07-27-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Proper Holdem Dealing
1st question - Could you please explain the proper dealing of all dealt and discarded cards. In watching various hold'em shows, I've notice the dealer doesn't deal every card out. Cards are taken off the top of the deck and set aside. Could you please run through a scenario of how all cards should be dealt? Also, what is the proper card etiquette, if any, involving cutting cards?
2nd question - Given the situation where two players are holding Q4 and Q6, with QQ467 on the table, does the pair come into play? Is this similar to your answer regarding the Ace high flush (AKJ94) on the table, when one person has a matching 6 and the other a matching 2, but the matching 6 wins?
Thanks for your answers.
Tim
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Answer 1: That's a good question Tim, no one has asked about that before. First of all, the dealer takes the cards and puts them in a big pile on the table (face down). Then they use both hands and mix them all around. Next, they pull all the cards together into one stack. Now it is time to shuffle. They cut the deck very low to the table so no cards can be seen and then they shuffle them. After doing that they use another technique where they pull some cards from the bottom or middle of the deck and place them on top. Then they shuffle again.
They do this a number of times. Then the final cut of the deck happens. They have a special tool that is the size of the cards that they put on the bottom of the deck so when they raise it up off the table after shuffling, no one can see what's on the bottom. A card is now "burned." What that means is that the dealer takes the next card off the top of the deck and places it aside (to be unused). Now is it time to deal. Starting with the person on the left of the dealer button, each person is dealt one card and then their second card. Now betting happens.
When people fold they either announce folding or make a gesture that signals to the dealer that they are folding -- pushing your cards away from you for example. The dealer places all these cards next to him in the muck pile (face down of course). If any card is exposed then the dealer announces it to the table so everyone has that information. On the flop, the dealer places three cards down face up. Now betting happens again. Now comes the turn card.
Before the turn card is shown, the dealer burns a card. Now he/she deals the turn card. The same thing happens for the river card -- the dealer burns a card before. Note that the dealer always deals off the top of the deck. The insert that they place on the bottom of the deck is supposed to prevent people from seeing that card and it is an added protection against a dealer who wanted to cheat.
Dealing off the bottom of the deck is a common way to cheat in cards. I've never read or heard about the reasoning behind a burning cards before the turn and river are dealt but I assume it also is a safe guard against cheaters. If you are dealing at home then you probably won't use the same techniques actual dealers do -- it takes some skill and practice. The main points though are to make sure you don't expose any cards and to ensure randomness shuffle the deck around using one or more of the above techniques seven times.
Answer 2: When comparing full houses, all five cards matter. The person with the Q6 has a larger full house then the person with the Q4. One person has QQQ66 and the other one has QQQ44.
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