Another week, and another in game situation where we need to go to the rule book. This time it involves an all-in by Player A, with two callers and a side pot. On a later street, Player B bet and Player C folded, entitling Player B to the side pot. Player B then mucked their hand before a showdown, giving Player A the main pot uncontested. Now, I did not see any of this, but upon hearing that Player B had mucked their own hand I agreed that Player A was entitled to the main pot as I was once in the same situation years ago. But was the mucked hand still identifiable? This I do not know and after checking the rules perhaps a little more investigation was warranted. Let's look at rules 65, 58 and then 15-B:
65: Accidentally Killed / Fouled / Exposed Hands
A: Players must protect their hands at all times, including at showdown while waiting for hands to be read. If the dealer kills a hand by mistake or if in TDs judgement a hand is fouled and cannot be identified to 100% certainty, the player has no redress and is not entitled to a refund of called bets. If the player initiated a bet or raise and hasn’t been called, the uncalled amount will be returned.
B: If a hand is fouled but can be identified, it remains in play despite any cards exposed.
In other words, if the dealer mucks your hand and it can be identified, you get it back and can continue playing. If it cannot be identified, then your hand is dead and you are S.O.O.L. This differs slightly from Rule 58:
58: Non-Standard Folds
Any time before the end of the final betting round, folding in turn if there’s no bet to you (ex: facing a check or first to act post-flop) or folding out of turn are binding folds subject to penalty. See also 15-B.
In the case of the player mucking their own hand, identifiable or not, the hand is dead. However, please note that Rule 15-B provides an exception to this rule, and it is exactly the situation we were discussing above:
15: Showdown and Discarding Irregularities
B: If a player bets then discards thinking he or she has won (forgetting another player is still in the hand), the dealer should hold the cards and call the floor (a Rule 58 exception). If cards are mucked and not retrievable and identifiable to 100% certainty, the player is out and not entitled to a refund of called bets. If cards are mucked and the player initiated a bet or raise not yet called, the uncalled amount will be returned.
In this case, even an accidental muck by the player does not immediately kill the hand. It depends on whether or not the hand is still identifiable or not. I'm not sure if the cards in our real life situation were identifiable or not, but after reading up on these rules perhaps I should have investigated further. Unfortunately, once play moves to the next hand the ruling is final.
I hope you all can use this knowledge in the future should this situation arise again. I know I will.
Dead Man's Hand Poker uses the rules set forth by the Poker Tournament Directors Association. The Poker TDA is a voluntary poker industry association founded in 2001. The TDA mission is to increase global uniformity of poker tournament rules. The Poker TDA rules can be found here.
Always use a Card Protector, (or poker chip) to cover your Hole cards while in a hand to prevent accidental Mucking by the dealer. I believe if the dealer mucks your unprotected cards while you are still in the hand- your cards are now dead.