Are these cards dead?

[Molina]

Okay I was wondering after watching poker on TV where a player brings his cards to his chest and then peeks at them like you could imagine a novice doing.

I'll invent a scenario as to why you might want to do it, though it obviously very classy.

You're in a tourney where the blinds are high compared to your stack. One, amybe two other short stacks have already gone all in, you see that you are holding KK which is nice. However this novice I described is sat to your right, he lifts those cards up and you can see he has AA, he's obviously calling and you know you can't (we'll ignore those pot odds for ease of argument)

Now, by the fact he has exposed his cards to you mean his cards are dead? I mean, do the cards have to be face up on the table to be declared dead? Obviously I ask because if you can get his hand mucked you have a very good call with two aces gone.

I phrase this scenario as a tourney because you'd want to see the novices hands all day long in a cash game, I realise it's one helluva'n angle shoot, an pot odds are not an issue because I would like to know the intricacies of if a semi exposed hand is declared dead. The 'show one show all' rule rings in my head, though I know this usually applies after the hand.

What do you guys think?

Molina

[Johnny Hughes]

[Felonius_Monk]

The cards are not dead by any rules I know of, in any country or casino.

If he shows his hand he's effectively (albeit inadvertently) breaking the rules, but unless he displays his hand intentionally to the table his cards are not dead. The director should tell him to cover his cards, and so should you, but no way in the world is anyone going to call his hand dead, not techincally or actually.