What is the correct decision here

[Tahfan]

Witnessed this at a final table just after i busted.

Player on the button receives their hole cards, looks at them and then pushes them away and towards a player not involved in play to look at (no verbal action)

Small blind sees the cards pushed away and calls.

Button takes back their cards and announces raise

TD says to SB that his call has to stand.

Now this is a freeroll tourny so rules are not as tight and button is a relative new player but surely either the hand is folded and the SB bet stands or the hand is live and the SB takes their call back and gets to decide?

[TurnRiva]

SB should get their option back if button isn't deemed a fold, which it probably should be, esp if another person has seen their cards..

[Michael Josem]

There are a whole series of issues involved here. The most credible poker rules reference is Robert's Rules of Poker, which is available here: Poker Rules - Robert's Rules of Poker Version 10

The relevant rules (quoted from that link):

From the Code of Conduct:

Revealing the contents of a live hand in a multihanded pot before the betting is complete. Do not divulge the contents of a hand during a deal even to someone not in the pot, so you do not leave any possibility of the information being transmitted to an active player.

From the Rules themself:

1. Management reserves the right to make decisions in the spirit of fairness, even if a strict interpretation of the rules may indicate a different ruling.

1. Only one person may play a hand.

25. A player is expected to pay attention to the game and not hold up play. Activity that interferes with this such as reading at the table is discouraged, and the player will be asked to cease if a problem is caused.

27. In non-tournament games, you may have a guest sit behind you if no one in the game objects. It is improper for a guest to look at any hand other then your own.

2. You must protect your own hand at all times. Your cards may be protected with your hands, a chip, or other object placed on top of them. If you fail to protect your hand, you will have no redress if it becomes fouled or the dealer accidentally kills it.

11. Deliberately acting out of turn will not be tolerated. A player who checks out of turn may not bet or raise on the next turn to act. An action or verbal declaration out of turn may be ruled binding if there is no bet , call, or raise by an intervening player acting after the infraction has been committed.

By participating in any tournament, you agree to abide by the rules and behave in a courteous manner. A violator may be verbally warned, suspended from play for a specified length of time, or disqualified from the tournament. Chips from a disqualified participant will be removed from play. Players, whether in the hand or not, may not discuss the hands until the action is complete. Players are obligated to protect the other players in the tournament at all times. Discussing cards discarded or hand possibilities is not allowed. A penalty may be given for discussion of hands during the play.

[quote]22. Showing cards from a live hand during the action injures the rights of other players still competing in an event, who wish to see contestants eliminated. A player in a multihanded pot may not show any cards during a deal. Heads-up, a player may not show any cards unless the event has only two remaining players, or is winner-take-all. If a player deliberately shows a card, the player may be penalized (but his hand will not be ruled dead). Verbally stating one’s hand during the play may be penalized.[/quote]

So, looking at all of the above relevant rules, there are two breaches of the above rules in your example:

1) The button in the hand showing their hand to someone else.

2) The small blind player acting out of turn.

Any reasonable observer would correctly recognise that error (2) was directly caused by (1). There is no credible argument that the small blind player was trying to angleshoot here.

Thus, the correct and most obvious remedy is as follows:

1) Give the hand back to the player on the button. He is to be warned/reprimanded/whatever for not protecting his hand. He will learn from the mistake.

2) Return the chips to the small blind player. Tell him to pay closer attention to action in the future.

3) The action is on the button player.

Tournament continues; everyone will be happy with that resolution, and it is fair to all concerned. There's no possible angle shoot out of this, and thus, it is reasonable to do this.

[Michael Josem]

SB should get their option back if button isn't deemed a fold, which it probably should be, esp if another person has seen their cards..

Why would you muck that player's hand? What problem does it solve?

You resolve the problem more amicably by warning the player to not do it again.

[TurnRiva]

I think the actual ruling would be, if the button calls, the SB call stands, if the button raises, the SB gets all of its options back..

The ruling regarding the button exposing his cards to another player should prob be a warning if the player he/she shows is not active in the pot, and deemed dead if done again in something like NPL or w/e. A lot of places will make it dead straight away, or expose the cards to the whole table.

[Tahfan]

There are a whole series of issues involved here. The most credible poker rules reference is Robert's Rules of Poker, which is available here: Poker Rules - Robert's Rules of Poker Version 10

thanks for that, good to have this.

Thus, the correct and most obvious remedy is as follows:

1) Give the hand back to the player on the button. He is to be warned/reprimanded/whatever for not protecting his hand. He will learn from the mistake.

2) Return the chips to the small blind player. Tell him to pay closer attention to action in the future.

3) The action is on the button player.

Tournament continues; everyone will be happy with that resolution, and it is fair to all concerned. There's no possible angle shoot out of this, and thus, it is reasonable to do this.

After much discussion this is exactly what happened. TD was originally going to make the SB call stand until he complained and everyone watching (about 3 of us) joined in. Right decision made in the end but TD felt button player had done absolutely nothing wrong which was a bit baffling!

Thanks guys for the feedback.

[SwoopAE]

If its an either or situation then BTN is considered to be folded imo

But the fairest resolution is probably SB takes his money back, action is on the button so everyone's happy