muck hand

[markmagic]

Player A bet $400, player B fold and player A muck his hand and never notice that the third player
has a live hand. Player A retrieve his hand quickly from the muck... is it a dead hand or live? and what
is the rulling about this situation... thanks

[chet]

Final decision depends upon your House Rules. 

Personally, I would rule that if his cards touched the muck that his hand is dead and the pot is awarded to the player with the last "live" hand, this assumes, of course, that the third players hole cards were not hidden and player A should have easily been able to tell that player was still 'in the hand'.

Chet

[Brian Vickers]

A player is never getting a hand that wasn't tabled out of the muck pile.  If he tabled it and the dealer mucked it that would be a different story, but if he threw them in face down and they got mixed with any other face down cards, then the hand is dead as a doornail.

[Nick C]

 I agree the hand should be dead, if it touched the muck. However, just like so many other situations that we discuss, it's not always that easy. Let's take the exact situation but the third player (still holding his cards), were in the act of folding? Or had no intention of calling. If you did rule that Player A's hand is dead, how could you justify giving the pot to the third player who has not called the $400?
 Making the correct call is difficult without being there. There are too many different scenarios that can affect the right call. When did this occur? Pre-flop? At the showdown?
If you did rule the third player the winner, don't you think Player A should at least get his uncalled $400 back?