'I Want to See That Hand'

In 2004, I wrote two columns titled "I Want to See That Hand." In them, I discussed the need to redefine the rule that allows players to ask to see called hands. Since writing those columns, several cardrooms have redefined the rule and are using it as it was intended. As I stated in those previous columns, the rule as it exists today should be modified to read:

"Any player who has been dealt in may request to see any hand that has been called, even if the opponent's hand or the winning hand has been mucked. This rule is intended to detect possible collusion, and the requesting player must be able to substantiate the reason for asking to see a hand."

My brother spent a weekend playing in a poker room in Reno that is enforcing this rule and not allowing players to ask to see a hand just because they want to see it. After returning home, he sent me an e-mail describing what he called the worst decision he has ever seen. He was playing no-limit hold'em and asked to see a called hand at the showdown. Another player in the game informed him that the rule in use at that particular cardroom would not allow him to see the hand. Not believing the player, he asked for a decision. The floorperson explained to my brother that he could not ask to see the hand.

In replying to my brother, I told him that I loved the decision, and was happy to see another room enforcing the rule and not allowing anyone to ask to see a hand. His response to me was that he paid to see the hand.

As I wrote in a previous column, poker is not a game that requires all of your secrets to be revealed. One of the things that makes the game challenging and mysterious is that you don't get to see what everyone did and what cards they played. Each player needs to use past information on how a hand played out or how a player bet to determine that player's style. In other words, poker is not a game that plays as an open book.

The rule that currently allows a player to ask to see another player's hand was not intended to give information. Its intent was to help detect and prevent collusion.

My brother then informed me that he was asking to see the hand because he did suspect collusion between two players. Either he didn't express this to the floorperson well enough or the floorperson didn't explain to him the reason he couldn't ask to the see the hand. I am assuming that this poker room didn't make a rule that would never allow a player to see a hand, even if he suspected collusion. That would be bad.

Poker rooms that are enforcing this rule need to make sure that players are aware that if they genuinely believe something might be amiss, they have every right to ask to see a hand. Players in return must express to a floorperson that they suspect collusion, if in fact they do.

This rule is so easy to enforce if players, dealers, and management all work together to ensure that everyone knows the intent of the rule. I suspect that even online poker rooms would stop showing a player hand histories if they could come up with an effective way to allow a player to view hands played without abusing it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see hand histories go away completely in the future.

Hopefully, more rooms will continue to change the wording of the rule and continue to enforce it. Remember, live cash games are not being televised and are not the extremely exciting no-limit hold'em tournaments played out on television. Live games are a true test of poker skill and shouldn't be messed with just to add a little excitement or satisfy someone's curiosity.

Michael O'Malley is the poker room manager for PartyPoker.com and can be reached at rzitup@aol.com. His website is updated regularly at https://www.rzitup.com/.