Misdeal with a second deck of cards

Stage · #1 01-07-2005, 07:03 PM

In our last hold'em game, a hand was played all the way to the river with two completely different decks. Everybody's hole cards were dealt from the blue deck and the dealer accidentaly grabbed the pre-shuffled red deck to deal the board. Nobody noticed the problem until the river and three betting rounds had already taken place when a card on the board was the same as one in their hand.

The TD declared a misdeal and all hands dead. Thankfully everyone at the table pretty much remembered the sequence of betting and how much each player had in the pot so we were able to return all chips to their rightful owners. It was decided that the decks will remain separate to prevent further confusion.

So I'm curious about a few questions:
1) Was the proper protocol followed? We couldn't find this exact example in our copy of Robert's, and none of us knew it well enough to apply the foundation of an existing rule to this scenario.

2) What if there had been an argument or confusion over how much each player had in the pot?

Thanks.

MeridianFC · #2 01-07-2005, 07:48 PM

This is one reason I always have the burn cards placed visibly under one corner of the board. Everyone should notice that the boards cards are red and cards on the felt are blue or what have you.

The hand is definitely dead but I'm not sure how you'd go about reconstructing if someone complained.

MickeyHoldem · #3 01-08-2005, 07:33 PM

From Robert's Rules of Poker
Misdeal Section:

[ QUOTE ]
3. If a card with a different color back appears during a hand, all action is void and all chips in the pot are returned to the respective bettors. If a card with a different color back is discovered in the stub, all action stands.
4. If two cards of the same rank and suit are found, all action is void, and all chips in the pot are returned to the players who wagered them (subject to next rule).

[/ QUOTE ]

ericslagle · #4 01-09-2005, 07:31 AM

This has happened a few times and suprisingly it's not that hard to remember how much each person bet. When there's 5 - 10 people that all were involved at some point, usually after a few minutes you can figure it out. But it is stressfull at first. The key is that burn card kept seperate from the mucked cards.