Am I a scumbag, B&M?

[F0rtysxity]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I should add that this player was entirely capable of shoving 150BB at any point with complete air. There was potentially a ton of money to be made in this situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

The fact you would add this caveat only cements your scumbag status.

[/ QUOTE ]

second

[otter]

You should tell them once that you can see their hand. After that it's up to them. I've told more than one person to protect their hand and I only tell them once. If they're next to me and lift their cards to where I can see them, well then too bad for them.

I was in a $5-10nl game and saw the hand of the person to my left...long story short I called on a flop of A high w/ 2 tens although he was betting heavy 'cuz I could see he had 2 8's. After the hand was over I wanted to say "Hey jackass I could see your hand," however it didn't seem like a good time since I just took $800 from him. I plan to tell him next time I see him that he should keep his cards protected. We play often enough and actually he's been playing cards for at least 50 years (some high stakes too) so am I really obligated to tell him I can see his hand?

I don't know what's right morally since he's been around for so long he should know. I think the best thing is to tell him next time he's next to me...no?

[Icarus152]

[ QUOTE ]

Why not keep an advantage? Anybody that says any different is an idiot - although an honest idiot - but this isn't an honesty game, its a dishonesty game.

Getting a peak at someone else's cards is not cheating. It's free information, thats it. What you choose to do with that info is up to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sick values IMO.So many players confuse deception with dishonesty.Looking at someone's cards repeatedly is not in the spirit of poker.Short term=profit.Long term = -EV due to scumbagery

[MitchL]

I never say a word. I dont feel bad that they lose money, bc they didnt protect their hand just like I dont feel bad when they lose money playing terrible.

[jmxthievez]

if he's "slumming it" and doesn't care and is splashing around, bullying the table, then i see nothing wrong with this

[steamboatin]

I tell them once, old or goofy people twice but not because it is "evil" to look when people flash their hole cards. I do it for two reasons, I think it is the right thing to do and I also understand that I am not operating in a vacumn. There are eight other players sitting arounnd the table and regardless of what the "Take No Prisoners. Get the chips Now" school of thought says, it is +EV over the long term to have a reputation of honesty while playing poker.

[Jack Bando]

Otter, I think next time he does it tell him. It might have gotten ugly if you told him right after the big hand.

jmxthievez, so if they're playing aggressively, it's okay to take advantage but not if they play tight?

[jmxthievez]

brando,

i get the impression villain in question is acting like a hotshot "i play higher limits than you guys so i'm better than you" and just splashing around like he doesn't care about the money because he's that much better. Generally, he sounds like a douchebag, and something like this would acceptable b/c it doesn't even seem like he cares at all, looking at cards with one hand, etc. I would slowroll his ass also.

[Gonso]

Yeah, you tell the guy, whether he's a douche or not. If you play around the same people a lot (I do), it's a good thing to have people know you as a straight shooter. Players who try to squeeze every angle create problems for themselves.

Recent case in point. We play in a private game in Margate, no rake $1 per chair per hour, dealer tokes are the only overhead besides that. Mixed game and there's a lot of dealer choice.

Lately we've had a couple of players from Philly, fairly well off for the 5-10 stakes we play, very bad but friendly and don't mind losing a little to good company. They take too long to act, the drink a little, and I doubt they care about the money much at all. The worst I ever see from them is maybe a little muttering when they fold and the flop comes with two tens and they clearly had one.

One of our regulars, decent enough for our group but nothing special, used to totally tap the tank with these guys. The Philly guys are donating plenty, and this douchebag gave them loads of crap when his semi-bluffed draw gets called by TPWK (these guys tend not to fold anyway).

Recently there was an incident regarding a couple angleshoots by this guy against the Philly guys, one with him rubbernecking and then calling it "fair game" (etc), in both cases over relatively minor pots. Finally, the rest of us got fed up an told him not to come back to the game.

This case the guy cost himself a great game just for light angles. People don't want to play with a-holes and guys they can't trust.

Edit: Or, basically what steamboat said before me

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
My question: am I a scumbag? I don't have an obligation to tell him to hide his cards, but does this border on douchebaggery? This feels like more of a grey area than some of the other moral questions i see here, but i may be biased.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't read the other responses so sorry if I repeat but at least you will know the opinion is fresh.

In the situation you describe absolutely not. That said, had it been someone new to the game of poker (that seemed reasonably nice; an abusive/foul person deserves all possible bad things) after a few hands I'd probably show/tell them how to protect their cards. If they don't listen I wouldn't press it. IMO this is a good line since the typical new player that is careless with their cards will eventually figure out that others are taking advantage. Often this will result in losing the player in general to poker or someone who develops a very defensive attitude (i.e., "everyone is trying to cheat me").

Hope this helps.

~ Rick