Question of Misdeal

I was on a cruise and made the final table of a blackjack tournament. A casino host and a dealer were taking turns dealing during the qualifying rounds. All cards are dealt face up to the players, and the only card dealt down is the one dealer card.

As a treat, the cruise director was scheduled to deal the final table to determine the tournament winner. The casino host and dealer were standing alongside the cruise director.

For the first hand, the cruise director dealt the first hand to the 7 players at the final table. He then dealt the first 3 players their second card before someone asked where is the dealer card? The cruise director took the second card from the first player and made that the dealer's card. He shifted the second player's second card to the first player and the third player's second card to the second player. He then dealt the remainder of the hand. I saw the third player's hand change from a 20 to a 12.

I claimed that this is a misdeal. My misdeal accusation was ignored. The casino said that this is the order of how the cards were going to be dealt anyways, so there is no foul.

Is this a misdeal or is the casino right in their explanation?

Being the final table of a tournament, they shouldn't have an amateur dealer. I kind of felt they were just trying to protect the image of the cruise director and not insult their boss.

I tend to think of a misdeal as a mistake that changes the course of cards -- which this was not. What this is is an example of why you should never have amateur dealers when real money is at stake -- no matter how casual the atmosphere.

no misdeal. since there was no action, back up the cards, play on.

If this happened in a regular, cash game, a fair solution, I think, would be to play as above, backing up the cards, but offer the players to take their bet back if they are not satisfied with their hand.

However, a tournament is different. I think the solution of the cruise director was a fair one, to be honest. If the dealer didn't make a mistake, the cards would have fallen in the exact same position. In other words, the remedy of backing up the cards makes the situation exactly the same as if the dealer error never occurred. Which is the best you could hope for as a fix in a tournament situation.

No misdeal. If it improved your hand, you wouldn't have complained. Did you end up winning that hand?

The cruise director is not their boss. The casino manager is. Above the casino manager is the hotel manager. The cruise director is just in charge of all the entertainment. Which ship was this? Who was the Cruise Director? I am sorta a cruise junkie.

I was in seat #6, so I was not dealt my 2nd card when the mishap was discovered. However, my friend was in seat #3 and saw his 20 turn into a 12. I won my hand because the dealer busted. My friend busted his 12 though. He would not have busted with a 20. Also, the dealer may not have busted if my friend did not hit.

The ship was the Carnival Valor. The Cruise Director is some Texas cowboy nicknamed "Big Tex". I think his real name is Jeremy Mayes.

Why is backing up cards even an option here?

I did some research in preparation to becoming a "pit boss" at a church's casino night, in the Blackjack area. When viewing official rules of Blackjack on various casino/control board websites, the great majority say to not back up cards. If a player or dealer is missed, the rest of of the cards are dealt as normal, and the skipped spot is dealt with. Cards never change position.

One place I found these rules is the New Jersey Casino Control Commission website, which has rules laid out for a variety of games. The rules to Blackjack show in section 2.15, "Irregularities", part (e), that: "If the dealer misses dealing his first or second card to himself, the dealer shall continue dealing the first two cards to each player, and then deal the appropriate number of cards to himself." More websites have very similar rules.

A reason I volunteered to become the "pit boss" at the church event is due to the gross ignorance of the volunteer dealers. One dealer backed up some cards, which put a face-up card at first base into the down-card position of the dealer. Why bother even putting it face down if everyone saw it? Granted, most people were probably not paying attention, but it made me facepalm.

Does the backing up of cards happen frequently at casinos? Does it happen at all? Should it be happening?

Since Las Vegas is the most popular gambling destination in the United States, do you know what the similar statute is in Nevada?

Since the cruise originated out of a port in Miami, would also happen to know the similar statute in Florida?

After some Google searching, I was unable to come up with any other state's rules to games in the same format. Anyone know where else similarly formatted rules might be for different jurisdictions?

I'm still curious to know if anyone personally has seen cards being backed up at a Blackjack table, either at a professional casino, or at a Monte Carlo night at a charity function.

I've only seen cards backed up if a player disputed a payoff after a hand was over, and the dealer had to lay down the cards from the discard pile to make a ruling.

I'm not a dealer, so am not the best one to ask, but it seems to me that a player is never supposed to be given a tainted card, nor forced to return a tainted card dealt in error. For example, if player A wants to surrender, but the dealer misunderstands the signal, gives him a card, and player A protests, then that card would be burned. If the next player B says he wanted that card, he still won't get it.

I've also seen it happen where a player made a late bet and was skipped being dealt a hand. Sometimes when that happens they will let the other players opt out of the hand, which is a powerful option. They will never ask players to shift cards over.

I'd keep Monte Carlo nights out of this because they use a lot of inexperienced dealers, and the bosses have a lot of leeway since they are playing for fake money.

The few times I've seen it at a casino, the players were also told that they would either win or push. No losers. It cost the casino just a couple bucks to make everyone happy - and give the players something to talk about back home.

I've been witness to a number of dealer mistakes. It seems to happen somewhat frequently. Not everybody's perfect, obviously. Actually, most dealers are pretty good. I find it interesting to see what the pit boss does and what decisions the player subsequently has to make.
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First situation: I was playing blackjack for $100 a hand in the Salon at the Venetian (don't ask). I motioned to surrender my 15 against the dealer 10. She thought I motioned for a hit. (I made the signal where I drew a line across the back of my cards, or made a gesture like "come here" with my hand while never touching the felt). I was dealt a two for a total of seventeen. I told her I wanted to surrender, but would let it go. She flipped over a twenty. In retrospect, I should have protested since I was still a two-to-one dog on the hand. I wonder what the pit would have done.
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Second situation: I was playing Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em just the other day when the dealer accidently exposed his two hole cards. He had a nine/seven offsuit. I had a J-10 offsuit which you are supposed to raise 4x before the flop. (It is a positive expectation hand). The pit boss declared a misdeal. I protested that we should play out the hand, since I had decent cards and the dealer had terrible ones. I believe the pit boss should have allowed play to continue. (This isn't like regular poker where it would be a misdeal ... is that right?)
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Lesson? Always protest. You might or might not get the result you want, but at least you give yourself the option.

Addendum: I forgot the time I was playing at Seneca Niagara and the dealer exposed her hole card. She had twenty. I had nineteen. The pit boss said to play it out normally. So I hit, and got a two! It's a good story to tell at the tables -- "You know, sometimes I hit nineteens..." It also means I have a great impression of Seneca Niagara.