Notes From LV - Super Bowl Week : Muck You, Dealer

[Sparks]

It's impossible to spend 8 days in Las Vegas playing poker, during Super Bowl week, without some notable happenings. I'll start with this, which occured the first day I was there. It is my first, and I promise last ever, bad beat story.

I stayed at Imperial Palace and found myself in their new upstairs poker room playing 100 NL. A MP player raised to $10 and I made it $30 in the cutoff with 66. The button called and everyone else including the MP raiser folded. Flop comes Q-Q-9. I check, and the button checks. Turn is a deuce and I go all in. He had about $90 and I had him covered.

Now fasten your seatbelts.

The button says "I call." I turn up and table my 66 and he turns up and tables his 55. Sweet! Then, as the player is sort of starting to put his chips out in front of him, the dealer reaches over, picks up his cards, and puts them in the muck.

You read that correctly. The dealer reached over, picked up the pocket fives, and mucked them, before the river card was dealt.

The button immediatley said that he had verbally called the bet and the other players confirmed they had heard him. There was no argument regarding the facts. The floorman came over and was explained the situation, and I was pointing to the top two cards on the muck pile saying "there are his two red fives, turn them up. Let's finish the hand." Several at the table, including the player on the button, confirmed he had red fives. The floor asked if the player had physically pushed his chips in front of him, and all agreed he had not done that, only started to. So the floor ruled that his $90 did not have to go into the pot, the hand was over, and I was pushed the $70 in the pot from the preflop action.

I think it's fair to say...that was a beat.

Sparks