I am amazed that Replay does not follow some of the basic rules for poker. You may find more details in “Robert’s Rules for Poker”. For example:
The Big Blind rotates after each hand. The Small Blind and the Button must follow certain rules depending on whether or not players in their positions were knocked out of the game on the previous hand. In fact, there CAN BE a “dead Small Blind” if the player in the Big Blind from the previous hand is knocked out. If the player from the Small Blind on the previous hand is knocked out, the Button position rotates backward to the next player still at the table.
When a player goes “all in” AND no more betting is possible (e.g. for example, if there are only two players left in the hand or all players except for one are “all in”) THEN all players hands are shown and the dealer continues to deal until showdown. There is a pause, then the winning hands are highlighted or displayed in the chat box. [Replay does NOT show players hands.]
We do try to follow Robert’s Rules of poker where possible.
The button movement is not a hard and fast rule. Many poker venues, both live or online use various methods.
According to RROP V.11
The Big Blind rotates after each hand.
“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.’
When a player goes “all in” AND no more betting is possible…
As far as I am aware, all cards are shown when no more betting is possible prior to the river.
Could you give an example where we do not do this?
Let’s take the easiest one first, the showing of cards when there is an all-in player. From my personal experience, there has never been a “showdown” if there is only one allin and one caller. I have personally witnessed many (I have not counted them, but my estimate is more than a hundred times) times when the dealer does not even complete the hand. The allin player is removed from the table without showing his/her hand; the other player gets the chips; neither player’s hands are shown. This is the condition which I was most concerned about because I have made the decision a few times (when I was learning Replay’s game) not to call and expecting to see the bettor’s hand because there was an allin player and cards remaining to be dealt. If necessary, I can attempt to record the video of such an instance and provide it to you. Now that I think about it, it is possible that ALL of the instances I witnessed was because the allin players had the “auto-muck” option selected; but that doesn’t explain why the winning hand was not shown or why the remaining cards were not dealt.
When there are multiple callers of an allin, the actual sequence sometimes is different. I do not have a specific memory of seeing players cards. By the way, I do understand that players have the option of mucking their (losing) hands if they wish. However, I have often pointed out to those at the table that there was no showdown of the allin player.
For the other one; I believe that RROP states that each player will Only be in the BB and SB once per round. I will check that because it has been quite some time since I have read them and frankly, I’m not sure it was version 11.
Again, thank you for the quick response. I enjoy playing on Replay (even though I criticize the statistics of the software often) for the primary goal of meeting and competing with good poker players.
I have seen this many times too. I think it happens when one of the players has less than 1 BB and is in “post and fold” (away) mode.
I can’t speak for Chasetheriver, but am pretty sure all you would need to provide is a hand number, which you can copy/paste from the table chat if you have dealer chat enabled.
I have been particularly careful watching since my first post. I believe that the “post and fold” commenter is correct. Many players do click the “post and fold” button when they get low on chips.
However, I would suggest that Replay modify its rules such that anytime a player goes “all in”, his/her hand is displayed for all to see at the end of the hand regardless of whether it wins or loses. This aspect of “live” play is one of the benefits of calling an allin player. Even if you lose, you get to see what that player considered “worthy” for going allin.
Regarding the possibility of being required to post either BB or SB more than one time each round, I also suggest that Replay modify its rules to eliminate that possibility. I have (since my first post) re-read RROP v. 11 and the rules are clear (in my opinion) that each player must get “an opportunity for the button and meet the total amount of the blind obligations” in each “round”. (See sections 4 and 16 for details.) There is no place which authorizes that any player be required to post either BB or SB TWICE in one round.
Please understand that my purpose in raising this question is to provide feedback to those who write the software for Replay Poker. Obviously, I will abide by your decision.
You have great ideas, it is clear that you understand this more than others. As I wrote above, it is very important for me to follow the rules of poker. If something goes wrong, it gives some players the opportunity to cheat. After all the casinos were closed due to COVID-19, I started playing online casinos. Honestly, it’s very convenient. Of course, this will not replace the real situation with the intensity of passions, but it is also not bad. Everything is fair, there are no mistakes, you have a better chance of winning. You can even take out a loan to play like in a real casino.