Screwed by the dealer - RANT

[Al_Capone_Junior]

This is a bit of a RANT on BAD DEALERS. This happened tonight, and I was BENT BEYOND BELIEF over it.

No limit 1-2 blinds.

A loose player a couple seats to my right (who has been raising light) raises a couple limpers to $12. He has about $88 left after the raise. I have him covered. I have AK and decide to make a move on the pot and make it $100. If he calls, I am probably ahead anyway. The limpers fold. He thinks and thinks. Finally he says quite clearly "I call."

Well, he clearly stated call, but the dealer was watching something other than the final and last person in the pot whom the action was upon. Anyway, before he put his chips in the pot, he flipped his hand, and so did I. Next, before he COULD get his chips in the pot, the dealer MUCKS THE ENTIRE DECK UNDERNEATH THE MUCK PILE.

Now of course it was impossible to know which cards were on top and which were the discards from the folded players.

Floorman is called and he rules (correctly, IMO) that all we can do is take back our money and declare the hand dead.

I was naturally about mad enough to spit @#$%@#$% nails. I waited and waited for the opportunity to get all my chips in with way the best of it, and an incompetent dealer who wasn't paying attention to the action screws me on the deal. It hasn't just been this incident with this dealer either, it's readily apparent she is not prepared to run a poker game, particularly not a no limit game.

I believe I was a 70% favorite, and since his call would have made $100 in the pot each, I figure that's $70 that dealer cost me directly due to gross incompetence and negligence. So I think I will stiff her 70 times before I start tipping her again. She's only the second dealer OF ALL TIMES that I have decided not to tip because of gross incompetence. You really have to be BAD for me NOT to tip.

What bugs me most of all is that she's been there PLENTY long enough to have gotten the hang of it by now.

The dealer's job is to RUN THE GAME. That means keeping on top of the action, prompting people, and just generally paying attention. There was no excuse for this one, nothing was happening at the table other than my opponent mulling over his decision. Everyone at my end of the table stated that they heard him say call.

GET WITH THE @#$%@#$ PROGRAM ALREADY DEALERS!

al

[Lazymeatball]

which poker room was this? (curious)

[csuf_gambler]

you never stated what the other guy had

[mostsmooth]

you thought this was the right decision?
i think the right decision would be to reshuffle the deck and continue the hand (unless the dealer mucked your hand and the other hand as well?)

[Leibniz]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. That has got to be terribly frustrating to experience.

I once heard a dealer utter one of the most unbelievable phrases that I had ever heard. I was playing the 2-6 SL game at Excalibur. There was a lady at the table who kept making string bets. I let it slide without pointing it out about two times, but after the third time I spoke up and pointed out to the dealer that the lady was making a string bet.

To which the dealer replied, "I didn't see it, I wasn't paying attention."

My jaw just about hit the table. I mean, if you aren't paying attention to the action within the game, then what are you doing there in the first place? I guess I have to give him some points for being honest though.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

You can't mix the discards in and then reshuffle. That is just wrong. Thus I agreed with the floorman. Besides, floorman's decision final anyway.

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

AhTh.

I had AcKs.

al

[Randy_Refeld]

Well the correct decision IS to reshuffle the discards with stub and continue the hand. It is also WRONG, but something have to be done to complete the hand. It is perfectly acceptable for the floor to ask the players if they would like to split, but the players have no obligation to split.

Randy Refeld

[Al_Capone_Junior]

You may be right, I am not a floorperson so there are some situaitons I have never faced, like this one. Anyway, I generally don't argue with floorpeople once they make a decision, no point of course.

The guy I was up against did back up his verbal declaration of all in, even after he saw my hand. He was a cool guy which partially influenced my decision to not argue with the floor. The guy is going back to iraq in a month, this also partially influenced my decision not to press this situation.

Ultimately, it was the dealer's fault.

al

[zuluking]

That sucks.