It happened during the final hand of our home Texas Hold'em poker game last week. After the flop the short stack went all-in with 385 in chips. He was called by three players. After the turn the third largest stack made a big bet which chased the others away, making it a heads-up match between him and the all-in guy.

There was a few seconds of jaw-boning between the two players before they turned over their cards face-up and waited for the dealer to flip the river card. All-in guy had a straight draw. The other player had pocket Aces.

The dealer flipped the card and it was a 6c, giving all-in guy a straight. At that moment, the other player said, "He (the dealer) burnt two cards!" The cards in the muck were counted and there was an extra card.

During the process of the counting the cards they got mixed up, taking way any chance of trying to determine what may have been the correct river card.

Well you can guess it, a big argument ensued between the two players, and neither wanted to compromise. I can tell you later how it ended, but I want to know what is the correct ruling.

Please help us establish a rule for this situation, because knowing these guys it could happen again.
RakeemIn

This escapes rule #16 and goes into #17, which in short says, "Fix the deck as best as you can and try again..."

[Yes, I know 17 is about dropping the stub, but 16 falls short...]

I think I'd just let the river stand as dealt.

It was a random card from the stub, action was closed, there were no shenanigans, and it's impossible to identify what should have been the "real" river. I can't think of a good reason to attempt to put the stub back together and deal another river.

presumably at least 7 hands jumped in to "help" with this process?

Only the dealer should touch the deck. Dealer should keep the muck separate and protected, and the burns neatly placed under the pot to verify when and how many are out.

I know, nobody does this at a home game because it's too much trouble and doesn't matter or some such BS that is obviously not true -- just ask the two players in this pot. A clean table matters and this is a learning opportunity.

Since the correct card is FUBAR, the 6c stands. It's the fairest possible card now that the correct card is irretrievably lost in the muck.

This is how I'd go too.

If the players want to make a deal after (in this case it doesn't seem likely) the pot is pushed to the winning hand, that would be acceptable to me considering the circumstances.

The questions that need to be answered are,
Do you know when the extra burn took place and do you know the right order of the cards?
No to either one and the board stands as is. If the extra burn took place on a previous street with action following, then again, the board stands as is.

Fix the board if you can but if there is any doubt, the board stands.

Are you asking us because there were feeling that "maybe" the dealer cheated? He conveniently burned an extra card, and then the new river card game someone a straight. If its a real friendly home game (tournament), give the two their chips back and just replay the hand. If its not that friendly, than the board stands as is.

It would be great if each dealer in turn took control of the game and managed their deal like a professional. But that is not reality.

One reason for this behavior is that everyone is the dealer alternately during the game, since it gets passed around. On top of that, some dealers feel their only job is to deal cards, half the time only when someone prompts them to. Others are more adept at dealing and the rules. Self-dealt games tend toward group game management.

How do you know there were no shenanigans? Maybe the dealer peeked at the card saw it didn't make the straight for his buddy and burned again to give him a second chance?

And on the other end maybe the guy who lost is taking a shot. Maybe he noticed the double burn after the flop and decided he would wait and see what happened ... If he wins he says nothing if he loses he says "He double burned" do over.

I see shenanigans everywhere

this is well said.



I know, but it's not because people can't do better, they just actively avoid doing it right. It's one of those amazing things about human behavior that we take absolute glee in doing things wrong if we can get away with it. It fits into the "badboy" atmosphere of poker somehow to find some weird-ass way to deal the board (turn goes sideways, cards in pentagram, predeal everything face down, fling the cards randomly...), despite abundant evidence that this tomfoolery will cause a disaster sooner or later.

Doing it right isn't hard -- that's not WHY people don't do it right. It has more to do with misbehaving because it's poker night. We're drinking, smoking, cursing and eating pizza, so being conscientious about dealing bugs people.

In this instance, I'd go with either "reshuffle 6c and stub, deal new river" or "reshuffle stub and muck and 6c, deal new river". Letting the 6c stand is potentially leaving areas for cheating open...

Also, I'd start insisting that everyone start following correct procedures when dealing, and not mixing burns with the muck.

The hand should stand as is. There is no way to prove when the extra card was burnt. Like wise, it could be possible that someone kept an extra card and simply mucked it with his own two cards.

hand stands as is with the 6 for the river.

As other posters pointed out, make sure the dealer places the burns seperate from the muck.

I don't know that there were no shenanigans. But I think it's highly likely that this was honest dealer error based on two reasons:

1. OP didn't mention any suspicion of cheating by the dealer.
2. This kind of crap happens all the time at home games.

Of course he's looking for a freeroll, that's a given.

If nobody noticed until after the river card appeared... I let the card play. If someone speaks up before the river card is shown... either correct it if possible, or remind people that the river card will play.