Who shows their hands during a poker showdown?

Question

I was playing poker last night and there was some questions about who has to show their hands at the end. It was my understanding that you have to show your hand if you goto the showdown starting from the dealers left and going in the same direction as normal betting would until no one else can beat that hand. For example if there are four people left at showdown (lets say someone in the small blind spot, big blind spot, 6th position, and on dealer button), then the small blind has to show BOTH cards to start. If no one else can beat him then no one has to show their hands, otherwise, if another player can beat him they obviously have to show BOTH of their cards. Is this correct or some other way...

Thanks

Answer 1

It depends on the betting.  The situation you described might be correct if everyone checked on the river.  But if a person in late position bet, and was called by the small blind, the bettor must show first.

Answer 2

That's pretty much correct.  Showdown starts from dealer's left.  Player must show cards or muck, in turn.  Each player must show BOTH cards to claim pot, even if everyone else mucks.  These are technically the rules, but of course sometimes these rules are bent or broken depending on various circumstances, which I will explain.

House rules: basically if everyone agrees to some other rules than those above, then you can throw out some or all of the standard rules of poker stated above.  But, the house rules must be agreed upon by EVERYONE before the very FIRST hand is dealt, otherwise there will the inevitable disagreement when it comes time to enforce the rules.  Generally it is best to revert to standard poker rules, but there's always some home games and side games that make up their own rules for whatever reason.

Etiquette:  On the professional level, there's table etiquette where the first guy to act can state "Take it, I've got nothing", then the second guy shows his hand and takes the pot.  This one has always been a sore point between the rank amateur and a seasoned pro.  Because, technically, in the example above the first player doesn't actually fold or muck, but holds their cards knowing their hand is no good.  But if the second player had an even worse hand, I guess the first player can technically still claim the pot.  I've never seen this happen, but it seems like it opens a sort of very unlikely pandora's box.  In any respect, I think this "etiquette" is yet another way for pro's to control the psychology of the table.