Playing 1/1 at Mohegan Sun a couple weeks ago, when this hand happens:

I get AA and raise to $8 after a couple limpers, player to my immediate left calls, all others fold. I notice he only has $26 behind, I'm sitting on a fairly large stack. Flop comes KJ7. I immediately bet $26 and he calls all-in. We both table our hands, he has 910.

Board runs out J8. As soon as the dealer runs it out, the guy to my left comments about never hitting flushes, the dealer sympathetically nods, scoops the cards, and ships me the pot. This all happened fairly quickly.

I realize as I'm stacking my chips that the river actually gave him a straight, but at this point, the hand is over. No one else at the table noticed (or if they did, they never said anything). I leaned over and whispered to my friend on my right what just happened, and she agreed once she realized as well, so I don't think I misread anything.

I did not bring it up to the table because if I'm at a table full of people that are misreading hands that badly, I certainly don't want to make them more attentive. And had I noticed myself as the river was dealt, before the cards were scooped, I would have absolutely pointed out the straight and gladly let the pot go to the best hand. But I think everyone (dealer included) was so focused on the flush draw that when the heart didn't hit, they assumed aces were good.

Once the pot was shipped and the cards were scooped, I knew there was pretty much nothing that could be done at that point. I do wish I'd noticed sooner. The guy was nice and friendly, just there having fun, and play continued.

I struggled with whether I should have tried to discuss it with him away from the table, and maybe give him $10-$20 back due to the error. But he rebought and stayed a lot longer than I thought he would, and it felt like bringing it up hours later might be weird.

Should I have said something to the table right after the hand? Should I have said something privately to the player after the fact, even hours later?

I know it was only $34 total, but still, I wasn't sure (ethically and morally) what I should have done, if anything. Has anyone been in a similar situation?

After the pot is pushed I don't think you are obligated to do anything---the cards have spoken and, although incorrectly, it isn't your fault that you and the dealer didn't see it in that moment. I would have given him the pot immediately after I realized the error--if I was 100% that I'm sure the board gave the other player a better hand.

This is one of the many reasons I hang onto my cards until I'm sure of outcome at showdown---if you just put them out, the dealer can easily make a mistake and muck your hand.

I'm fairly certain that the rules in most rooms indicate that if any player notices a discrepancy such as this they are obligated to point it out so long as it's done before the next hand has been dealt. If you noticed the error before the dealer pitched the cards out for the next hand you probably should have said something then.

If the next hand was already in progress by the time your realized it, you're likely in the clear as far as the rules go.

Obviously this rule is pretty much impossible to enforce since nobody can say if or when you realized the error in the first place. For the good of the game, or for the sake of earning points from the Karma Gods, it might have been a good move to offer the entire pot to the other player in a timely fashion. I don't see where offering a token such as $10 or $20 really wins you anything.

And given the scope of the table dynamic you described I don't think that keeping the entire pot for yourself is all that wrong anyhow.

Me too. There's still time to correct it before the next hand is dealt but even if I realized later I'd try to give the money back. I'm older than most ppl on here and still have nagging memories of times when I think that I didn't do the right thing and wish that I'd had and having them is disturbing. It's always best to do the right thing.

Given the fact you didn't realize it til after, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Not your fault he misread his cards, and not like it's exactly an earth shattering amount, where he'd probably feel more stupid after the fact if you told him. I'd probably just say something along of the lines of "I'm usually with ya on the can't hit a flush train, can I buy you a beer?" Get a little good juju back on your side and both parties are probably happy in the end....

Lack of ethics is probably the biggest problem in society today.

First of all, the pot is $72 minus the drop: the blinds ($2) + two limpers ($2) + the preflop action from you and your opponent ($16) + the flop action ($52). So any talk of offering him $10 or $20 or $34 seems self-serving to me. If he tabled the best hand, he deserves $72 minus the drop.

Second, the hands were tabled on the flop, according to your description. Your opponent didn't just have a flush draw; he also had a double-gutter straight draw. Any Q, 8, or heart beats you. That should have been clear to you and to everyone at the table immediately.

You talk about being "at a table full of people that are misreading hands that badly, I certainly don't want to make them more attentive." Pot, kettle.

The moment you realized the dealer's error, you should have said something. I don't care if it's three hands later; call the floor over and ask them to check the camera. Figure out how much was in the pot, and set those chips aside in a rack until the floor returns with an answer.

The fact that the guy was nice and friendly is irrelevant. He could be the biggest ******* at the table. But whoever tables the best hand gets the pot.

If you're asking me what's the right thing to do, that's my answer.

If you're asking me what I would have done, it never would've gotten that far. When the dealer pushed me the pot, I would've pushed it to my opponent without saying a word. If anyone asked what I was doing, I would've said, "Straight's good." (And if it turned out that I was wrong and he actually had 98, others would have enlightened me at that point.)

lol, it's amazing how poker players are notoriously the biggest scumbags ever, yet on this forum, everyone is all high and mighty and ethical...

All these people who "preach" this crap, preach it on online forums, and would be the first people to stack the chips and move on to the next hand without a care in the world. You didn't realize it til well after the hand was over, the cards were mucked and the chips were shipped, there's also the chance that you yourself read the hand wrong... Don't sweat it and move on...

I disagree. I don't remember the specifics because it was years ago, but the punchline is I dealt a hand and a floorperson made one of the dumber rulings ever, awarding the pot to seat 5. Seat 5 simply slid the chips over to the rightful winner in seat 6 and we all moved on to the next hand.

