Not allowed to read the rules?

[smarterthanyoda]

Recently I was playing 4/8 at a local casino when a player called the floor. He complained that another player had thrown his cards into the muck rather than show them. The floor explained that any player could ask to see a hand that had been called in a showdown.

Although I don't really agree with this rule, what really caught my attention is what happened next. The player that had mucked his hand said he wanted to see the written rules. The floor told him that wasn't allowed.

I've seen advice before that you should ask for the rulebook and review it when you go to a new cardroom. I've also seen plenty of times that different floors' "interpretions" of the rules are very different. It seems to me that having a rulebook that cannot be viewed and is constantly interpreted differently is no better that not having a rulebook.

How usual is it for a cardroom to not allow players to read the house rules?