Poker Ethics: What would you do (part 1 of 3)

For the most part, poker is self-policing game; yes there are dealers and floor people in Brick & Mortar card-rooms and you have some safeguards online, but for the most part it is up to each individual player to protect not only themselves, but also the integrity of the game.

In this series I will take a look at three common scenarios where ethics come into play at the poker tables. The first scenario I will examine deals with mis-stated hands.

There are three different situations where a hand can be mis-stated:

• Accidently mis-stating a hand

This is the most common circumstance when it comes to a mis-stated hand, and the way it should be dealt depends on the particular rules where you are playing. In most card-rooms, and home-games, any hand that is turned over is what it is; meaning that regardless of what a player thinks he has, the dealer or any player can point out the mistake -whether helping or hurting the player holding the hand.

If you are unsure of your local ruling simply ask the dealer or floor if any player can call another player’s hand once it is turned over. You should also try to get this rule implemented in any home-game you participate in because it helps avoid angle-shooting and keeps the game friendly.

• Purposely mis-stating a hand

The reverse is also a problem, but is more easily remedied. Angle-shooters will often mis-state their hand to cause their opponent to muck a better hand -which is why you should never muck your hand until you SEE that you are beaten. Anytime you see someone shooting an angle you should immediately correct the mis-stated hand, since angle-shooters are terrible for the game.

• And the less common -and most ethically challenging-scenario of a mis-stated hand that is not revealed to the entire table.

The final scenario is a bit trickier, and while a pretty uncommon occurrence it has happened to me at least a dozen times in my poker career, so it bears explaining. Every now and then you will be playing next to an opponent who likes to ‘share’ their cards with you once you fold, and sometimes these players will actually muck a winning hand! Whether they mis-read their cards, or have trouble reading the board, this is something I have personally witnessed too many times.

Now, it would be wrong to point out their error before they muck -after all, they are mis-reading their hand-since this would violate the one player to a hand rule. What I do in these cases is to tell them afterwards, and explain that if they are unsure of their hand they can simply show their cards and the dealer or any player can then call their hand.

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