Im inexperienced at live play. I've been reading this forum for a few months and I keep reading to protect my cards. Here was my 1st experience with protecting my cards.

On the river, in position I call a 3/4 pot size bet (cards don't matter). Villain says "your good" and starts to muck his cards. Dealer turns to me (i'm in seat 1 and villain is in seat 7) and makes a motion towards taking my cards. I have a chip on my cards. I notice seat 7 has not mucked his cards and is instead holding them face down about 6 inches over the pot of chips. I quickly cover my cards with my hand and ask the dealer if seat 7 mucked. Dealer says, "YES". I say, "just checking because he still has his cards." Dealer gave me a frustrated look and asked for my cards. Seat 7 still has his cards hanging over the pot. I slowly gave my cards to the dealer because I was not sure what to do. Once I handed my cards to the dealer seat 7 dropped his cards in the muck.

I do not think seat 7 was trying to angle me out of the pot. I think he was hoping I would show my cards. I felt like a bit of a newbie and it was a large pot so I tipped the dealer.

Did I handle this correctly?

You asked for clarification, dealer clarified. You're good.

Query why dealer is taking your cards first, though.

You were definitely correct in wanting to make sure that seat 7 mucked before releasing your cards. That dealer showed bad form there as they should have mucked the losing hand before shipping the pot to you. Next time this happens, don't release your cards until all other cards are mucked to prevent any kind of angles. There's always some douche that will try to say "Hey, you mucked and I still have my cards, I win." and a bad dealer will sometimes let him get away with it.. When I play, I always tell the dealer to muck the losing hand before I toss mine in if they are too lazy to muck the loser. If they want my cards, muck the other ones, and gimme that pot!

Sounds like you did the right thing...although I would have followed with "if he mucked, why aren't you taking his cards?"

Explain that you're new to live play and are simply protecting your hand. I you feel the dealer is treating you differently from there on out (dirty looks, agitation in voice), step away for a moment and speak with the floor.

No.

"Dealer, either have him table his hand, muck his cards, or you please give me the pot before I release my cards."

You give up your cards. Opponent calls Floor. Floor sides with Opponent and tells dealer that he is wrong. You do not get the chips.

You have only one Friend and Protector at the table. It is not the dealer.

Dealers have to put up w/ this stuff all the time and it must get old. Once dealer says the other guy's mucked it's ok to let your cards go. The entire table will back you up if the other guy tries a move which I've never seen in 17 years of b&m play. Asking to make sure is perfectly fine, don't pay attention to the dealer's frustrated look, he's only human.

The dealer should have mucked the other player's cards, pushed you the pot, then collected your cards. I recommend keeping your cool when anything questionable happens. In a situation like this, I would have taken the cards from under the chip, and, if the dealer didn't push me the pot, I'd say, "Go ahead and push me the pot and I'll give you my cards."

As soon as the dealer says, "Yes, he mucked," you should say, "Great, take his cards, put them in the muck and push me the pot, then you can have my cards." Any argument should end with, "Do you want me to call the floor to discuss why you aren't following procedure?"

My guess is the villain is a regular and often does this. The dealer doesn't want to piss off the regular. Of course, that makes me even more stubborn in not giving up the cards because if there is a dispute, the dealer can all of a sudden get amnesia on what really happened. "I thought he was asking if the other guy mucked, he would win the pot, not if he had won the pot."

Until you have the pot in your hands, you're Charlton Heston. The only way you'll take these cards without giving me the pot is from my stone cold hands.

Protect them until the pot is pushed to you.

"You're good" doesn't mean that villain mucked or has relinquished his interest in the pot. He might just think that you have a better hand but is interested in seeing what you had.

Asking villain, "So you're mucking?" would have clarified the situation immediately. Don't feel funny about asking either. If he says yes, wait until the cards are buried.

If you mucked before villain, I could see villain (and have seen other villains) saying, "Whao!...I wasn't mucking...I just thought he had me beat."

We've all heard this a million times: "You're good....<opponent tables his hand>...yep, I knew you had the Ace." THEN he mucks.

Perhaps your asking the dealer what's up saved you the pot. Again, don't feel strange about asking.

I believe it was "cold, dead hands." Dead, yes. Is hell cold yet?

You handled it well, but you shouldn't have given the dealer your cards (hard to not do so when the dealer is saying so though) dealer should have been killing the other guys hand, no idea why he is after your cards. Bad dealer who obviously doesn't understand basic procedure

I'm not letting go of my cards in this spot until the other player mucks and the dealer pushes me the pot. You were right to not want to give up your cards, but you should have stuck to it.

I'm glad everything ended well though.

Cards should always be the receipt for the pot.

You were correct in protecting your hand and you should of surrendered your cards after the dealer pushes you the pot. Usually if I'm in that situation I table my cards after my opponent says you're good.

Even after the dealer pushes you the pot hold on to your cards until the other hand is in the muck.

Throw me the idol, I throw you the whip.

No, it's really not ok to let go. "You're good" does not mean "I fold". The dealer telling a player "he mucked" is not necessarily going to bind the player that still has his cards who thinks he's told the guy "I can't beat a pair, but you show first" by saying "you're good". No, OP didn't do it right. I would have no qualms about holding on to my cards tightly in that situation and insisting the dealer muck the cards in the correct order. If the dealer is tired of having to put up with this stuff, the dealer should do things a little bit tidier and avoid the issue coming up in the first place. It ain't rocket science.

No. Chips are the payment to get the cards back.

So much YES! If I ever find myself in this situation I'm saying this line!

No. Insist the dealer do this correctly. He should not be taking your cards before he mucks your opponents hand.

If the dealer should be annoyed by anyone its the other player who isn't tabling or mucking his hand

We agree to disagree that we don't agree.


As for OP, no you didn't do all you could've to protect yourself.

When you think you've won, don't surrender your cards until the dealer has mucked the losing hand(s).

But the clarification request from the dealer is a step in the right direction and may protect you in some situations.

Way better than the guy who gets angle-shot because he wasn't protecting his hand at all...

When I win a pot without a showdown, I've never tossed them before the pot is shipped to me and no dealer has asked me for my cards before he's shipped the pot. In this case, even if you might come off as a nit or a douchebag to others, you're right to be protecting yourself. Don't relinquish your cards unless the pot is infront of you.

similar situation happened to me before. both hands were exposed though and villains cards were in the middle of the table, i had the best hand and was holding my hand on top of my cards.
dealer sees both hands, doesn't say anything and grabs my cards, i forcefully hold them to the felt and he gives me a strange look. lol
i say "i won, right?" dealer says "yes" and we continue to struggle for ownership of my hand.

i finally give up and he ships me the pot. not sure why he didn't muck my opponents hand first but whatever, i'm not letting go of my hand until i know the pot is mine.

The correct NRA/Charleton Heston line is "pry them from my cold dead fingers" imho. From the limited details provided this reeks of a "reg" attempting an angle shot and the dealer actually facilitating said reg. I believe brief aside with the floor would be in order. The standard procedure in this situation is pretty basic and the dealers actions are far enough off base that I would take take additional action.

This wasn't perchance at Hollywood Charles Town was it?
AW