I bet flop he calls, turn I bet and he was allin, we ran it twice, I won first one and second one he did. He never showed his hand and mucked the moment second river hit, guy sitting next to him saw his hand and said he folded winning hand on second board, after pot was awarded to me I split into half and gave his half back.

A lot of rationalization going on in this OP. Almost every room has as the standard for when the time for correcting a mistake ends as the start of the next hand. You realized you were not entitled to the pot before that point. It was definitely not too late to do anything about it. So you had an ethical decision to make, and you chose to keep quiet and keep the money you didn't deserve and you knew you didn't deserve.

It's really that simple. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.

Yes you should have paid him from your stack once you realized

IMO, you posting here means you don't feel right about it. Anytime you are unsure if you acted in the wrong, you probably did. I would venture to say that half the people in the world would proceed as if nothing happened and the other half would concede the pot. I'm not playing the holier than thou thing, what I would do doesn't matter in this case. It's on you whether you feel good about the situation or not.

Also, to address the comment about poker scum, I have met some of the most genuine and honest people of my life through poker the past 13 years. Like anything/anywhere else in life, there's good and bad. Labeling the poker community as a whole is quite absurd, IMO.

Good day.

Regardless of the time the correct thing to do is give the pot the legitimate winner. The rooms rules about when an error can be corrected are not about when you should do the right thing .... its about when the room will make a decision about whether an error occurred. If you know the error occurred there is no need for a decision by the room.

IME, ethical people think that most other people are ethical, and unethical people think that most other people are unethical........ Your post says a lot more about you than about the other posters here.....

A variation on the ethical situation from the OP that I had the displeasure of dealing not too long ago...

2/4 limit and heads up on the turn. Older guy in seat 8 bets out $4 and young kid in seat 3 calls.

On the river, older guy bets $4 and young kid tosses his cards toward the muck, face up. I pick up his cards, turn them over and place them into the muck. I push the pot to older guy in seat 8 and he tosses his cards to me face down, which I put in the muck. At this time, young kid in seat 3 says, "I was all in on the turn, why did you muck my cards?"

This was about a $30 pot, but I felt really rotten about it. I had no idea that the kid was all-in and he held his hands over the cards blocking my view of any chips that he may or may not have had behind.

The floor determined that seat 3 had to win the pot as he was the only player who had tabled a hand.

To make it worse, The kid had a Q high and a busted flush draw, and in all likelihood had the worst hand of the two players.

If it matters, I don't think the kid was angling at all. I'd never seen him before and he seemed like he'd rarely played live poker anywhere, let alone in a casino, but I was really rooting for him to concede the pot to the older guy (he did not).

I've given back pots pushed to me more times than I can count. It is the right thing to do and I'd hope, although not expect, for others to do the same.

Are you sure he didn't have 10h 8h?

Well said. Thank you.

Indeed. Interestingly, OP answered his own question in a thread he started about a year ago:

If you bring up the fact that you think the wrong hand won After the cards are gathered , chips awarded, AND the next hand (at least ) is dealt, what will likely happen? Anything? Sounds like you need to speak up right then to easily resolve it or ,failing that , maybe offer to make it up to the other player later somehow, maybe even privately to keep from embarassing him. In this case you don't really have to say or do anything either. Your choice. Comes down to personal ethics.

Every room I know of has a house rule that says the hand is over once the cards have been dealt for the following hand.

However, I've never been in a room in which the floor wouldn't allow a player to voluntarily give up his rights to a pot after the fact to right a situation such as described in the OP.

If you catch it before the next hand has started - but after the dealer has killed the board and his hand -
"Wait a minute. What was his hand and what was the final board?" If they quote the hand and board you saw they'll also generally realize he had the straight. If not "Didn't he have a straight then?" and if everyone agrees you ship him the pot.

I want to allow a chance that I misread villains hand too - eyes aren't what they used to be and maybe he had T8hh like someone said.

If it's after the next hand started it's trickier. The room might actually prevent you from giving him chips out of your stack. If you're certain enough and the guy is nice enough you might have to go into your pocket and give him cash if you can.

Either way I either want to be pretty convinced I either did in fact have the best hand or give the guy with the best tabled hand the chips.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'm still learning, because I legitimately didn't know when it was past the point of speaking up. All the cards were scooped and mucked and the pot was already in my stack when my head went, "wait a minute..."

I really wished I'd noticed it as soon as the river was dealt, or at least enough to speak up, and if I'd misread something myself, so be it, at least my conscience would be clear. In the future, I will know to speak up before the next hand is dealt, regardless of where the cards and pot are.

And when I did realize, I was amazed that none of the other 8 players at the table or the dealer did before me, either. And really did think it was too late.

But I'd been thinking about it, and figured this was a good place to go for an answer. And I got one, it seems, so I appreciate it.

I mean, the cards were tabled on the flop, there was ample time for everyone to see the outs/hands on the river. Just because it registered a little too late in my head doesn't mean the other players (especially the dealer and the person in the pot with me) don't shoulder some of the blame for not noticing either. When I whispered to my friend to confirm what I thought I saw, the next hand was being dealt.

You live, you learn. I definitely agree that poker has some of the worst scumbags you'll ever see, but also some of the friendliest, most honest people you'll ever meet, too. As I continue to grow and learn in the game, I hope to fall into the latter category.

So what you're saying is that you agree keeping thepot is a scumbag move and unethical, but you're going to do it anyway.

That's fine if you want to admit it, but "everyone else does it" is a really childish excuse.