Embarass is undoubtedly the wrong word. My point is that the rule was not made for you to "gain info" so its bad etiquette to use it as such. I am hugely surprised this does not fit in the apat ethos which ppl pride themselves on (rightly so). If ur gng to do it and think thr is nothing wrong with it, keep doing it...but dnt b surprised wen ppl get pissed off at u and go all out for slow-roll based vengence
The facts are:
1-it is within the rules
2-the rule was designed to stop collusion
3-it is highly frowned upon to do for other reasons
Edit: also - I"m not trying to "win an argument." Im actually trying to inform you of what the general thoughts are about the etiquette in this situation. U of course r free to take it or leave it, and judging by your posts, Im assuming you will leave it.
For clarification, a quick run through of the APAT tournament rules has nothing on asking for cards to be shown. The only reference to turning hands over is when a player is all-in.
In addition, you must show both cards to take the pot.
As such, there is no confirmation that asking is either inside or outside of the rules.
I would expect players to treat each other with respect (in the APAT spirit) and refrain from asking but I realise that there are some players who don"t agree with that.
So, either we have a rule that all cards are shown at any showdown regardless or, if that"s not palatable, a rule that says you CAN"T ask to see UNLESS you suspect collusion (the purpose of the rule). If that"s the case, you should be able to justify to the floor/TD why you think the player was colluding and with whom.
I just re-read the OP and it doesn"t specifically mention APAT, it was more of a general question, so, perhaps, we"ve drifted from the topic at hand.
In which case, my bad!