Sorry, but I need those chips back.

[Onaflag]

Lastnight at the local B&M. Board is QT344. The river at first appeared to help neither of the two players betting at the pot but is very key in the story.

Little old lady flips over QT for 2 pair. Young stud looks disappointed and flips over KK, obviously beat. The dealer awards the pot to the little old lady. She tips the dealer. Dealer starts shuffling for the next hand.

That's when I turned back around after taking a swig of my Corona and noticed the little old lady stacking the chips. I'm trying to explain to myself what just happened in disbelief when a guy next to me mentions to the dealer that young stud had a higher two pair.

How should a dealer handle this mistake?

She apologized to little old lady (who was all-in by the end of the hand) and moved the already stacked chips to young stud. Young stud is obviously embarrassed. Little old lady feels bad (and has to reload). The rest of the table is scratching their heads.

If anything good came out of it, young stud basically chopped what the dealer gave him in half and slid it over to little old lady. That broke the tension at the table and everyone got on with the business of playing poker.

Seems to me this could have escalated into something really ugly. Ever seen this and what else could the dealer do? Blinds for the next hand were already posted and the dealer was in the "cut" part of the shuffle. Not that it matters, I just want to illustrate how far along we are in the next hand when the correction is made.

Onaflag...........