Major dealer error - how do you rule

[stags14]

This happened in a live tournament.

The blinds were 300/600.

* It folds around to the cut off who makes it 2000 to go.
* The button folds.
* The small blinds says I'm all in for 6000
* The Big blind mucks
* The cut off says I call and begins counting out his chips
* The cut off and the small blind both flip up their cards.
* For some unknown reason the dealer grabs the cards that were mucked and mixes them in with the deck.
* The dealer had NOT yet burned and turned the flop.
* There is absolutely no way to tell which are the mucked cards because the dealer randomly mixed them in with the deck. Some of the mucked cards were on the top of the deck and some got mixed in elsewhere in the deck.

How do you rule?

Is the hand dead and all money returned?
Does the entire deck get shuffled and then the dealer burns and turns?

[jjshabado]

Doesn't seem THAT major to me. As far as both players are concerned the relative values of their hands are unchanged since they didn't know what cards belonged to the other players. I'd just shuffle the cards in and deal.

[Gonso]

Strange error but not a major mistake at all. Shuffle, burn, turn. A lot of players will start with the superstitious crap if things don't go their way, but oh well. No reason at all to kill this hand.

[Photoc]

Both above posters are correct. This is not a "Major" error. A major one would be one that is extremely difficult to solve. Basically, cards have zero value when face down. If no players gave away their holdings verbably, then all cards are exactly the same until face up.

[onadraw]

Not a dead hand.

Here is what Robert's says:

17. If the deck stub gets fouled for some reason, such as the dealer believing the deal is over and dropping the deck, the deal must still be played out, and the deck reconstituted in as fair a way as possible.

[PattdownManiac]

So you lost and decided the hand shouldn't have occurred.

[AngusThermopyle]

[ QUOTE ]
Both above posters are correct. This is not a "Major" error.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe a Sgt Screwup.

[jba]

you absolutely have to play the hand out for the integrity of the game.

[stags14]

[ QUOTE ]
So you lost and decided the hand shouldn't have occurred.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice read Einstein. I run a 45 person league and this situation happened. We shuffled then burned and turned. Just wanted to get others opinion on the proper procedure.

Are you always such a miserable [censored]?