Combing out a Couple
Pesky Cockleburs
14 October 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I have a couple poker questions that have
started arguments at our house poker game.
Hopefully you can clear them up for me.
Question 1: We had a player, a relatively new
guy to poker playing, get excited and show us
his pocket cards before we all were allowed to
bet. Some of us agreed that him showing his
cards only ruined things for himself, but two of
the players demanded that the rules say the hand
is called a misdeal and that we re-deal. I
claimed that since the player, not the dealer,
revealed the cards prematurely, that we should
continue the hand as normal, and the rest of us
would just have the advantage over the other
player. But these two guys insisted that the
rules stated the hand is re-dealt. To prove his
case faulty, the very next hand when I knew I
was losing, I flipped my cards over and said,
"Re-deal". What are the rules in this case?
Question 2: This problem, I believe stems from
the fact that people are learning Poker from
watching "The World Series of Poker,” and view
that show as the end all when it comes to the
rules for poker. My question pertains to the
"burning" of cards. Is that a World Series of
Poker rule or typical casino policy? Doug F.
In stud or flop games, if the pocket card(s)
that are dealt face down to each player are
inadvertently exposed due to a dealer error, the
card(s) is ruled dead, that is, not legally
playable.
But your question deals with a player who
intentionally exposes his cards during play. No
misdeal here, Doug. It’s free ammo for all the
other players on the game. I state “all” because
if any player at the table sees an exposed
card(s), all the other players have a right to
know what the exposed card or cards were. Even
if a player unintentionally exposes his cards
during play, his hand will still not be ruled
dead, and again, if any player at the table saw
the exposed card(s), then every other player at
the table has the right to know what the exposed
card(s) was. The reasoning behind this rule is
to avoid players in collusion from privately
showing cards to one another.
As for burning cards, Doug, that’s called burn
and turn, where the function of the poker dealer
is to burn a card before the draw cards (the
flop, the turn, and the river) are distributed.
It’s commonplace in all casinos and card rooms
and it is done to prevent cheating.
Dear Mark,
I had the biggest bet of my life ($100) on the
pass line when the dealer called out, “Seven
out, line away.” My gripe is that one dice was
leaning against the wall and not laying flat. It
looked to me that it could have been any of
three possible outcomes, not the three that he
paired with the other dice that was a four. Was
I robbed of my $100? Ken L.
Sorry, Ken, three/four, and now you’re poor.
Your pass line Benjamin belongs to the casino.
Dice that end up leaning against the wall or
gaming chips are called cocked dice. A stickman
will make his or her call based on the natural
lean of the cocked die as if the intruding
object were taken away. Of course, you can
challenge a stickman’s expertise, but most are
skilled at making the correct call to a fault.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "I'm shocked,
shocked to find that gambling is going on in
here." --Captain Louis Renault, "Casablanca"
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