What would you do - player looks at my cards in the muck...

[mrmookid]

A long time friend did this to me once when I pushed him all-in pre-flop. He folded and I started collecting the chips when he turned my two cards up. I looked at him and told him to NEVER, EVER DO THAT AGAIN. He tried defending what he did and I finally said "Look, it's wrong. If you do that one more time I won't play in a game with you again". He apologized and it hasn't happened since.

[TheEleven]

I had this happen in a similar home game, although the person who peeked wasn't involved in the hand (he was just dealer for the hand). Since the game is mostly newbies, I pulled the old "Well, try doing that in a casino" during the ensuing discussion. It worked pretty well, but you have be wary of using that too often because you don't want to become that guy who always talks about how they run games in casinos. It's just asking for mockery!

[RiverDood]

In a $20 game, I'd mention it, but not make a federal case out of it. The higher the stakes, the more adamant I'd be about not poking through dead hands, peeking at other players' hands after folding, etc. If there's serious money on the line, people ought to play seriously.

But I've also played in small-stakes weekly games where we're all trying to sharpen up our skills for bigger tournaments elsewhere. In that environment, as long as the player who folded had some skin in the hand, there's more of a feeling that: "Hey, this is a teaching moment for both of us, and let's talk out the hand afterward."

Depends on what kind of mood you want for that particular game. Naturally, it's better manners for him to ask if he can see. And then it's your call.

Anyway, sounds like you handled it fine.

[BigRedAce]

I'd pop a cap in his a$$.

But we're a little old-school in our game...