Poker News

i think you're missing the point of what daniel and phil have been saying regarding showing cards in tournaments. the impression i get is that they are referring to the "show one show all" rule being misinterpreted as of late. they argue that a player making a bet that isn't called can show just one of their hole cards in an attempt to "needle" another player. the rule is not being enforced this way in that if one of your cards is exposed then your entire hand may then be turned over for the table to see. of course, if you show your hand to another player then everyone at the table is entitled to see your hand as well

Poker is a people game played with cards. As such, manipulation of other players is very much a part of the game. This is yet another unfortunate example of not being able to think outside the box. Rules which are all encompsassign and sweeping in narture are often employed to alleviate the necessity of thinking for oneself. Thes new rules benefit no one except management and staff - certainly not the players. As far as the argument of stalling the game goes that is silly as well. Have you ever sees someone mull over a decsion for several long minutes with no words being spoken - of course you have. Adding a few choice words would do what exactly? Add confusion - perfect, that's what you are supposed to do! If we can't speak or show emotion why not just play showdown poker - and have the best hand always win. If there are uneccesary delays then just call the clock.

Matt,
How often will you be writing articles? Will it be weekly and if so, will it always be on a specific day of the week?

I have played the tournament circuit for the last 20 years. I agree 100% with Matt's explanation of this rule. Back in the day when with no rules in place and there were less than 200 players in any major. we didn't see a problem with talking about a hand or exposing a card. Today in major tournaments we are often playing for $500K-2.5M for first place prizes. It is unconscionable to allow players to say anything about their hand to another player. Any statement can not only affect the current hand but future hands as well. Many times someone not in a hand has made a comment about my hand that caused a player to fold when they may have called. Why should it be ok to intimidate another player by asking him anything about his hand or making a comment about his hand to get him to say something or cause an expression that gives anither information. This is no different than a form of abusing others. Can you imagine if Phil Mickleson were to make some comment to Tiger Woods just before he teed off or made a putt? We need to clean up tournament poker if we are going to attract major sponsors and television and this rule is a big step in that direction. I asked for this change last year when Matt was Chair of the WPA Rules Committee and I'm glad that he has incorporated itb into the TDA. Bravo!

Thanks Bill, I think it will be out every Tuesday

Matt

vanderlei wrote:

i think you're missing the point of what daniel and phil have been saying regarding showing cards in tournaments. the impression i get is that they are referring to the "show one show all" rule being misinterpreted as of late. they argue that a player making a bet that isn't called can show just one of their hole cards in an attempt to "needle" another player. the rule is not being enforced this way in that if one of your cards is exposed then your entire hand may then be turned over for the table to see. of course, if you show your hand to another player then everyone at the table is entitled to see your hand as well

I have had this debate with Daniel and Phil both and they both think it should be allowed during the hand.

JesseJones wrote:

I have played the tournament circuit for the last 20 years. I agree 100% with Matt's explanation of this rule. Back in the day when with no rules in place and there were less than 200 players in any major. we didn't see a problem with talking about a hand or exposing a card. Today in major tournaments we are often playing for $500K-2.5M for first place prizes. It is unconscionable to allow players to say anything about their hand to another player. Any statement can not only affect the current hand but future hands as well. Many times someone not in a hand has made a comment about my hand that caused a player to fold when they may have called. Why should it be ok to intimidate another player by asking him anything about his hand or making a comment about his hand to get him to say something or cause an expression that gives anither information. This is no different than a form of abusing others. Can you imagine if Phil Mickleson were to make some comment to Tiger Woods just before he teed off or made a putt? We need to clean up tournament poker if we are going to attract major sponsors and television and this rule is a big step in that direction. I asked for this change last year when Matt was Chair of the WPA Rules Committee and I'm glad that he has incorporated itb into the TDA. Bravo!

Thank you Jesse

mj12 wrote:

Poker is a people game played with cards. As such, manipulation of other players is very much a part of the game. This is yet another unfortunate example of not being able to think outside the box. Rules which are all encompsassign and sweeping in narture are often employed to alleviate the necessity of thinking for oneself. Thes new rules benefit no one except management and staff - certainly not the players. As far as the argument of stalling the game goes that is silly as well. Have you ever sees someone mull over a decsion for several long minutes with no words being spoken - of course you have. Adding a few choice words would do what exactly? Add confusion - perfect, that's what you are supposed to do! If we can't speak or show emotion why not just play showdown poker - and have the best hand always win. If there are uneccesary delays then just call the clock.

Talking is OK, talking about your hand is not and I disagree that it is only a benefit to management and staff. Poker tournaments would be chaotic and unmanageable if players were allowed to say whatever they wanted and show their cards as well.

Matt