Hey folks,
Hitman, glad to see one of your tricky case again !
First, I tried to figure out what solution I could bring on the moment without having access to the whole TDA.
I assumed this was a Hold'em game to make this call.
I would have offered to draw a new flop from the stub without burning explaining that randomness is part of the game.
Now diving into the TDA :
RP-4. Disordered Stub
When cards remain to be dealt on a hand and the stub is accidentally dropped and appears to be disordered: 1) first try to reconstruct the stub in its original order if possible; 2) If not possible, create a new stub using only the stub cards (not the muck & prior burns). These should be scrambled, shuffled, cut, & play proceeds with the new stub; 3) If when dropped the stub is mixed in with the muck and/or burns, then scramble the mixed cards together, shuffle, and cut. Play proceeds with the new stub.
Point 3 fits well to the situation but I don't like the outcome to have discarded cards to come into play again.
RP-14: Randomness May be Applied to Special Situations
For error remedies not otherwise covered in the TDA Rules and Procedures, TDs may use the concept of randomness to design a solution.
The one who allowed me to make my call to draw a new flop.
35: Misdeals and Fouled Decks
E: Fouled decks will be as defined by local gaming regulations and house policy. If a fouled deck is discovered, regardless of SA, play will stop and all bets will be returned. Once a hand concludes, the right to dispute based on a fouled deck ends according to Rule 22.
We need to stretch this one a bit to consider the deck is fouled so it could fit. Its crappy because we don't like to return the bets, but it could fit.
I like the randomness outcome because it does not change the information live players got preflop. I think it is the nearest timeline for the original one.