The Casino Shift Manager incorrectly ruled that #10 somehow called in time. Except for #8, the other players in that table failed to fight for the truth. TDA Rule #2 is that player responsibilities include speaking up if they see a mistake being made, but too often, players ignore mistakes in the table unless it was against them. #9 eventually gave up his cards, stack and left, but will probably never play in that casino again.
The chances of this blunder occurring could have been minimized had TDA Rules been in effect in this casino:
27: Calling for a Clock
Once a reasonable amount of time passes and a clock is called for, a player will be given up to 50 seconds to make a decision. If action is not taken before time expires, there will be a 10-second countdown. If the player has not acted by the end of the countdown, the hand is dead. A tie goes to the player. At TDs discretion, the time allowed under this rule may be reduced.
There was no 10-second countdown before the supervisor suddenly said, "That hand is mucked." He & the dealer mistakenly thought that #10 said "call" in time while all the other players including myself (not sitting in that table) heard "mucked" before "call." I later talked to #10 & he admitted that he only said the word "call" once, which I distinctly heard AFTER "mucked." He also admitted that had #9 not made the blunder of showing the Ace of hearts, he would have folded.
Morale of the story: If you want to be a winning player, know the TDA and other rules applicable in the casino. I've seen too many clueless players victimized by not knowing the rules and sometimes by staff who make wrong rulings.
SteveKerr;373440 wrote- Seat 10's hand is dead once the minute is up. Floor should be counting down from 10 seconds and once hit zero, the hand is dead, and Seat 9 is awarded the pot.