Date / Time: 2005-07-08 16:04:00
Title: ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR HAND
Log: This tournament has just had two simultaneous, brilliant examples of why you see players putting chips and various other objects on top of their hole cards. It's not just for show.

Instance #1 - With the board showing A-J-8-J-2 a player with a made full house (8-8 in his hand) decides to posture for a bit. He stands up, and acts as if he's got a difficult decision to make. Finally he sits back down, picks up his cards, puts them in front of his chips, and starts to count out his bet. As he's counting, the dealer takes his cards and slides them into the muck. The man disputes the call, and the floor is called. The floor reinforces the dealer's explanation: it is the player's responsibility to protect his or her hand. Once a card has been mucked, it cannot be retrieved. The hand is dead.

Instance #2 - Meanwhile, on another table, just as the dealer is explaining to the player in seat #1 that he should always protect his hand, the player in seat #2 attempts to fold, and accidentally tosses them on top of seat #1's cards. The floor's ruling is the same: always protect your hand. If your cards touch mucked cards, your hand is also dead. The player in this case was forced to leave his $200 call in the pot. In a show of remorse, seat #2 attempts to reimburse the man for his lost $200 bet, and although the floorman respects the decision, he also states that chip exchange is also illegal, and cannot occur.

In both instances, all parties involved handled themselves with dignity and respect for tournament staff, despite the potential for emotional outbursts.