I'll confess I got a little mixed up with the threads. In another thread there was a very clear dealer error (moving the muck into someone's hand) and the dealers refused to apologize for any part they had in the mess.

In this case I think the dealer should apologize for any part he or she had, and offer a reasonable solution.

Telling players to protect their hands better is not a reasonable solution. Most players do not pay enough attention to block a card midair.

The dealer clearly has the responsibility to deal a player the correct number of cards. No one questions that. But a player clearly has the responsibility to ensure he has the correct number of cards in his hand before significant action takes place. That's clearly in the rules and the penalty for the player not speaking up in time is a dead hand. If a player chooses to ignore that responsibility that's on them. But the responsibility remains.

Plus, the guy was the small blind, so he got his fourth card first, and 8 other people had to be dealt their fourth card, and then the dealer stops dealing by giving the SB the last card. Any player should realize that is screwed up right away. Obviously the button gets the last card. And then on top of all that, several players have to act before the SB gets penalized. The SB wasn't penalized for the dealers mistake. He was penalized for not taking the action of confirming his hand had the right number of cards, as is called for in the rules of poker. That is his responsibility, not the dealers.

We don't know that the dealer is responsible for giving the SB a 5th card. OP wasn't paying attention and is assuming the dealer gave him an extra card (possibly thinking SB was the dealer or the dealer button was not in the correct position). For all we know, his "2nd" card was actually 2 cards stuck together. Would this mean the dealer was responsible? imo no. Or this.


But whether or not the dealer is responsible does not absolve the player of protecting his hand. In this case, making sure it has the correct number of cards for the game being played and speaking up before significant action takes place.

So it is players fault when dealer tosses him two cards stuck together? I bet most of the experienced dealers here feel the difference the second two stuck cards leave their fingers

It is not the players fault. But it is the players responsibility to ensure that they have the right number of cards for the game, yes.