Card-Cutting Etiquette

Lord Bodak · #1 10-29-2006, 11:10 PM

This is probably an unusual question... but growing up I was always taught that when you cut cards, you cut away from the dealer. In a recent home game, I was told by some regular players that I should be cutting towards the dealer. Which is considered "correct"?

Khaos4k · #2 10-29-2006, 11:45 PM

just call anyone who cares about this a nit. I had no idea there was even any etiquette to this at all.

SheridanCat · #3 10-30-2006, 12:08 AM

I play in a fairly serious home game. The stakes are relatively high for a home game. We have a very particular shuffling procedure - the one you'll find touted in the Home Poker forum here. But never has anyone worried about the direction of the cut.

That said, I believe professional dealers cut away from themselves.

kassdog · #4 10-30-2006, 01:08 AM

We always do it like this. We run two decks. Person who just deals starts shuffling his deck. When the dealer who is to his right is done dealing his hand, that dealer will cut the cards the first dealer is shuffling, and pass them to his right. Then the guy who cut deals the cards he dealt.

ottsville · #5 10-30-2006, 08:09 AM

I play bridge a good bit and the general rule among everybody I've ever played with was to cut towards the dealer. However, I have never seen this written anywhere.

SheridanCat · #6 10-30-2006, 09:28 AM

[ QUOTE ]
We always do it like this. We run two decks. Person who just deals starts shuffling his deck. When the dealer who is to his right is done dealing his hand, that dealer will cut the cards the first dealer is shuffling, and pass them to his right. Then the guy who cut deals the cards he dealt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Small correction. The cards are moving to the left, not the right.

SheridanCat · #7 10-30-2006, 09:33 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Which is considered "correct"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, I went to something resembling an authority. In Mason's The Professional Poker Dealer's Handbook, he says the following on page 71:

"Place the cut card about two inches in front of the deck, keeping your other hand clear of the deck as you do this. With a one-handed forward motion, cut the top half of the deck onto the cut card, place the remaining half of the deck on top of the first half...."

So, there you go.

kassdog · #8 10-30-2006, 09:51 AM

oh yeah left. sorry.

Lord Bodak · #9 11-03-2006, 06:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
"Place the cut card about two inches in front of the deck, keeping your other hand clear of the deck as you do this. With a one-handed forward motion, cut the top half of the deck onto the cut card, place the remaining half of the deck on top of the first half...."

[/ QUOTE ]

From the dealer's perspective, I assume "in front of" means towards the players, i.e. away from the dealer?

Came across another reference today. In "The Rules of Neighborhood Poker," not much of a Hold 'em book but it does have a lot of variants for dealer's choice games, I found the following:

"[...] instruct all prospective cutters to cut away from you, so you know which half goes on top and which half is the bottom."