Realized I was overpaid in split pot, what to do? (Poll)
In a 3-way all-in double board bomb pot, I won the first board, and chopped the second board. The shortest stack got 0, I (largest stack) got 3/4, and the other player got 1/4. The dealer seemed kind of tentative, needing a prompt to bring in the right amounts from each stack for the main pot, and leaving the side pot for the end.
When the final cards were dealt, I said I cover the other guy in the side pot, so I get half of his stack for the side. So he counted that out, and gave it to me, and then shipped me the whole main pot. In the moment, I was thinking that something wasn't right, but ok, ya, maybe that's how it works when you 3/4 someone. No one else said anything, and I moved on to stacking chips and chatting about the hand.
Only after I got home did I realize that the 1/4 of the main was not paid out to the other player. He should have received around $330 for his share. So what now?
6 Replies
Seems odd no one noticed at the time. A fairly large, double board, bomb pot that gets split..often there are multiple table captain types that are anxious to show off their math skills.
Since you included B & C as options, I assume the 1/4 winner is a regular that you know and/or the casino would be able to identify.
Personally, if I was confident that I was overpaid and knew who the player was, I would just hand it to him next time. I wouldn't get the casino involved at all.
If I can't identify the player then I'm going to let it go. No one objected at the time, and assuming you didn't immediately run out the door after winning the hand, there was time for someone to come to the same conclusion that you did. But they didn't. So consider it a gift.
Seems odd no one noticed at the time. A fairly large, double board, bomb pot that gets split..often there are multiple table captain types that are anxious to show off their math skills.
Since you included B & C as options, I assume the 1/4 winner is a regular that you know and/or the casino would be able to identify.
Personally, if I was confident that I was overpaid and knew who the player was, I would just hand it to him next time. I wouldn't get the casino involved at all.
If I can't identify
Agree with this. I'd add that I might see if it's not too late to have the room run back the footage to confirm the entire main was shopped to you (to be fair, you'd have to be pretty specific with the time/table details or else you'd send surveillance on a wild goose chase).
If you can identify the villain then give it to him out of pocket. If you can’t then there is little you can do. Surveillance is not gonna look through hours of footage trying to find a hand.
This happened to me once at Foxwoods in the 20/40 LHE game and the next week I saw the guy (who was a regular) and I gave him the $60 he should have gotten in a chopped pot. He actually didn't realize it had happened to him. So he was happy and grateful but it didn't mean we became friends...
If the guy isn't a regular and you don't think you will see him again it is possible that if you give the casino the date and time it happened and the seat # of the player in question, they will probably be able to track him down (assuming they have a system where people swipe cards at the table). So the guy could agree to come in (so you can see him and verify it was the guy) and you could give him the money with the Floor present. It is also possible that the casino would ask you for the money and take it on themselves to give the money to the player they identified.
Once the pot is pushed and the next hand begins those are your chips. But there's nothing wrong with 'gifting' some cash to someone 'for any reason'.
I wouldn't 'drop it off' .. in fact I'd be really surprised if you actually could do that in a casino, much less a 'room' or home game. If you are looking to make things right then I would want you to handle them as directly as possible. You could even get their contact information and send it via an App or something if you don't run across them in the Room again. GL
PS .. and yes, VERY surprised that the table captain (and others) missed the boat on the Main Pot getting pushed in total. Usually when the short stack gets scooped the Dealer will just combine the Side and Main, but if you had yet to put in chips for the side then the 50% rule is much more efficient.
The ethical thing to do is to make some level of effort to get in touch with him to give him his money.
But if and where 'ethics' and 'morals' mean different things, here, perhaps, you don't actually have any moral duty to do anything. The whole 'mistakes cannot be rectified when you leave the till' idea needs to work both ways. I would say that the immoral choice here would be to seek him out and steal more money, but the moral choice is the same holding the nuts facing an all-in from a gambling addict that's gonna be taken out back if he can't pay his debts. Maybe you're the one being set up.
