I'd Muck Every Time

Otis' post yesterday, about miscalling your hand, reminded me of a hand that occurred at my table at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles last week and that represented one of the most egregious cases of dealer error I've ever witnessed.

In the very silly $1/$2 $50 max NLHE game, a player was all-in preflop for about $15, having been called by one other player. All-In Player kept his hand closed even as his Opponent showed KK.

The dealer put out a board of Q-3-5-7-6. All-In Player looked at his hand dejectedly for a few moments, then quietly threw it in the muck without opening it, clearly surrendering his hand and the pot. The dealer, perhaps guessing at what All-In Player held, said that it was "too bad we didn't have an ace-ace-ace board." When pressed by the 10-seat, the dealer explained that an ace-ace-ace board would probably have hit a bad beat jackpot.

Without further prompting, he added, "Here, I'll demonstrate." He reached into the muck, grabbed the all-in player's hand, and opened it, revealing Ac4c. "If the flop had come ace-ace-ace," he began, "All-In Player would have had four aces, and his Opponent would have had aces full of kings. Ignoring the problem of All-In Player's kicker not playing, this would have qualified for a bad beat jackpot, since aces full of kings lost the hand."

The 10-seat didn't really seem all that interested in the dealer's explanation, but as he gazed at All-In Player's hand, he asked "Doesn't he have a straight?" Sure enough, the 4c from All-In Player's hand made a 7-high straight.

The dealer looked at All-In Player's hand, then at the board, then back at All-In Player's hand, and said, "Oh, you're right." After another moment of confirmation, he pushed the pot to All-In Player! Opponent, who didn't seem particularly bright and who was undoubtedly drunk, uttered nary a word in protest. Since he wasn't interested in fighting for his pot, I didn't pipe up on his behalf. I did, however, turn to the player on my right and say, "Wow. If I were Opponent, I'd be asking for a floor right now."