Small stakes tournament in a local casino.

The action between two players comes to the river. Player first to act bets, and second one calls. First one shows straight, second one throws cards towards the muck face down (however still can be separated from the muck), only to realise few moments later that he also folded a straight for the chopped pot.

He asks if he can take his hand back, dealer says no, as supposedly the cards are dead as soon as they cross the line. I try to persuade dealer he might be wrong, and the first player backs dealer up. The floor isn't called since the second player hasn't shown any real intention to fight for the pot.

Can the cards be retrieved - who is right here?

Dealer's right.

It depends on the house rule.

Which may or may not be what the dealer said it was.

House rules. Call the floor if they are unsure of what these are.

I disagree. The dealer may be correct about what the house rule is but he should not make that decision. Standard practice should be for the dealer to call a floor person who is supposed to make those decisions.

The way the dealer handled it was fast and possibly the correct way but no one knows for sure.

FWIW, in the room I work in, if the player can beat the dealer to the hand, he can have it back.

Today, three way pot north of $150 at a $1/$2 game.

Seat 1 $300+
Seat 3 $140
Seat 9 $125

After the turn card is out, first to act is in seat 1. He throws his hand forward about 3 inches, just over the line. (betting line only, not an action line). Just as he releases the hand, he says "All In" loud and clear and he grabs the hand back. I was reaching for the cards but since he beat me to them, I let him have them.

of course the other two players explode and I immediately call the floor.

I am a dual rate, I know exactly what the floor is going to rule and I could have made the call but I was not wearing the suit that day.

Floor comes over, gets the facts from me and all three players agree as to the facts as i described them.

Floor did I would have, tells the table that seat 1 is all in and that in the future he will have to be more careful.

The other two players call the bet and I deal the river, Seat 9 catches his 5th club and wins main pot, seat 3 wins side pot.

As i pushed the pots, the hand ended and that was the last it was mentioned.

The floor made the decision and explained why he had decided the way he did. That was it.