The Showdown Of Hands & Awarding The Pot

ORDER OF SHOWDOWN

Upon completion of action on the final betting round, the dealer shall ask the players to show their hands. If more than one player contests a pot through the final betting round, the pot will be awarded to the best hand pursuant to the rules of the game upon a showdown of hands. If there has been a bet but no raise on the final betting round, then the player who made the bet shall show his hand first, followed by other players still contesting the pot, in clockwise rotation. If there has been a bet and raise or multiple raises on the final betting round, then the person who made the final raise shall show his hand first. If there has been no bet on the final round then the showdown begins with the player who had the obligation of first action on the final betting round--the player under the gun in draw and board games or the player with the highest board in stud games.

PROBABLE WINNER AT SHOWDOWN

In the interests of efficiency and speeding up the game, a player who is reasonably certain he has the winning hand should turn over his hand immediately, regardless of the order of showdown. If a player does so, then other players at the showdown who can beat that hand should also turn their hands over immediately.

SHOW ALL CARDS

All cards in a player's hand must be shown face-up on the table to be awarded any part of the pot. Note that an exception to this rule may exist in Texas Hold'em, depending on which rule the house uses relative to playing the board.

READING HANDS.

At showdown the dealer shall read all hands where cards are exposed and laid on the table face-up. However the dealer shall never ask a player to turn up all his cards and shall only read cards that are shown. The dealer shall not read hands that are exposed but not laid on the table. The hand is to be read according to the exposed cards only. If it appears that a hand which does not have all cards exposed is entitled to the pot, the dealer shall advise that player that he must see a complete hand to award the pot. The winning hand must have all cards exposed and accounted for. If a player who loses the pot exposes only part of his hand, the dealer shall kill it without exposing the rest of the hand.

CARDS SPEAK

A hand that is turned over at the showdown is ranked according to the cards that are in it. If the hand is turned over then an incorrect assessment of a hand's rank or a verbal concession is not binding at showdown--the cards speak for themselves. (The Lowball rule is different; see Article 5 of Caro & Cooke's Rules) If a player verbally misdeclares his hand, and has a better hand than he declares, then the dealer shall point this out if he notices it, but the dealer's failure to notice it shall not entitle a player to play the higher hand. Although verbal declarations as to the contents of a hand are not binding, deliberately miscalling a hand with the intent of causing another player to discard his hand is unethical and will result in forfeiture of the pot. If a player verbally declares a better hand than he has, causing an opponent to muck his hand and if there is ANY suspicion that such declaration was an intentional ploy, the floorperson at his discretion may award the pot to the player who mucked his hand. Any player at the table may--and should--read a hand which is exposed face up on the table if he sees that the hand is misread and the pot about to be improperly awarded. A player shall not read a hand that is exposed so that he can see it but which is not laid face up on the table, nor shall a player encourage any other player to turn his hand face-up so that it is eligible for the pot. Chip declare - a method for determining whether a hand is eligible for the high, low or both ends of the pot in hi-lo games - is a violation of the cards speak principle and shall not be permitted in public cardrooms.

TIED HANDS

In the case of one or more tied hands at the showdown, the pot shall be divided accordingly proportionately, with odd chips allocated as set forth in Article 9 of Caro & Cooke's Rules. Suits shall in no way influence awarding any part of a pot.

SHOWDOWN WITH SIDEPOTS

If one or more players are all-in in a multi-way contested pot, then the side pots shall be awarded first. If there is one all-in player eligible for the main pot only then he shall show his hand last. If there are multiple sidepots then those participating for the last sidepot shall show their hands down first, followed by those involved in the next-to-last sidepot, etc., until the main pot is awarded.

REQUESTS TO SEE A CALLED HAND

Players shall not be entitled to see a called hand except in cases where there is a reasonable suspicion of collusion, in which case the floorperson shall be called over for examination of the called hand. This is contrary to the traditional rule. However the traditional rule, which was designed to prevent collusion, has not served its original purpose. Asking to see called hands slows down the game, causes resentment and impedes action. The first alternate rule continues to be the most prevalent, but in the interests of the game it should be completely done away with. (Alternate Rule. At the showdown, any player who was dealt into the hand has the right to ask to see any called hand. Before turning over the hand the dealer shall kill the hand by touching it to the muck. If the hand is not killed it is still live and eligible to win the pot. In high limit games, the right to see a called hand is limited to situations where a floorperson is present for the request. The purpose of this rule is to protect against collusion, not to satisfy a player's curiosity or get a read on a player's style of play, or worst of all to intentionally irritate a player. Abuse of this rule is very bad for poker as it kills action and causes resentment. Many people favor retention of this rule because it makes new players comfortable that they are not being cheated. Second Alternate Rule. Only players who have been in on the turn in hold em games, fifth street in stud games, and for the draw in draw games shall have the right to see a called hand; also, a winner cannot ask to see a loser's hand.) Where the right to see a called hand is the rule, continuous requests to see hands shall be considered a breach of poker etiquette and may be grounds for removal from the game. There is no right to see a called losing hand under any circumstances in head's up play.

KILLING LOSING HANDS

No pot shall be awarded until all losing hands have been mucked or killed. In all situations (including those of partially exposed hands at showdown) where a player asks to see another player's hand, the dealer shall kill the hand first, by turning it face down and touching it to the muck. Hands shall never be placed on top of the muck. A hand that has been killed and then exposed is not eligible to win the pot, except and unless the winner of the pot has asked to see it, in which case it does remain eligible to win the pot.

PROTECTING INTEREST IN THE POT

A player with a hand he believes to be the winning hand is responsible to hold onto his own hand until the pot is awarded. No player with an interest in the pot should release his hand to the dealer until his portion of the pot has been pushed to him.

PUSHING THE POT

The dealer shall gather in all cards except the winning hand, then push the pot to the player who holds the winning hand, then collect the cards from the player who won the pot. After all losing hands have been mucked, the winning hand shall remain face-up until the pot is awarded. In button games, the dealer shall then advance the button. A player shall never be permitted to reach into the center of the table and pull the pot to himself.

SHOW ONE, SHOW ALL

If after final action a hand is shown to one player at the table, then any other player at the table may ask to see the hand, and it shall be shown. If during the course of play of the hand a player flashes his hand to another player before mucking it, any player may ask that the hand be shown to all at the table, but it shall not be shown until after the end of the hand. Once the hand is mixed in the muck, however, the dealer shall not retrieve it. Upon request by a player who was dealt into the hand, if a hand has been shown to one but not all, the dealer shall protect the muck so that the exposed hand cannot be stuffed into it before being shown to all. Show One, Show All is part of poker's tradition.

AFTER SHOWDOWN

After showdown and pushing the pot as previously set forth, the Dealer shall soft scramble the muck, hands and deck stub. Discarded hands shall be stuffed into the stub or muck and not placed on the top or bottom of the stub. Once the dealer has commenced the shuffle for the next hand then all rights to a decision regarding the previous hand are forfeited. Note that the scramble or soft shuffle is the act that constitutes the end of the hand and the first riffle of the deck is the beginning of the new hand.