What is the standard rule for *cash games* for deciding when somebody’s hand is dead, when they are returning to a table during a deal?

It’s simple in tournaments: When the last card is dealt, your hand is dead if you aren’t sitting down.

Do some casinos relax this rule for cash games? If so, what is appropriate wording?

The rule in my casino is far too relaxed and is constantly causing arguments. The rule is: your hand is live until it’s your turn. This creates scenario where A player can raise, with empty seats behind him, and players may then return to their seats before their turn and enter the pot.

What is the problem with this? When you are contemplating a raise with those empty seats behind you, then you'll need to assume they may not stay empty and count them as live hands.

You are going to get about as many different answers for this question as there are casinos (or maybe even dealers). Generally speaking, in a cash game your hand will be live until it is your turn to act. The real question is, why is the empty seat being dealt in? Also very different between one casino and the next. At my place you aren't supposed to be dealt in if you aren't sitting there. Exception being if the dealer sees you coming back or if you are just at the bar which is right next to the tables smoking.

Plenty of rooms have a standard of dealing in empty seats on time rake games.

Where I play, if the dealer can see you nearby they will give you a hand if you want it. If the table is waiting on you, the dealer will just kill it, and in the future probably not give you cards unless you are sitting. Very lax down here, no real practical purpose to being strict except for the pace of the game IMHO. I have never once worried about if someone sitting behind me in position was away, but coming back... you can tell what is up because they are "right there"... close enough for the dealer to assume they want a hand. MY closest room is at a horse track so there is lots of other action going on, and when I have asked about this rule, the dealer told me that the horse racing is what sort of pushes them to not care about this and just be relaxed.

Talk about a silly waste of time.

Typically in a cash game a Player's hand doesn't even exist if they aren't at the table when their first card should be dealt. That eliminates your problem. Otherwise if a Player is close enough to the table to get dealt in, then they need to be at/in their seat when action is on them or then it's killed.

I have seen in time rake games where everyone is dealt in and their hand is killed only when action is on their seat ... but the idea is that they've already paid for all their hands, so deal them into all of them.

I do find it puzzling that in rooms with 'first card off the deck' that they even deal in a tournament seat that will have a dead hand anyway. I know that it opens up the random is random conversation, but it really is a waste of efforts. I believe most rooms have gone to the 'last card' and in that case all seats deserve a hand. GL

The players seem to prefer it & since the casino's getting paid by the hour, they don't mind.

It isn't rare for a player to show up before his hand is killed and play his hand even if he was away from the table when the hand started.