Holding Your Cards

[gaming_mouse]

At a recent game at Commerce, the fellow sitting next to me would continue to hold his cards when he stayed in a hand -- palm down, in his fingertips, so that they were covered by his hand and difficult to see -- rather than placing them on the table and protecting them. Often I could not tell wheather he had folded or not, since he sat with his hand in the exact same position over the felt after he had mucked.

He was an old cantankerous guy, and when I asked him politely if he wouldn't mind putting his cards down so that I could see when he was in a hand, he sort of spazzed out and got all offended. The dealer explained my point to him, the guy put his cards down for the next hand, but then went right back to holding them after that. I just let it go, because I wasn't sure if he was allowed to do this or not.

Had I called a floorman over, would he have been forced to place his cards down on the felt? His holding the cards was causing people -- including myself -- to act out of turn, though I don't think this guy was savvy enough to be doing that on purpose.

Thanks for any info on this,
gm