Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

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I believe that a discarded hand should be mucked immediately so that it is irretrievable.

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I hear this a lot.

I do not agree that it is the dealer's function to actively seek out hands to kill. Nor do I believe that he is necessarily slacking if a player is able to retrieve his cards before the dealer is able to kill them.

Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

I have actually seen the other thing happen at. Some "high" guy at the table hit a set, everybody flipped there hands over. He went said "I have the winners" and slid his cards face down to the dealer a said "Dealer, flip over my cards and show them my set of Queens". In one swoop the Dealer announced that he couldn't do that and mucked his hand into the middle.

Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

I agree that releasing your cards face down towards the dealer means you should not be allowed to win the pot. Reason being is that if you say " Call " or say " Raise " you are held to that action. Why should " Fold " not be held to a similar standard. Putting chips in front of your cards indicates a call, and your cannot take it back. Releasing your cards to the dealer face down should be handled the same way, same as saying " Fold ".

Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I believe that a discarded hand should be mucked immediately so that it is irretrievable.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear this a lot.

I do not agree that it is the dealer's function to actively seek out hands to kill. Nor do I believe that he is necessarily slacking if a player is able to retrieve his cards before the dealer is able to kill them.

[/ QUOTE ]

5-10 seconds may not be due to "slacking" but to me they are not doing their job. When a player discards their hand that should be it. Some dealers pull hands in immediately, others don't.

When a dealer pulls in a hand right away, I feel comforted. It makes me think that the table is under control. When a dealer takes his/her time about it, it opens the door to chaos. I inevitably feel irritated and uneasy. I feel this way whether I am in the hand or not.

Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

I can certainly understand it taking a few seconds sometimes. A lot can happen. But I agree that I don't like the dealers who will just leave 'em all out there as the action goes around the table.

A situation where I'll leave them out there is if 7, 8, and 9 fold in quick succession preflop, but 10 is about to act. Or if there's been significant action after your muck and I'm doing a rack fill so that I don't have to pause between hands to do it. That kind of thing. But by and larger I keep it very clean. At showdown I muck face-down hands immediately.

Re: When should the dealer muck folded hands at showdown?
 

Dealer should have mucked the cards as soon as they were folded. He did not, and the pot was rightfully rewards.