There are some things you just can’t do at a poker table, and turning over an opponent’s cards is one of them. Doing so may have cost one player $4,400 in a recent cash game.
An argument broke out at the Texas Card House this week after a player flipped one of his opponent’s cards over when all-in, leading to uproar – the entire incident caught on camera.
The action shows two regs at the poker room battling it out in a $2/$5 NLHE cash game, with player 1 – Josh – going all-in with a huge bluff on the river.
Unbeknownst to both players, they have the same hand, although JDogg hit his flush on the river and is considering a call, which would of course win him the $4400 pot.
What happens next is unclear as we can’t quite catch the full audio, but it appears as though the players agree to show a card each, and then Josh flips over one of JDogg’s cards!
When JDogg wants to choose one of Josh’s, it turns out they don’t have a deal at all – Josh claiming he didn’t agree to that at all.
Chaos ensues as JDogg calls the floor and the rest of the table share their unhappiness with Josh’s behaviour.
Who stands to gain?
Some pretty obvious questions quickly arose when the clip went viral on YouTube:
- Why would JDogg offer to show one of his cards for nothing?
- Why would Josh agree to such a deal anyway when he knows he is bluffing?
- Why didn’t JDogg pretty much snap call the all-in given his call on the turn was based on his flush draw, which he hit on the river?
Some of those questions were answered by Josh, his YouTube comments allaying some of the claims that he was simply angle-shooting – a hard thing to do when you are all-in explaining, “I would like to emphasize that I have completed my actions already.”
Josh and JDogg speak out
Describing himself as the “goofball” in the video, Josh states: “I apologize for the horrible mistake I made here, not only to my opponent but to the players who respect and love this game.
“I should never flip my opponent’s card, whether I have finished my action or not. There are just no excuses for that kind of behavior on a poker table.”
However, he was still adamant that he never agreed to show one of his cards in return. Instead, he claims he told JDogg, “If you show me your hands, I might consider showing one of mine.”
Blaming the incident partly on miscommunication, partly due to language barrier and nervousness, Josh adds: “I’m not trying to make any excuse for this horrible mistake I made…it was not my intention to take any advantage of my opponent.”
He also confessed: “I might be the worst player in poker history. I should keep my mouth shut and never touch my opponent’s cards. He was about to fold.”
With JDogg eventually flipping one of Josh’s cards in retaliation, and seeing that his flush was good, he scooped the pot and the messy hand ended acrimoniously, Josh given a one round penalty.
JDogg himself appeared to reply to the YouTube discussion, a user named Jason declaring: “Josh is a good dude. No issues from me. Wish I would have handled it differently and just snap called.
Jason adds: “While I agree it doesn’t make any sense at all, it was Josh that brought up showing cards, not me. If he is willing to offer, why not take the info. The last thing I said was that if you flip a card, I’m choosing one of yours. Should have just snap called. It was one hand. Time to move on. I like Josh and all the staff at TCH.”
Someone shooting angles?
Not everyone was convinced Josh was the bad guy in the situation though.
Marco Carioba on YouTube wrote: “… For me its a clear angleshoot by JDogg trying to take advantage of you, knowing that if you flip one of his cards over he can make the correct decision…”
Franz Stoneking wrote: “Honestly, JDogg’s behavior is worse… 1) the nit roll with a rivered flush 2) crying about his hand being exposed when he has the only action left in the hand 3) flipping his opponents card after saying over and over that you shouldn’t touch someone else’s cards… Wretched nit behavior.”
Meanwhile Josh, who left the cardroom immediately after the hand, stated: “…I’m planning to ban myself from this poker room in the future. Will take all the consequences.”
What do you think? Should Josh be banned for touching someone else’s cards? Was JDogg angleshooting? Was the floor’s one round penalty ruling correct? let us know on our social media channels!
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