Dear
Mark, I have a Brother-in-law who recently started playing
in our weekly home game. One of our rules is that rather
than each player anteing, the dealer antes up for everyone.
When it came to my Brother-in-law he passed the deal
so he didn't have to ante. He believes since he is passing
the deal, and choice of game, he is at a disadvantage
so he doesn't need to ante when it's his turn. I don'
believe he can do that, but he claims he can. Please
respond quickly as I will present your answer at our
next poker night. Jeff P.
What
you are describing, Jeff, is called "pass the
deal", whereby players deal for themselves as
opposed to something you would see in a poker room,
where the game is dealt by a house dealer. Ordinarily,
a player can refuse to deal, opting instead to pass
the deck to the next player on the left.
But
at your home game you noted that rather than each
player anteing each hand, a dealer antes for all.
With the game played this way, your cheapskate
(you don't mind, do you?) brother-in-law is not
permitted to pass the deal.