SQL query not equal to operator not working, with JOIN - php

Question

I wonder if someone could help me with an SQL query.
I am trying to display all results except where in Table 2 both the userid column equals 1 and the hidden column equals 1.
I am basically trying to hide results from individual users based on their id and the value in the hidden column either 1 or empty.
I have so far managed to make a query that does the opposite and can't figure out how to change it. I have tried adding !=, <>, NOT and a few other things, but nothing is working for me!
Here is the query I am working with.
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT tl.id, tl.name, tl.locale, uh.hidden
FROM theList AS tl
LEFT JOIN user_hidden_list AS uh ON uh.est_id = tl.id
WHERE uh.userid = '1' AND uh.hidden = '1'");
How do I display all results expect those with a uh.userid = 1 and uh.hidden = 1
UPDATE: Tables
Table: user_hidden_list
userid | Hidden | est_id
---------------------------
1 | 1 | 1
2 | 1 | 1
1 | 1 | 2
Table: theList
id | name | locale
------------------------
1 | Jacks | LDN
2 | MacD's | LDN
3 | BK | LDN
4 | Byron | LDN
So if I am logged in with and userid of:
1 I should see: BK and Byron.
2 I should see: MacD's, BK and Byron.
3 (or anything else) I should see: Jacks, MacD's, BK and Byron.

Answer 1

If i understood correctly, the table user_hidden_list mantains a relation between one user and the users he can't see. So for, example, user with id equal to 1 (matching on column userid) can't see users 1 and 2 (matching on column est_id).
So, for a particular user with ID = X, we can get the ID list of user he can't see like next:
SELECT
est_id
FROM
user_hidden_list
WHERE
userid = X AND hidden = 1;
Using the previous query, we can get the visible users for user X like on next query:
SELECT
tl.id, tl.name, tl.locale
FROM
theList AS tl
WHERE
tl.id NOT IN (SELECT est_id
FROM user_hidden_list
WHERE userid = X AND hidden = 1);
I'm sure there will be a better (elegant) way to do this, but i'm just leaving work and my mind is not working nice now.

Answer 2

I am trying to display all results except where in Table 2 both the userid column equals 1 and the hidden column equals 1.
This does not suggest an outer join. You seem to want:
SELECT tl.id, tl.name, tl.locale, uh.hidden
FROM theList tl JOIN
user_hidden_list uh
ON uh.est_id = tl.id
WHERE NOT (uh.userid = 1 AND uh.hidden = 1);
I am guessing that userid and hidden are numbers of some sort, so I removed the single quotes. If they are really strings, then use the single quotes.
This also assumes that these values cannot be NULL. If that is a possibility, then the logic can be adjusted (using the null-safe comparator <=>).

Answer 3

Try out this, with even parantheses:
SELECT tl.id, tl.name, tl.locale, uh.hidden
FROM theList tl JOIN
user_hidden_list uh
ON uh.est_id = tl.id
WHERE (uh.userid <> 1 AND uh.hidden <> 1);