Ask a Player

In my last column, I presented a scenario from a tournament and asked a few tournament directors for their opinions on the correct ruling. In this column, here is an actual situation that took place as detailed by Tournament Director Warren Karp. Several players responded to his request for how they would have ruled, and their insightful opinions are also included.

Warren wrote: "Here is a situation that arose during a tournament, and the decision I made at the time. As is the custom when I redraw in a tournament situation, I move the players to the new table and use a brand-new setup, still sealed in the plastic. This particular tournament was no-limit hold'em. After the first hand was dealt at the new table, I was called to the table to make a decision. I walked over and saw two players all in with the following flop on the board: Q-3-joker.

"My decision was to have the dealer remove the joker and replace it with the next card, treating it as a piece of paper (like a boxed card). Everyone agreed with the ruling. After the hand, I had the dealer spread the deck, and, of course, he found the other joker. Afterward, I second-guessed my own ruling. My second-guessing came with the thought that a deck not containing 52 cards is a fouled deck, and therefore the hand never existed, regardless of action. What is your ruling?"

Several players responded with their input as to the proper ruling.

Patti Beadles wrote: "I believe I would have treated it as a fouled deck. My reasoning is this: The dealer utterly failed to check the deck for correctness before he started using it. If the jokers managed to make it into play, it's entirely possible that there also were two jacks of spades in the deck … or none at all.

"If it was a mixed-game tournament and the deck had been used with the joker on the previous hand (for example, in a switch from lowball to hold'em), I'd treat the joker like it wasn't there and replace it with the next card."

Tiger123 wrote the following: "I believe that this was a fouled deck. There's not much to discuss here. In most cardrooms, when a new deck is put into play, the dealer spreads the deck faceup across the table to verify that there are 13 cards, one of each rank, in each of four suits, and that there are no duplicates or extraneous cards in the mix (like a joker). The deck is then squared and spread facedown across the table, in order to verify that all 52 cards are of the same color.

"This is done in the presence of the players at the table, so that the players can have confidence in the integrity of the deck. Then, and only then, is the deck scrambled and put into play. In the situation presented, it is painfully obvious that this procedure was not followed. The deck was defective when it was put into play, and the pre-deal status must be restored."

I think Patti and Tiger have analyzed the situation very well. I agree with them that the deck should have been treated as fouled, and the hand should have been redealt with all of the money refunded to the appropriate players.

Now, let's play poker!

Linda is a partner in Card Player Cruises. To view a list of upcoming poker cruises, please see her website at www.cardplayercruises.com.