Table Games Dealer failed to see winning hand and collects the cards

I recently stayed in Vegas and had a horrible time. The moment I arrived I found the Ultimate Texas Holdem table and played, on the first hand I had a flush and the dealer carelessly failed to see it and collected my cards! Before she could do anything else I said "hey, you owe me for my hand I had a flush" she then called the pit boss over who looked at the collected cards said something to the dealer then said "lucky you caught that" and paid me! Wtf! My question is; do I have any rights here - legally? I mean come on now that's quite suspicious, right?

 

Mistakes happen with dealers as they are only human, but they have systems in place between hands that they can check for mistakes like that. I.e. cards are mucked in a certain way along with the cameras watching the games.

You got paid, there isn't much more than can be done there unless you report them to the gaming commission and can prove they did this over and over again to you at the time it happened.

 

Agreed. And the opposite happens, too -- there are plenty of accounts of people accidentally getting paid on a losing blackjack hand (though they generally don't bother to speak up!).

As shock mentioned, the only thing you can really do is report them to gaming, but that won't get you anything personally. Assuming this was a prominent property, they have absolutely zero incentive to try to cheat you. Their profit is baked into the house edge, and trying to pull something for a standard table bet is just not worth risking their license. It was all but certainly an honest mistake.

 

What kind of outcome would you be looking for? For most people it would be to get their rightful payout, which you did. Otherwise, you can pay a normal lawyer a small fortune to go up against their expert lawyers for.... pain and suffering ??
Like others said, it accidentally happens, and now you know to keep an eye on it!

 

That's also why, even in CSM/autoshuffler games, the cards go into a stack for a couple hands -- so they can count back what was dealt if necessary. And the cameras are there no matter what. But mistakes do happen.

Not to mention, assuming the place knows what they're doing, this was probably noted by the pit regarding the dealer. I have zero sense there was any malicious intent, and it's not like the dealer would benefit anyway, but if someone is bad at their job, management wants to know about it.

 

The answers to your questions are no and no.

 

Once, while playing BJ at a full table, a player became irate about the dealer paying his dealt blackjack out at 6:5 instead of 3:2 which our table was. The dealer kindly explained that she just came over from a 6:5 table and she made an honest mistake, she was very sorry, and she paid him appropriately. The player was still acting like a jerk, so I let him know that "D**ks are not allowed at this table, and another gentleman told the player to stop acting like an as***ole. The player huffed and puffed a little bit, then left. The dealer was very grateful.

Reason# 371 why not to play low-limit BJ tables.

 

Most likely the dealer wasn't trying to cheat you....either dumb, or just didn't see your flush..

When I'm playing Pai Gow and I play a hand where I split up something like a flush, I tell the dealer "I've got a flush buried in there" so they don't overlook paying me. And sometimes they find something to pay me on that I didn't even know I had.

 

Uhhhh... NO & NOOOO Again! Good that you caught it- period... end of story.

There’s this thingee called the Eye in the Sky. And should you ever get paid for a Loser, better pick up that bet and leave.

Why? Because, they’ll be back to the table in 10 minutes to get it back! I’ve seen it!

And why are Americans so legal challenge ready, when a simple mistake occurs? Life is not a series of conspiracies ready to unfold against one.

 

one mistake by the dealer should not have caused you to have a horrible time for your whole trip, unless other things happened as well?. These things happen, You caught it, You got paid. Dealers are human, and mistakes happen from time to time.................................

 

Ive been on the receiving end of both dealer errors over the years. Many of the dealers shuffle around between games and variations and just as we get tired and make mistakes they can too. My advice, dont let it get to you, smile and take it in good humor. It may pay off...

My last trip I was at DTG playing craps. I'd been there about an hour grinding out. Generally the craps dealers there are excellent and with the possible exception of the GG crew I'd rate them the best DT. They were training a new dealer and although he was good he was going a bit too quickly and made a couple errors that either his fellow dealers or a player corrected. Some players let it ruin their day and made a fit - likely hoping for some random comp that was not forthcoming. I simply smiled through my mask assured him no problem and kept having a good time. Now generally on all even number points I play a piggyback hardway 15 / 3 which presses when it hits. I had stepped away to the restroom but saved my spot and returned to a point 6 which hit hardway the moment in reached the table. I had no bets out but the pit who was watching the dealer instructed him to pay me 135 bucks. He said "he's always on it" and then said to me "I'm paying your hard 6".

He didn't justify it, but im sure it was a combination of my frequent dealer bets and patience with the new guy. They didn't "owe" me anything, but being patient and understanding is always going to get you further.

