Quote:
Originally Posted by dinesh
And to answer your question, if a dealer misreads a hand, anyone else at the table can correct him or her.
Can or must?
I usually play Omaha/8, a game in which many dealers have difficulty reading hands properly. There's often a lot of confusion when there are 4 low cards on the board and even more when there are 5. And some players are very unhelpful at showdown: not only do they not verbally announce their hand, but they often turn over their down cards without indicating which 2 play; or they sometimes turn over the non-playing cards first.
My philosophy as a player is that all tabled hands deserve to be read properly, and all winning hands deserve to get the portion of the pot they are entitled to, even if it's only a quarter or a sixth. And I would like to see hands read quickly as well as accurately so that we can move on to the next hand. So when I see dealers struggling to read the low or failing to notice that the player with the nut low also backed in to some weird straight, I will often speak up.
Occasionally a dealer gets annoyed when I and other players read hands in this way. I've heard one dealer say, "I don't need your help." However, I've had other dealers thank me or pull me aside before their down begins and ask me to make sure they're reading hands properly.
Of course, when the dealer is focused on seat 7's two pair, and I point out that seat 3 actually has a straight in addition to his smaller two pair, seat 7 will sometimes get pissed at me—as if I somehow robbed him of the pot that was about to be wrongly pushed his way. But my motivation is never to harm or help any particular player: it is to protect the integrity of the game. I'll read hands that beat mine. Once I stopped the dealer from mucking another player's hand because his live low tied mine (neither the dealer nor the player saw it).
What I often tell people when they challenge me for speaking up is that when a dealer misreads a hand, it is not only my right but my
obligation to speak up. It is everyone's obligation to make sure that all tabled hands are read correctly.
Do you agree with my approach and rationale?
And by the way, in the games I play in, I am not the only player reading hands at showdown. There's often a lot of discussion (and sometimes temporary confusion) about which is better for low, the A2 or the 73 on a board of 845K2.
Thank you, Dinesh. I always enjoy reading your comments in this forum.