Jesus I'm really regretting not going to the mat for this guy. I was one of very few people who spoke out, but having read the reactions ITT I think I should have thrown a fit and gotten the names of the people involved.
In my defense this was only the 2nd time I'd played 5-10 and I was too intimidated to fight back against several players and three staff members who were confidently saying "that's just the way it is". I just figured I was totally wrong and I stfu. And based on that experience I assumed readers of this thread would agree with the table majority - that the dude just made an expensive mistake. And now I feel like a dick for writing it the way I did.
Reading these posts, i realize I'm fairly representative of the inexperienced live players who will be terrified of making any kind of procedural mistake at the tables because of this. In fact, I immediately dropped back to 2-5 and stayed there for the rest of the series.
Is there anything we can do? I'm certain I could ID at least a few of the players at the table and probably the floormen, but the dealer blurs together with a hundred others. And maaaaybe I could pick out 42 and J9, but (and this is going to sound horrible but it's true) they were both Asian and I wouldn't be very confident in my identifications. Please no racist ban.