Don't let a mistake ruin your fun. Or if it's going to stick to the electronic games... although ive witnessed a couple misreads on bubble craps too.

 

I am guessing a lot more must have gone bad on your trip than one corrected dealer mistake in order to make it a "horrible time"....

 

I have a dealer mistake story that was similar but the error that was made not as bad. I was playing baccarat and I had a $1500 bet on PLAYER. The game was hand held so the dealer passed me cards to peek at and my cards totaled 7 and I saw I was up against a natural 9. I was devastated but then the people at my table told me that I won.... how? The dealer passed me the wrong cards! I opened the BANKER cards. LOL The dealer realized the error and apologized. I got paid and and the table got a good laugh.

 

In my experience, the following are the ten most common, honest table-game dealer mistakes:
1. Missing a straight on the 6-card bonus in 3-Card Poker
2. Missing a straight in UTH (a player's or their own).
3. Forgetting to "push all hands" when the dealer busts with 22 in Freebet Blackjack.
4. Failing to pay the ante-bonus on a straight or better when the dealer doesn't qualify or you lose the hand in 3-card.
5. Forgetting to pay a winning hardway at craps.
6. Missing a flush in UTH (a player's or their own).
7. Failing to pay on full-house in UTH when 3 pairs are involved. (ex. - you have 7-8 and the board has 7-8-J-J-7, and they pay a 2-pair win)
8. Failing to pay your pair-plus win when the dealer's pair beats your pair in 3-card.
9. In blackjack, paying a hand when you pushed, or pushing a hand that you lost.
10. In blackjack, treating your push as a loss, or pushing a hand that you won.

The take-away from these situations is that it is well worth it to watch for these situations anytime you're playing these table games. Be ready to call it out when you're shorted (as you did!).
It's not malice or theft - these are just honest mistakes....sometimes, in your favor!

 

The pit boss shouldn't have said "lucky you caught that". What would have been more appropriate and professional is an apology for the mistake and to thank you for mentioning the error.

I'm sure it was an honest mistake but the comment made by the pit boss was insensitive.

 

Many folks here know that I was once very much the type to react this way to a situation like this, contemplating legal rights in response to an error like this. Those rights may exist... and I’m sure they could be exercised somehow through some combination of lawyers or the gaming control board. But the possible “delta” from doing so (compared to the right thing having happened anyway without hassle) is so negligible that there’s no way it could be worth pursuing. I get the principle, that such a mistake might seem suspicious and you want to bring visibility to it... but if the suspicion of it having been an intentional thing were to be true (I.e., something they’re doing on the regular), they’d stand to lose an astronomical amount in fines/settlements/lost revenue compared to the dollar value of the average UTH wager.

Say the tables were turned... and the dealer paid you for a flush when you didn’t have one, and you swept up your chips and walked away. Pit boss and/or dealer calls after you to correct their error upon realizing it, and in good faith you recognize the error and give the chips back. Would the casino have a legal recourse against you as the player in that case? Honest mistake on your part to accept the payment on the losing bet, and the situation was resolved on the spot the way it should have been resolved. What more could they possibly want from you?

Of course, the casino could raise the same suspicion that “this player collected that mispaid wager rather quickly, that’s suspicious”... but had there been an established pattern of a player exploiting those mistakes for profit, they’d have figured it out over time, and could take corrective action such as through a trespass order. In the same way, had there been an established pattern of dealers shorting players, the gaming control board would figure it out over time... as would the players, who would have one hell of a reason to never go to that casino again.

If you’re insistent on doing something... I suppose it couldn’t hurt to file a claim with the gaming control board to see what they have to say. In fact, it might even be insightful to get an idea as to how they handle these things. I’d just be hesitant to actually file a complaint, because if they find it to have been a frivolous allegation, they may not take future claims of yours as seriously, which could be a problem if you’re faced with a far more serious issue that the casino didn’t resolve.

 

I'll give you that. Not the best choice of wording.

Not only that, but filing frivolous things can lead to you being on the hook for costs. For better or for worse, casinos take any allegation like this very, very seriously, and thus are likely to incur legal fees.

 

The dealer probably has enough on their hands and on their mind, working a long, grueling job dealing with nimwits and low-lifes partying it up during a pandemic. Don't potentially cost them their livelihood over something so ridiculous.

 

This kind of mistakes happen all the time. no big deal.
I saw one dealer made the same mistakes many times in a hour.
I just believed that dealer had poor eyesight.
As long as it got corrected in the end, it's OK.

 

I wonder how much this is watched/audited by eyes in the sky? Assume if a dealer has more people winning or losing above average they'd give them some attention.
I'm sure at some point they will have computers check and log all of the winning/losing hands or does someone have that now?