Exposed Card Rule Puts Mizzi at Penalty Risk
Sorel Mizzi had asked out of interest for a clarification of the rule on something he had done a couple of hands ago. Hady El Asmar had moved all in and it was left up to Mizzi on whether to call him. He had said that if one card was an ace he was calling. In the end he turned over one card to give, as he put it, El Asmar “a sweat.” and then folded.
When the floor heard this Mizzi was suddenly facing a one round penalty for exposing a card with action pending, clearly not the answer he was expecting. Mizzi insisted on a ruling from the tournament director who was soon at hand.
In a debate that went back and forth with none of the players wanting Mizzi to have a one round penalty the rule was explained. Turning your cards face up with a forward motion to fold is fine; exposing cards before folding, for example to try to get a read on your opponent, is not. However the matter must be brought to the floor’s attention immediately as retrospective rulings do not apply to this rule. This more than anything saved Mizzi from a penalty.
Was this a new ruling, Mizzi wanted to know? The TD explained that it had been in place since season one.
Everyone at the table was satisfied except for Luke Schwartz who was angry that time was ticking away and short stacks like his were being punished by the waste of time.