3 Card Poker Argument w/ Dealer

Was playing 3 card poker on a cruise ship. Random comes up and asks if he can watch to learn the game.

I was doing ante/play only. I played my hand, and when the dealer revealed I knew I lost, and reacted by sighing and making a very subtle swiping hand motion.

The dealer took my chips without checking my hand, and the bystander was confused by why I “automatically” lost.

I said I didn’t automatically lose, the dealer was SUPPOSED to check my hand.

The dealer was in a mood to begin with, and snapped back and said I folded by making a hand motion.

I argued that hand motions mean nothing in 3 card poker. If I put chips on my cards that means I’m playing the hand, and only the hand matters, nothing else.

He said I was incorrect, and I folded by hand motion. So I just called it quits and colored out. The pit boss seemed to be watching the interaction and removed him from the table pretty quickly, but I was done anyway.

Who was right here?

I think you were right
Hand motions only matter in blackjack and blackjack varieties, right?

^ I'm not sure. When various poker varieties were around (e.g. 5-card poker) some people did play blind (in which case they didn't know what they had); this was not totally unreasonable against Q-2 up-cards. In my local I think if you played two 3-card hands, one of them had to be played blind. However it was also quite common for people to raise with a bad hand hoping the Dealer would not qualify, so in this case they might wave their hand [in disgust!] when the Dealer qualified (in hindsight, some might have actually pushed the cards and bets towards the dealer).

You put chips on your hand. The assumption should be you played it. If the dealer felt that it was unclear what you wanted, he should have asked. Just another example of a dealer who is "never wrong."

Hand motions mean nothing. The dealer should check, primarily because a player might miss-read their hand.

Also, shouldn’t the pit boss be an advocate for a good customer experience? Or did you get the type who prefers to squeeze players short-term at the expense of long-term loyalty?

Quote: gamerfreak

The dealer was in a mood to begin with, and snapped back and said I folded by making a hand motion.
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You could not have folded; folding is not an available player action after the play wager has been placed.

The dealer should have spread your cards for comparison like any other hand.