[Alex-db]

I was in a similar situation in a live self-deal game at The Vic in London.

I was dealing, and the player in question was to my right, with his opponent to his right.

After his opponent showed he held his cards open while trying to read the board. In an effort to speed up the game I read the hands and he won the pot.

This created the argument that his hand was not in showdown because it wasn't flat on the table. I have since checked that this is correct according to there rules, so I shouldn't have said anything.

It also creates a nice clear cut answer to your situation, if the cards are face up on the table everyone (including in dealer-dealt games) has a duty to point out the best hand, if they haven't been released no-one is allowed to say anything.

This created a few other discussions about whether his hand, shown to a few people, might therefore be killed, or would it be forced to showdown on a show-one show all principle?

If the guy who said something caused the guy to succesfully show down his aces when he otherwise wouldn't have done, that is a bigger ethics violation, the first guy is also wrng to show anyone his hand before showing down or mucking, so you easily have the high ground here if you manage to take the pot.