards then he can't claim the pot, but the player with the ace should have to show both cards before he's allowed to claim the pot.

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Why should he have to show both cards if the other fellow folded, it's the showing of one card during the game that is the problem.

Like a lot of things in poker this rule depends.

If you are only facing 1 player in a hand you can show a card to "scare" the person away from chasing their hand.

If on showdown you show only 1 card that shows you won the hand and the other player mucks you only have to show your other card if asked. The dealer will NOT be the one to ask. If no one asked then you can then muck your hand and take the pot. Of course someone at the table can ask to see the loosing players cards at show down as well, but this is not ethical.

Matter of a fact - you can just say you have a straight, if the other player mucks you win the hand, although if you are lying you can and most likely will be penalized harshly. I've never done this, but I did this vs. a player that had QQ - I said I have an ace with a crappy kicker and he mucked his hand face up. It was odd cause there was no ace on the board. To be clear I then said "I don't have pocket aces I have ace high", he said "what ever man". The dealer slide the pot over to me and I never had to show my hand (i think he was drunk).

Cash game give a lot more freedom, but rules are different per casino house rules.

BrentD22 said:

...Matter of a fact - you can just say you have a straight, if the other player mucks you win the hand, although if you are lying you can and most likely will be penalized harshly...

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Then again, I thought the rule was you can say what you want about your hand as long as it's not the truth. So, saying you have a str8 and no one paying to see it... is that not OK?

Zorba said:

Why should he have to show both cards if the other fellow folded, it's the showing of one card during the game that is the problem.

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Because the other fellow didn't actually fold - he called (or check-checked, I guess) on the river and the hand went to showdown.

If nothing else, forcing the player to show both cards to claim any part of the pot ensures that the hand is a valid one and discourages any dodgy events (like my personal favourite "ZOMGZ this deck has five kings in it!!!!" incident from an NPL semi-final), as well as discouraging soft playing and chip dumping (if one player mucks and the other one is forced to show their seven-high to claim the pot, people will start getting suspicious, and rightly so).

K_Kahne_Fan said:

Then again, I thought the rule was you can say what you want about your hand as long as it's not the truth. So, saying you have a str8 and no one paying to see it... is that not OK?

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That's perfectly fine, assuming that it is indeed a situation where nobody's paid to find out whether you're lying or not. We're mostly talking about showdown hands here though, where someone has paid to find out.

If a hand gets to showdown, and someone says "I have a straight" but doesn't turn over their cards, the dealer should insist that they roll them over to prove it.

If nobody wants to show their cards, then the player who made the last aggressive action on the final betting round (or the player to the left of the button, if nobody bet the river) has to roll their cards over. If everyone else mucks then that player gets the pot. If anyone can beat that hand, they have to show their cards to prove it.

The major angle that people used to shoot at showdown was a slightly different one: your opponent would roll over a winning hand, you'd say "Nice hand kid"but hang onto your cards. If the winner mucked his cards, you'd say "Erm... he mucked but I've still got my cards, so I'm the winner", everyone would stare daggers at you but you'd be awarded the pot.

These days, the TDA has the "Dealer can't kill a winning hand that's been tabled" rule to prevent that, and most cash games (AFAIK) enforce it too.