Imo, the picking over the small inconsistancies of the Op is a bit absurd. Anybody with half a brain can figure out the crux of the scenario and understand the situation without picking over the small details (which Op sorta admittted to being fuzzy on when he said he wasn't in the hand).

Ffs, all this nittiness got me into a contrarian mood, so I'll offer a different ruling (ignoring the whole SB/BB dispute, which is just a red herring, the point was he was in BB for the hand):
* A said he was dipping out for a quick sec, was coming right back, go ahead and deal him in. Fine, just like in a tourney a friendly neighbor posts for him and away we go.
* Maybe the dealer's new and inexperienced, or wants to keep it friendly and doesn't want to piss off the customers, or is just plain incompetent (we've certainly had much more egregious errors discussed in B&M), but when action comes around to his spot, the pot hasn't been raised, so Dealer interpreted his absense as a check of his option.

Maybe the floor felt that action was offered and accepted, that B should've objected either preflop when action came to the empty seat, or when A came back and immediatly re-raised. As soon as he called A's re-raise (or played back at him) it became too late to object. He didn't cry foul till after he lost the pot.

Sure, Dealer should've mucked A's card pre when action came around to him and he was still MIA. But she didn't. And nobody objected.

It's not standard, but...

Pre-flop BB Posting:
Meh, I've seen it happen where a BB is posted for someone not in a seat... Don't like it, but it happens.
'Nitty Version' = Dealer Error
'Friendly Game Version' = Eh, Whatever

Pre-flop Check Instead of Mucking:
Can see it happening, but it's a Dealer Error.

Flop Check Instead of Mucking:
Dealer Error

Hold Up the Game for 'Player A' After 1st Raise Instead of Mucking:
Player A's been gone for the pre-flop and one round on the flop? Forget 'made eye contact' and muck the ****in hand already.
Dealer Error

Here's where it gets interesting to me...

Basically, I think it's a dealer error (or 4) until the raise, but once the raise is made and there is action based on that raise it's seems like it has to be action offered and accepted.

Player B didn't object to the floor until Player A won the hand, but he can't 'have it both ways' to where if he wins he gets Player A's chips, but if he loses he doesn't have to pay Player A off.

Either Player A's hand was dead at the time he tried to make the raise, meaning there was no raise, because a player without a hand cannot make any action on the pot, or the hand is live and the winner gets the pot.

What Player B cannot do is continue playing against Player A's hand until the completion of the hand and then complain when he loses. Would he have called the floor and complained if he won? I highly doubt it.

If Player B didn't want Player A to have a chance at the pot he should have called the floor over when Player A attempted to raise with what he believed should be a dead hand, but he didn't do that. He also had the option to muck to the raise then call the floor over and request a ruling, but he didn't do that either.

Player B accepted Player A's action and played out the hand.

I think since Player A didn't call the floor when the raise happened and didn't muck to the raise then call the floor, the floor actually has to rule the way they did based on what happened up to the point they were called, but would have had to rule the hand dead if they were called when the raise was made or if Player A mucked to the raise.

Thanks to those who have taken time to response.

Sorry for the inconsistencies with the details. I typed up the original post too quickly and got the details wrong (obviously my account of the order of the blinds was just a brain muck). I could have just said, "is a hand dead if the the player is not in the seat when the action is on him?" I tried to include details to help flesh out the incident, but I can see my mistakes derailed the conversation.

Between my mistakes in the account, and the incredulousness of the story, I see that some question whether it happened. That's okay! Thanks also to the "unbelievers" who took time to weigh in.

I'm going to bring this matter up with the supervisor in the Casino

Anyway... thanks again

I'll just say that every place I have played I have never seen a hand dealt to an empty seat in a live game. I would have questioned and called the floor if it was me.

Are you kidding? It happens every day.

Player folds pre flop and says "deal me in next hand" and runs outside for a few puffs or goes for some coffee.

If he's not back when it's his action his hand is killed.

I've worked in rooms in the past where his BB hand would not be killed unless it was facing a raise or bet.

Yeah, it's really up in the air. It's not a good policy, but in old rooms with plenty of regulars, sometimes anything goes.

In this game, this hand was live. So... yes.

Well I can't say if it happens every day or not as I don't play every day. I am not kidding you, however. I have never seen it in any place I have ever played. That is all I am saying. You can go to the thread How many rooms have you played in to see where that has been.

As much as I hate when reg's/smokers do this, I hate it even more when someone says "you can't deal him in here blah blah" STFU and play for gods sake who CARES. Life is too short folks. Have fun!! and try to keep it friendly when you can.

In some places for time rank games, you get dealt in automatically until your big blind.

If you're not in your seat when the action reaches you, it's a fold. Being in the big blind is irrelevant.

This is exactly what is done at Casino Arizona in their time collection games. They changed to this procedure sometime in the last 6 months or so.
The hand dealt to an empty seat is live until the action reaches that seat then the hand is killed. Once the blind reaches the empty position a Missed Blind button is placed and the position is dealt out.

I am curious how many places actually do use the same procedure.

In reference to the first post, that hand should have been killed as soon as the action reached that position and the player was not there to act on their option.

Dealing the player in was fine. Every casino is Las Vegas will deal a player in if he stands up and says "deal me in next hand" and steps away for a moment. That's simply good customer service.

But, his hand should have been mucked when he wasn't there to act on it pre-flop.

Because the player got back to the table before his hand was actually killed, he should be allowed to play it. The house shouldn't compound their mistake of not folding a hand when the player wasn't there by folding a hand when the player is there.

So screw the player who bet thinking he was playing N opponents, and spring the surprise on him that no, he's really got N+1 opponents?

If you leave your seat while you have cards, your hand is dead. If you aren't in your seat (or very near) when initial action gets to you, your hand is dead. It can't come back to life. And dealer errors shouldn't alter this.

The player who bet shouldn't be surprised the hand is live. He saw a blind posted in the player's seat and can see live cards in his position. If there are cards in front of a seat, the default position should be they are live until they are mucked.

If the player who bet had any doubt about whether than hand was live or not, he could have asked the dealer to clarify before taking any action.



As is often the case, I notice that the betting player (and everyone else seated at tht table) didn't complain when the missing player had a blind posted for him. Presumably, they liked that dead money was being added to the pot by somebody who wasn't there. As long as it was to their advantage, they were content to let the player have a live hand.

It was only when the betting player thought he may be at a disadvantage to having the winning cards at showdown that he lodged a complaint.

At the risk of repeating many others in this thread...

Unless this is a drunken home game, there is NO way that this guy's hand should not have been killed when the action got to him preflop. If he isn't in his seat to act on his hand, then it's a dead hand. There is no such thing as an automatic check if a player is not at his seat in a casino or cardroom.

It's insane that this even happened. I would go to the floor, the poker room manager, and finally the gaming commission if I didn't get satisfactory answers.