[beekeeper]

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If this dealer is a regular player with this group, you better believe he is an interested party in this. If this were a dedicated dealer that never played, I would not care if he looked at mucked cards. While this person is no longer in THIS tournament, he CAN gain knowledge about a future opponent by looking at mucked cards, all this without the others gaining the same info. No way, I don't like it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Our home game is similar to the OP--we try to strike a balance between fun and "professional." Guys who bust out sometimes will sit next to their friends and look at their hands while playing--stuff like that happens. We have the "show one show all" rule, but it's not "enforced."

However, if the OP doesn't think that just because the dealer is no longer in that tournament he isn't gaining an advantage over the other players, the OP is mistaken. If one player gets to observe how other player's hands are played, how they bet, what they fold, etc., and no other players get this info, it's not fair to the table. That's info that the players still playing have to pay to see, for one thing. It's strategic info that only the dealer gets to see, and he'll use it from that point forward: i.e., in all future tournaments.