What happens when a dealer flips over a card by accident?

As a poker dealer you are striving to meet timing, watch players, attend to their responses and update the pot totals, move the button, and then you have to deal the cards. Some days things are perfect, every hand, every player, and every card. Some days you can’t believe you are actually standing across the table passing cards. Then there are also the wonderful days in between. Those are the days you have a moment to breath, and turn around the next hand, and the next game. Let’s discuss some minor things that surface during a game, and how to address them.

When you are dealing cards, sometimes a card will surface before you intended it to. Perhaps you are dealing a game of hold’em, and the turn card shows before betting is complete. What do you do then? The card is done, put it face down on the board, and wait for the betting round to be finished. Then pull the river and deal it to the table. Reshuffle the accidentally exposed card, and pull a new turn. This will enable everyone to hold the cards as they would have had the mistake not been made.

You find yourself dealing with a bold player who exposes their hole cards early, prior to the river. Some of the other players are upset by this, and it’s up to you to explain what’s going on. It is a simple issue, as long as you are not in tournament play, it’s all legal. Simply explain this to the other upset poker players, and continue the hand. If you find that the over confident player begins to use this to push his opponents to tilt, you can take a moment, should the opportunity be afforded, ask him to desist. You are unable to stop a hand over this, so hope the other players will understand this is all part of the game.

You’ve got a new player at the table, and he’s drawing undesirable results from the other players. Maintain your patience with their questions, and keep your tone even. Maintain the rules clearly, and allow them to be dealt in with every hand they can ante or enter. Along the way, do what you can to assure the new poker player that they need to keep the game going, and perhaps ask the other players to suggest some good reading material for them. This will involve the other players in the game and supporting the new player. In most cases, this conversation will help to minimize the complaints and frustration being endured by the poker players at your table, and it will ease your frustration with the circumstances.

Remember that every Texas Hold’em poker night is an adventure, and one you can direct as you go. Keep the game flowing and your day will continue to go smoothly. Each hand, each game, will keep your day on the positive side, instead of turning it into the kind of day that you look back on with frustration.