Gananda Poker League

Well after the second tournament of the season the only word that comes to mind is WOW!!  We had a couple of firsts this week.  This first one I don't know if I have ever witnessed, we had quads lose to a better set of quads.  With a flop of 6,6,5 Kevin C and Kip both were loving their hands.  A three on the turn made no difference and when a 5 came on the river all the chips when in.  Kevin new he had the hand won with a pair of 5's in the hole to give him quad 5's, at least he knew he had it won until Kip showed him his pocket 6's for better quads.  By far this is the worst beat in the league and has put Kevin in a huge hole for the season standings but it is early.

We had a total of 26 players this week with the top five making the money.  Mike S, a late arrival, got kicked in the butt by karma and ended up busting out on the bubble in sixth when Mark L took him out.  Kip ended up making good use of Kevin's chips ending up in fifth place.  Tom J turned his season back in the right direction by taking down fourth place.  Mark L used his tournament high four knockouts to finish in third place.  This left Adam and last weeks winner Gary heads up.  Gary, with 4 additional points on his head played a great heads up match.  After finally knocking out Adam, Gary became the first back to back winner in Gananda Poker League history.  Look out Johnny Chan there is a new back to back winner in town.

We had a couple rules questions arise on Saturday and I have done the research.  There was a discussion of how to handle a situation where someone busts out leaving the small blind position empty.  Todd had one thought of how it should be handled and I had another.  Turns out we were both right according to Robert's Rules of Poker.  I have included the section of the rules that pertain to this.  In our league we are using the dead button or dead blind version to handle this situation.  Here is the rule:

SECTION 16 - EXPLANATIONS

1. The only place in this set of rules that an alternative is mentioned other than in this section is in the method of button and blind placement. That rule (the first rule in “Section 4 – Button and Blind Use”) is repeated in an abbreviated version below for convenience.
“Each round all players must get the button, and meet the total amount of the blind obligations. Either of the following methods of button and blind placement may be used:

(a) Moving button – The button always moves forward to the next player and the blinds adjust accordingly. There may be more than one big blind.

(b) Dead button – The big blind is posted by the player due for it, and the small blind and button are positioned accordingly, even if this means the small blind or the button is placed in front of an empty seat, giving a player last action on consecutive hands.”

Poker tradition has a lot to do with the fact that both of these methods are in widespread use, but neither method is superior in all situations. The moving button makes sure no player gets the advantage of last action twice on a round (a big advantage at no-limit or pot-limit play). On the other hand, a player may get to post a blind when on the button, which is more advantageous than posting in front of the button. The moving button creates a situation where two big blinds may be posted on a deal, which speeds up the action. At tournament play this speed-up can be undesirable, as when dealing is being done hand-for-hand to balance the pace of play between two remaining tables. A cardroom may either decide for the sake of simplicity to use only one method, or decide to tailor the method to the game and situation.

The other question arose when someone wanted to know if they showed one card of their hand did they have to show the other and I said yes.  That I can find in the rules this is only partially correct.  If the hand was eligible to be involved in the showdown a player may request to see the cards.  I don't however find a rule that states if you show one card when folding your hand that you have to show both.  The "show one, show all" rule pertains to someone showing one player their hand they then must show it to everyone.  Will was correct, I apologize.  Here is the section of the rule book that pertains to this:

THE SHOWDOWN

5. Any player who has been dealt in may request to see any hand that was eligible to participate in the showdown, even if the opponent's hand or the winning hand has been mucked. However, this is a privilege that may be revoked if abused. If a player other than the pot winner asks to see a hand that has been folded, that hand is dead. If the winning player asks to see a losing player’s hand, both hands are live, and the best hand wins.

6. Show one, show all. Players are entitled to receive equal access to information about the contents of another player’s hand. After a deal, if cards are shown to another player, every player at the table has a right to see those cards. During a deal, cards that were shown to an active player who might have a further wagering decision on that betting round must immediately be shown to all the other players. If the player who saw the cards is not involved in the deal, or cannot use the information in wagering, the information should be withheld until the betting is over, so it does not affect the normal outcome of the deal. Cards shown to a person who has no more wagering decisions on that betting round, but might use the information on a later betting round, should be shown to the other players at the conclusion of that betting round. If only a portion of the hand has been shown, there is no requirement to show any of the unseen cards. The shown cards are treated as given in the preceding part of this rule.