2 players are left on the river.The 1st player checks and the 2nd player bets, the 1st player calls and the 2nd player instantly mucks straight into the muck pile. The dealer is telling the 1st player who is the ONLY PLAYER left with cards, that he has to show his cards to win the pot. I was standing right next to the table and ruled that he DID NOT have to show his cards unless someone asked to see them. Am I correct??? Another Floor-person is saying that they should show his cards to avoid collusion.
NOTE: I found this post by the "see recent posts" feature, not realizing it is in the cash game category. Comments below are regarding TDA
tournament rules on the question. Hopefully it is still of some benefit >
Hi Perro: On the river, player 2 bets and Player 1 calls so by definition the hand is now at showdown so showdown rules apply at this point. The 2013 TDA Rules clearly do not require a single hand to be shown if all other players at showdown have mucked face down. However the rules do make allowance for a specific house rule that does require all winning hands to be shown (such as at the WSOP). Note TDA Rule 16: "
....Except where house policy requires a hand to be tabled during the order of show, a player may elect to muck his hand face down. So if your house rule requires every winning hand to be shown, even when there's no other hand tabled at showdown, then it should be shown. But in the absence of such a rule the general TDA position is that it does not have to be.
Sounds like at the venue you were at there was no established house policy one way or the other so one person wants it shown and the other not shown.
There are a couple twists to this, also accommodated by the latitude of the TDA Rule:
1. You can have a venue (such as the EPT / GPTL) where the winning hand did not automatically have to be shown if nobody else tabled their cards, but another player at showdown can ask to see the hand at which point it must be shown (i.e. it's a right not a privilege to see the hand).
2. Then you can have venues that don't require the hand to be shown and if a player requests it be shown the floor may grant or deny the request (i.e. it is a privilege).
On the asking to see a hand (ATSAH) issue, the Association did agree in 2013 that the only players who have a right OR privilege to ask to see a hand are those who made it to showdown and either tabled their cards before mucking, or retain their cards face down (Rule 18).
As if that's enough to consider, another question is whether hands turned up under these different circumstances are live or not. Some venues are sticking with the "traditional" rule outlined in RRoP on the matter. Others are favoring all hands turned up at showdown, by whatever means or reason, to be live.
All of this is excellent material for TDA Summit VII in 2015 to see if further consensus can be achieved. For the time being I think it's advisable that each house clearly spell out in it's house rules A) which cards a player may ask to see by right (must be shown on request) and which are privileges to see (request may be granted or denied at TD discretion); B) Under what circumstances these cards are live or not; and C) whether the winning hand must always be shown.