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3 players betting, 4 cards on the table.
1st player bets.
2nd player goes all in.
3rd player covers the bet.
1st player covers the bet.
The dealer calls, wrongly, for the players to show there cards.
It's the 3rd player's turn to bet. He turn's his cards over.
1st player then says that the 3rd player has mucked and that he is out of the game.
Correct ruling, please
This is a case that calls for some floorman discretion. If the dealer clearly told the player to show his hand, and he complied, there's no way in hell I'm penalizing a player for that--I'll give the dealer a talking to later, because the only fair ruling I can make for player 3 partly screws player 1, and that ruling would be to treat the situation as I would a dealer-exposed 7th street card in stud: i.e., give player 1 the option to declare himself all-in. If he takes that option, then the hand goes to showdown. If he declines, then play continues and he is eligible to win (or lose) any future bets player 1 might make.
Player 3's hand may be dead, or may not be dead, it depends entirely on the casino/cardclub. I have never been in any casino/card club, worked at or played in that has had this rule but please note there 100% are cardrooms and casinos that will consider the hand dead.
In the casinos/cardrooms that won't kill the hand, the player will have to play with their hand face-up due to their blunder, they may even get a penalty depending on some card rooms rulings, especially if it could be shown to be or considered as an angle.
Like in pretty much any circumstantial situation of poker, especially with regards to rulings, it really depends on how it happened, why it happened, the venue's rulings, and or even the floor persons decision on the day. In the cases of home games, if it was a genuine mistake I would argue to cut the person some slack and continue the game.
