Poker Ethics: What would you do (part 2 of 3) Card-Flashers

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 second scenario I will explore is when people inadvertently flash their hole-cards, and when a player is ‘peeking’ at another player’s hole-cards.

Accidentally exposing hole-cards is especially prevalent with new poker players, as well as players that have been drinking, and unfortunately older players that may have trouble seeing the cards. When you are sitting next to one of these types of players you should politely inform them that you are able to see their cards when they look at them in this manner.

Now, once you have given them a warning, as well as alerted the table to the problem, the dealer should now take on the responsibility of alerting the player that they are exposing their cards. In my opinion, once they have been put on notice, if you see their cards it’s their own fault. I should clarify that you shouldn’t go out of your way to see their cards -craning your neck, sitting back, or any other not-so-subtle movement.

If the dealer doesn’t step in, and warn the player afterwards, I will continue to tell the player to protect their hand, and to keep their cards down.

On the flip-side, some poker players will do just that when they see a player not protecting their hand properly. In these cases you should once again politely ask the player to do a better job of protecting their hand -this is usually enough to get them to stop exposing their hole-cards-and you should also keep an eye on the players that are in the line of view, and make sure they are not trying to take advantage of the situation.

On more than one occasion I have asked a player to keep their cards down, and then a few hands later have had to admonish a player sitting next to the card-flasher to stop trying to ‘peek’ at the person’s cards. If the activity continues your best course of action is to alert the floor-person to the situation.

In the final installment of this series I will take a look at table-talk, and what you can and can’t say at a poker table.