At your seat...Why deal to the player?

[Nick C]

I understand that players must be at the table to play the current hand, however, how do you tell a player not to look at his cards because he wasn't back to his seat before the first card was dealt? Wouldn't it be better to deal the "dead" cards to the center table? In my opinion, this is going to be a tough one to enforce.

[K-Lo]

Hi Nick:

I agree with you, and I think in practice that is how it would be done as a matter of procedure.

I believe the phrase "a player... is dealt in" just to make it clear that you are not going to skip the absent player altogether when distributing the cards.

k

[Tristan]

Agreed.  This was brought up at the Summit, I believe.  Many do not deal them out all the way to a spot.

[Nick C]

I'm glad you both agree with me but don't you think the proper procedure should be better explained in the Addendum?

[MikeB]

Agreed.  This was brought up at the Summit, I believe.  Many do not deal them out all the way to a spot.

There was an early draft of this rule that read "... will be dealt in within easy reach of the dealer..." which could of course mean "will be dealt to the center"... the Board ultimately felt that dictating the precise dealing procedure was beyond the duties of the Association... each house will work out whether they deal as normal, or a bit in front, or to the center, or whatever... all are technically allowed under the rule for the time being.