Mucking hand at showdown, what is correct?

[PantsOnFire]

Nobody seems to have an answer for psandman. What happens if you don't show?

Poker is a game of information and keeping information from you opponents is paramount. At showdown, you show your hand to prove you have the best hand. You are contesting for the pot. If everybody has mucked, there is no showdown so you have nothing to contest so you don't have to show.

There is a rule that allows a player at the table to ask to see a hand that doesn't otherwise need to be shown. This is the famous IWTSTH rule. The reason this rule is present to give players a tool to catch cheating.

If you invoke the IWTSTH rule to try and see a hand that otherwise doesn't need to be shown, then you are either accusing the player of cheating or trying to get information for free. Either way, it's enough to turn a fun, solid game into something nasty.

[SellingtheDrama]

Well I do have an answer - here's the situation from about 3 weeks ago...Borgata 5/10.

Player A flips over his ace for top pair. Player B mucks. Dealer refuses to touch the pot until both cards are flipped. Player A takes at least 30 seconds just sitting there very smug before the entire table is yelling at him to flip the card and move on.

Another hand (different dealer) he claimed a hand and the other player mucked slightly (cards partially across betting line, not in the muck). Dealer did not touch those cards until Player A showed his cards....I'm pretty sure he was half expecting an angle shot.

Floorperson was visibly not-displeased when this gem of a guy left....which was pretty funny somehow. I whispered to him that I was not sorry to him go, just his money.

[Sly Selea]

The Chicago area casino I frequent requires a winning hand be shown every time in a called pot.

[pocketpared]

Two other players at the table not involved in the hand said the same thing. The game was soft so I flipped them up. I was picking this particular players bluffs off like clockwork. True or not, I didn't want to imply the people sending me 10-99s were liars.

[jeffnc]

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At showdown, the winning hand must be shown (hence the show part of showdown).

[/ QUOTE ]

That's an obvious tautology, which is irrelevant. There was no showdown.