Dead hands protect the
integrity of the game
6 January 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark, I have a question concerning a dead
hand in poker. Here’s the scenario: I'm playing
Texas Hold'em heads up till the river card.
First position bets, I call and turn over my
cards. First position is excited he won, slams
his cards on the table face up, but one card
falls on the floor. What is the correct ruling?
Isn't it a dead hand when the card leaves the
table? Larry R.
There is nothing better, Larry, than when you’ve
dead meat holding a crappy hand, and an opponent
hits a straight flush on the river and slams the
hand down in excitement yelling, "Beat that,
Sucker!" only to have one of the cards bounce
off the table and onto the floor. Too bad, so
sad, you’re now glad. He just lost all interest
in the pot. The hand, Larry, is forfeited once
that card falls off the table.
According to the rules of just about every poker
room you’ll ever play in, any card not in play,
or one that cannot be played for some technical
reason, like a card being dropped on the floor,
by either the dealer or an overly excited
player, creates a dead hand. The player must
"have it and show it", meaning to complete the
hand, the player must present two cards, and it
wouldn't have mattered if the card that flew off
was or was not needed to complete the straight
flush. Once any card leaves the sight of fellow
players, there is no way to verify that the card
that comes off the floor was the same card that
left the table. Calling it dead, Larry, protects
the integrity of the game.
There is one exception. Say for instance that
nobody called first position’s hand and
everybody folded, and first position in his
exuberance slams his cards on the table. Even if
one card flies off the game, the winning pot
would still be his.
Dear Mark,
Last week you stated that there was no
difference between playing one coin and five
coins in regards to what hand that appears on
the screen. But wouldn't playing one coin affect
the possible future value of the hand? Gayle F.
You are correct, Gayle, in that if you don’t
play the maximum coin amount on most video poker
machines, the royal flush’s return would be
affected since, on a Jacks-or-Better machine,
that would be an example of a hand whose
per-coin payoff is different with five coins
played. Playing short can reduce the long-term
payback by up to 1.5%.
Another example would be in some double-pay
Deuces Wild games where you receive double pay
on four deuces, but only if you play five coins.
If you play less than the maximum coin amount,
your long-term payback can be reduced by over
five percent.
.
Dear Mark,
Do the casinos really allow you to look at a
blackjack strategy card while playing? David S.
As you already know, David, playing your hand
correctly will bring the casino advantage down
to less than one percent. Since you cannot
control how the cards fall, you must focus on
what you can control -- how to play the hand you
were dealt. Using a blackjack strategy card
allows you to go nearly even up against the
house.
Luckily, almost every casino in the country
doesn't give one iota about a player using a
strategy card on a blackjack game, just so long
as you don't grind the game to a squalling halt.
Why, many even sell them in their gift shops.
Even with the mucho many strategy cards I've
strewn across the planet over the years,
(http://markpilarski.com/bj.html), I've only had
feedback once that a casino in a Midwestern
state considered such a card to be an illegal
gambling device. All trades have their
occasional pucker-butts, David. Don't sweat it.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "The ATM is like
the coach's pep talk. "Here's another hundred!
Now get out there and fight! It ain't over till
it's over!" --Frank Legato, "Strictly Slots"
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