need a ruling

[youtalkfunny]

The dealer spread the flop, and there are four cards.

Now what do we do?

I have my opinion/guess, but I'm interested in yours.

[radek2166]

Its a dead hand. I'd say split the money between the remaining players.

[PITTM]

yep, misdeal, give the money back to the original owners.

rj

[youtalkfunny]

I had something else in mind.

We'll see if someone mentions it.

[Maura]

it seems like you should be able to tell which cards were
the real flop and which card would have been the burn card (either for the flop or the turn, depending on whether the dealer correctly burned a card for the flop)

show everyone the exposed burn card and carry on with the hand

~Maura

[Porcupine]

Make the fourth flop card the burn (prior to the turn) card. Flop is then correct and treat as an exposed burn card.

[youtalkfunny]

[ QUOTE ]
it seems like you should be able to tell which cards were
the real flop and which card would have been the burn card

[/ QUOTE ]

How? The dealer counted off three cards, and came up with four. Two must've stuck together, but unless I know WHICH TWO, I can't reconstruct the flop.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
it seems like you should be able to tell which cards were
the real flop and which card would have been the burn card

[/ QUOTE ]

How? The dealer counted off three cards, and came up with four. Two must've stuck together, but unless I know WHICH TWO, I can't reconstruct the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, you can. The non-flop card is either the card on the far left or the far right depending on how the dealer spread the cards out.

Treating the fourth card as an exposed burn card is the correct procedure.

[youtalkfunny]

[ QUOTE ]
Treating the fourth card as an exposed burn card is the correct procedure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Presume a right-handed dealer, who spreads the cards to her right.

The fourth card (the one that lands where the turn card should go) gets designated as the exposed burn?

That's how I ruled, BTW. Something in the back of my mind was screaming "Burn the last card on the right."

But I can't come up with a reason why this should be so.

(Micro-detailed minutia follows):

The card on the right was the first one to hit the table, so it CAN'T be the stowaway card. It should be the LEFT card, unless the pair of cards that stuck together was the final "card" counted off, in which case the SECOND FROM THE LEFT card is the culprit.

Still with me?

In either case, the one card that we know BELONGS on this flop is the card on the right.

Even if no cards stuck together, and the dealer absent-mindedly counted off four cards, the card on the right was STILL the first one to hit the table, and still belongs in the flop.

Again, I've got to go with "accepted procedure", and this is all academic, but I think it's a bad rule.

[afish]

If you can't figure out which cards are the first three, reshuffle the stub and reflop. Dead hand is not an option once there has been preflop action.