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This question is concerning Texas Hold'Em rules.

If my opponent goes "All-In" and I call with more chips than he does, do I immediately show my cards?

During a recent game, my opponent called "All-In" before the flop, but after we were dealt our two cards. As I began to burn/turn cards, my opponent and another individual yelled at me to turn my two cards over, insisting that since my opponent could not make further bets, we were both to show our cards immediately before the flop. This caused a slight mistake in the game, causing my opponent to call a misdeal and potentially losing him the game.

Was he in the wrong or did I make a big mistake?

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    I thought you only turned the cards over after noone can bet? Where did they come up with a different rule?
    – John Dvorak
    Jan 20, 2014 at 6:12
  • Thanks for the swift response Jan. I told them I believe they unintentionally made a house rule, but they said I was wrong. I figured I'd ask some experts!
    – B-Chan
    Jan 20, 2014 at 6:15
  • Thank you everyone for responding! Apparently I can't comment on your individual responses without having 50 reputation, so I can only respond with a separate answer. At the time of this play, there were three players (we had four originally, but one player was now completely out of the game). During the blinds ante, one player folded out, leaving only myself and my opponent. Before the flop, he went all in with a small amount of chips. I had more than he did. I called the bet and without showing my cards, began to burn and turn the cards as usual, assuming that once all the cards were turned,
    – B-Chan
    Jan 20, 2014 at 15:29
  • Aha, now I understood what happened. Your opponents are right: typically you show your hand right away in that situation. However, it doesn't make any difference about who wins / who loses etc.
    – Radu Murzea
    Jan 20, 2014 at 15:51
  • PS: You didn't had to create a new account to answer this...
    – Radu Murzea
    Jan 20, 2014 at 15:51

8 Answers 8

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You also have to take into account whether you are playing a tournament or Cashgame.

  • For tournaments, the ruling is as described by Radu Murzea
  • In Cashgames, there is usually no showdown until the river is dealt. The player who has gone all in has to show his cards first. The player who called can then still muck his cards if he cannot beat his opponents cards
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The rule is: The cards must be shown in the case of all-in when there are no more possible moves (fold/check/bet/raise) to be made by any of the players that are in the hand.

Now, this happens when:

  • all the chips of the participanting players are in the pot
  • there is only player in the hand that has chips. This is so because, since he's the only one left with chips, any action he does is irrelevant.

For example:

Players A, B and C are in the pot. Player C has the fewest chips. If player C goes all-in and players A and B call, then C must NOT show his cards until:

  • the river betting is over or
  • player A folds, leaving him in the pot just with player B or
  • player B folds, leaving him in the pot just with player A

PS: Unfortunately I don't understand exactly what happened in your particular situation. Who went all-in / who called / did someone call ?

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  • If C goes all-in and A folds, B can still fold or call. C may not show his cards until B is done deciding, right?
    – John Dvorak
    Jan 20, 2014 at 14:59
  • @JanDvorak Right. Although in my scenario both A and B call :).
    – Radu Murzea
    Jan 21, 2014 at 9:29
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Funny that I should come across this question shortly after leaving this comment. To expand on it:

As always, the answer is "follow the rules of the house you're in." Most poker rooms in casinos (at least, the ones I've seen) will address this issue in the fine print of their rules, which you can usually find online and at the registration desk/brush stand.

I've run across three sets of rules, myself:

  1. As soon as no more betting can take place, all players still in the hand flip their hands over. The dealer will not proceed until all hands are exposed.

    This usually applies when players are heads up and there's an all-in call, but can apply to any number of players, as long as all but one of the players is all-in. (The final player might still have chips, but would have nobody left to bet against.)

  2. Players may turn their hands over at any time, but are not required to do so until dealing is complete. Once the dealer has finished, if the hands are not exposed, the player who was last to call must reveal his hand. Of course, anyone who can beat all exposed hands can flip over his own hand to win.

  3. Players may turn their hands over at any time, but are never required to do so. Showing both hole cards is still required to win, of course.

    In this situation, it's considered good manners to flip over your hand as soon as you see that you have the nuts. This system can lead to snippy commentary and long delays of game when all players have weak to medium-strength hands and don't want to be first to show. I don't like the delay of game aspect, but it can lead to people going on tilt.

Your wording implies that you were in a home game, so you probably didn't agree on a long ruleset ahead of time, which means there's no ironclad correct answer. Most people I know tend to follow case #1 in informal situations; under those rules, you were indeed wrong by starting to deal without revealing your hand.

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  • Showing both hole cards is still required to win, of course. Still true if your opponent is playing only cards on the board?
    – user1934
    Jul 4, 2015 at 1:52
  • @Michael every time I've ever seen that come up, the dealer has indeed demanded (politely) to see the hole cards of the person playing the board before giving him his share of the pot.
    – Pops
    Jul 6, 2015 at 17:15
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If you are the only two people left in the hand, then yes you should show your cards.

If there are others still in the hand then you SHOULD still keep your cards hidden as you still have action to come. If there are 2 Aces on the board and you show pocket Aces, this will dramatically affect the future decisions of the other players. This is why this is forbidden.

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After reading the question and your own response (https://poker.stackexchange.com/a/2704/88), it doesn't seem that much of a problem.

Firstly, you don't have to show your hand at all, ever. Although, if you don't you can't "claim" the hand. You must show a winning hand to take a pot. That's a general rule.

Secondly, the order of play matters in this case with usually the first player after the button having to show first at showdown to claim the hand. This is flexible depending on house rules.

Thirdly, dealing off another burn card isn't a big deal either if all players can agree the sequence of cards that should be shown. What I mean is, if you know which card was mistakenly the extra burn card, & other players are fine with it, just put the right cards where they should be! No big deal. If the other players have an issue with this then, that's OK of course; It's just a poor attitude to take, in what is an easily resolvable situation.

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This would not count as a misdeal since the outcome of the hand would not have been changed. If you are playing a cash game it makes no difference what you do. If you're playing a home game/casino game simply let the house deal with and dispute.

In this instance you didn't do anything wrong. I suspect the misdeal call had a "crap I don't have a hand" tone to it.

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  • Yes anyone calling for a misdeal here is angleshooting, plain and simple.
    – Andrew Brennan
    Mar 20, 2014 at 15:50
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Your (one) "all in" opponent can only compete for the main pot. That's why HE would turn his cards face up.

You and the "other" opponent are still competing for the remaining (side) pot. Unless ONE of you now goes "all in" (and the other accepts), there is no reason for either of you to turn your cards face up.

Besides the "all in" player, you are still in competition with a second opponent whose moves are not predetermined. As such, you and the second opponent do not turn your cards face up.

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    The all-in opponent should certainly not turn his cards while there's two live opponents.
    – Julia Hayward
    Dec 12, 2014 at 12:09
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If there is no more betting regardless of how many players are still in the game, all cards are turned face up. If you get an agreement from all players in the pot to let your cards stay face down until the end, that is ok, but if one players no then you have to turn your up or forfeit the hand.

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