There are situations in poker when a player or a dealer accidentally exposes cards. Usually there are rules that help when this happens. Up next you will learn what are the common exposed card situations and the most common ways of solving the issue of accidentally exposed cards.

First up – common exposed card situations:

• While dealing the dealer accidentally flips a card over
• During the game players accidentally or deliberately flip their cards
• Burn cards have been exposed

Since we are talking about what could possibly go wrong during the game I'll introduce you to a poker concept: Misdeal.

The Misdeal happens when cards are incorrectly dealt because of the dealer's/player's errors. When this happens the cards previously dealt should be gathered and the dealer player should deal them again.

• What happens when the dealer exposes a card or more cards during the deal?

  Although it is not a common practice, sometimes the dealer can accidentally expose a card. If only one card has been exposed when the dealer was dealing the hole cards the situation should not be considered a misdeal. The dealer will continue to deal the cards just like no cards have been exposed. When all the other players have received their hole cards the player will receive a new card, face down, from the dealer. The card that was previously exposed will be the burning card.

  Another way of dealing with the situation is for the player with the exposed card to receive the burned card and his exposed card will be the burned card.

  If the dealer happens to expose tow or more cards during the beginning deal the situation is considered a misdeal and the cards will be redealt completely.

• What happens when the dealer flips one of more burned cards?

  If the dealer flips one or more of the burned cards he will put the cards back in the deck, reshuffle the deck, then burn a card and deal the next street. Because there are bets in the pot, even if the dealer happens to expose both burned cards there will not be a misdeal.

• What happens when a player flips his/her card?

  Once you play the game you begin to realize that you, for no reason want to expose your cards so you will not want to let that happen. If you are concerned about other players flipping their cards you should make sure that they are familiar with poker etiquette and know that they are not to expose their cards until the hand is over. However, if a card is exposed, the respective player's cards should be dead and considered folded.

Tips for dealing with exposed cards:

• If a player exposes his card or cards do not ask the players to take a vote about what should be done. This is the best way of handling the situation because only one or two players will have an advantage at that time and they will obviously want to go on with the game. Establish a rule for this situation and make everyone at the table familiar with it before the game begins
• If the dealer exposes a card it is his responsibility to let all the players see the exposed card.