All was not quiet on the western front last night at the $2/$5 NL game I was dealing. I was about to send the boss man a detailed e-mail defending the actions following my faux pas... Mid-way, decided it may be best to open to public debate.
$2/$5 NL Brick & Mortar.
Ten handed game, all players are familiar with each other and play together on a regular basis. More than an hour into the night, seats seven and nine are playing a pot. Board reads KT2 A (all hearts). River is a board-pairing King.
$75 was bet and called. These bets were still in front of the players when the nine says, "You got the queen, you beat me." He then tables JhQd for the Jack-high flush.
Seven says, "No, I don't have the Queen." He tables a club Deuce. His second card is not exposed, rests below the tabled 2c. The dealer (guilty) sees a flush in one tabled hand and Kings and Deuces in a non-tabled hand. I grab the 2c and the face-down card and pull it towards the muck. As I'm doing this, the seven seat grabs his $75 and attempts to place it in his stack. "Uh, Floor."
When I saw him motion to pull the last bet back, I knew I was in for an argument. He honestly thought he was being awarded the pot.
I made a mistake by not saying, "It takes two cards to win the pot," after he had only showed one card. I should've said this or, "is that a muck?" BEFORE I tried to kill the hand.
To compound my mistake, I didn't fully kill the hand. I knew it was about to get ugly and left the cards fully retrievable, apart from the muck, but in front of me, away from the player.
Floor eventually decided that the seven's cards were retrievable, deuces full of kings finally gets the pot. To manifest a limited amount of ill-will, half of the pot was awarded to the nine out of the house's pocket. Nine seat refused to accept this "charity" and remained salty for the rest of the night.
lasvegasvegas.com/poker/chapter3.php : Scroll Down to DEAD HANDS, Rule #2.
2. Cards thrown into the muck may be ruled dead. However, a hand that is clearly identifiable may be retrieved at management’s discretion if doing so is in the best interest of the game. We will make an extra effort to rule a hand retrievable if it was folded as a result of false information given to the player.
Based on the situation, cards were retrievable, not a mucked hand.
Trav's Fuck-up #2 for the night:
Same game, mostly same players at the table.
Flop is Jh8s7s. $150 is bet by the four seat. Five seat calls. Dealer (guilty) raps the table, burns, turns.
"Wait," says the six, "I didn't do anything," as the four of diamonds rolls up on the table. Dealer thinks he might need to look for a new job, says, "All right, this card is gonna go back, we're gonna put off the real river, act as if it were the turn, then shuffle the four back in, it can still come out as the new river card."
At this point, no one objects.
Until I do what I said I was gonna do.
lasvegasvegas.com/poker/chapter16.php
4. The rules given for rectifying a hold’em situation where the dealer has dealt [...]
“If the cards are prematurely flopped before the betting is complete [...]
“If the dealer turns the fourth card on the board before the betting round is complete, the card is taken out of play for that round, even if subsequent players elect to fold . The betting is then completed. The dealer burns and turns what would have been the fifth card in the fourth card’s place. After this round of betting, the dealer reshuffles the deck, including the card that was taken out of play, but not including the burncards or discards. The dealer then cuts the deck and turns the final card without burning a card. (If the fifth card is turned up prematurely, the deck is reshuffled and dealt in the same manner.)”
It was argued by every player at the table that every casino and card playing place in the world deals the real river face down, a new turn face up, and the river remains facedown until action has been taken. Please, for the love of god, defend my sanity on this one.
Flame away, my friends. Flame away.
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