In limon's now-classic "random shyt" thread (which is always worth rereading) he mentioned how often he sees opponents' hole cards and it caused a fair bit of controversy, players arguing he should or shouldn't use the information he gained. Some people said it depended on whether he tried to see versus made no effort and saw anyway, some said he was ethically obliged to always tell the other player, and others expressed a variety of opinions along the continuum between outright disgust that he would ever see another player's hole cards to laughter at the idiocy of those who don't protect their hand.
I used to give a heads up to players who flashed a card or two occasionally, but a few times even a benign mention sent the player into a weird mood and twice they accused me of trying to look at their cards. So for a few years now I've made it a policy that when I'm in a casino, unless I know you very well, I don't say a word if I see your cards. In home games I will almost always say something to the other player, usually multiple times if necessary because usually in home games I know the players well and it's a much more social atmosphere.
But over the past year I've been playing more and more in a local underground game and less in the casino and the guys in this game are horrific at protecting their hands. There are three guys in the game who literally expose their entire hand to their neighbor every single time. And we use jumbo index because the older guys don't have great eyes anymore, so it's even more noticeable.
So my question: how would you handle this? Do you say nothing? Do you tell them once and then leave it to them to protect themselves after that? Do you purposefully avert your eyes (which is often difficult if they're sitting on the side of you in which you have to look to see the board/dealer) from their direction? Do you let the other players know you can see their hand?
Another consideration is that if it's not you, the other players sitting next to these guys will 100% see their hands. Whether they can use that information effectively (beyond the obv removing the nut suit card from someone's range, etc.) is a different story, but there is a lot of information to be had because we're playing 4- and 5-hole card games.
Hopefully the poll options are close enough to exhaustive, but obviously the options aren't mutually exclusive, so if you think a combo of the options is the best course of action, vote for the one that demands the most action. Obviously discussion of your choice in the thread would be would be welcome.
I used to give a heads up to players who flashed a card or two occasionally, but a few times even a benign mention sent the player into a weird mood and twice they accused me of trying to look at their cards. So for a few years now I've made it a policy that when I'm in a casino, unless I know you very well, I don't say a word if I see your cards. In home games I will almost always say something to the other player, usually multiple times if necessary because usually in home games I know the players well and it's a much more social atmosphere.
But over the past year I've been playing more and more in a local underground game and less in the casino and the guys in this game are horrific at protecting their hands. There are three guys in the game who literally expose their entire hand to their neighbor every single time. And we use jumbo index because the older guys don't have great eyes anymore, so it's even more noticeable.
So my question: how would you handle this? Do you say nothing? Do you tell them once and then leave it to them to protect themselves after that? Do you purposefully avert your eyes (which is often difficult if they're sitting on the side of you in which you have to look to see the board/dealer) from their direction? Do you let the other players know you can see their hand?
Another consideration is that if it's not you, the other players sitting next to these guys will 100% see their hands. Whether they can use that information effectively (beyond the obv removing the nut suit card from someone's range, etc.) is a different story, but there is a lot of information to be had because we're playing 4- and 5-hole card games.
Hopefully the poll options are close enough to exhaustive, but obviously the options aren't mutually exclusive, so if you think a combo of the options is the best course of action, vote for the one that demands the most action. Obviously discussion of your choice in the thread would be would be welcome.
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