After
all the players finish their hands, the dealer turns
up the hole card and plays out the hand according
to preset rules. If the hand totals sixteen or less,
the dealer takes a hit and continues hitting until
the hand totals seventeen or more. The dealer cannot
split pairs, double down, or surrender. Most casinos
specify that their dealers stand on soft seventeen,
but at some places house policy is dealers hit soft
seventeen. The dealer has no choice; the casino rules
either specify a hit or specify a stand, and all dealers
in the casino act in accordance with these rules.
After
reaching seventeen or more, the dealer turns your
cards face up. If your cards add up closer to twenty-one
than the dealer's or if the dealer's total exceeds
twenty one, the dealer pays you even money. If the
dealer's total is closer to twenty-one without going
over, you lose. In a tie, which is called a "push,"
no money changes hands. The dealer picks up the used
cards and places them on the bottom of the pack or
in the used-card tray.
Time for
the next round. Put another offering on the sacrificial
spot and pray again. This time the dealer does not
shuffle, does not offer the deck for a cut, and does
not burn a card. Rather, the next round is dealt from
the unused cards.
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Andy
gets half the pot with his full house. Bill (a flush)
and Dave (a straight) get no share of the pot with
their flush and straight, and probably lose a lot
by getting those hands beat because with no obviously
strong hands showing, the betting would have gotten
spirited on the end. Chloe gets half the pot with
her 9-4 low, which is better than Dave's 9-8 low.
If the game were being played with the standard eight
qualifier for low, Andy would win the entire pot.
Chloe, who had been drawing at an A-2-3-4 low after
four cards, would be justifiably frustrated ... although
if she lets her frustration spill over onto the next
hand, she will probably lose money there unnecessarily.
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