I played in yesterday's Bicycle Casino Nooner tournament and we were down to 5 players. I raised, bb shoved, i called.

BB: AQ
Hero: AT

Flopped JK3
Turned: J
River: J

I thought I lost so I walked away and picked up my winnings. To the parking lot I realized that I just chopped that pot. So i walked back into the casino and told them about the situation. They said it was too late and there's nothing they can do..

what are your thoughts?

Mistakes happen, it sucks that no one caught it before you walked away from the table but I never leave the table until the chips are pushed away from me. They are correct that it's too late to fix the mistake, they probably played 10-12 hands in that time, you would have missed a couple blinds, etc
Next time pay attention. There are situations that could have happened

sounds like it was your fault.

This is ultimately the dealer's fault. He is responsible for reading the hands at showdown. And every other player at the table also has the responsibility to assist an make sure the pot is pushed to the right person. It's really shameful that no one pointed this out.

I think it was too late and there's nothing they could do.

Seriously - you went to the parking lot, came back, and thought they could do something?

Protect your hand applies here. You need to be able to read the board.

It's very possible that someone else saw it was a chopped pot but you going home moves everyone up in the money.

Take it as a cheap lesson.

The rule says that once the next hand has been dealt, it is too late to object to the previous hand.

What did you expect?

Seriously, why did you even go back in? Unless it was to point it out to management so they could review the tape and advise the dealer about his mistake, what was your motive?

I know the rest of the players were saying something when i left..now my guess is they want to avoid telling me so that they can move up $$

What did you think would happen?

Simply paying attention goes a long way
I see this happen often where players get their money in bad and don't even watch the hand because they assume they're gonna lose
A more positive attitude and a quick study of the board could have meant the difference between 5th and 1st

Yes,

I was at a tournament when a similar thing happened. We were down to 6 players, pot ended up being a chop pot but the players in question thought the bigger kicker played (which it didn't).

Me and a couple of other players that realized it was a chop pot kept our mouths shut because we all moved up in the money

yes, we are bastards i.e. poker players.

Next time, do the opposite, instead of assuming you lose a hand, have a default mindset that looks for any and ALL opportunities to win or chop instead of instantly accepting defeat because villain has 'the better hand'.

pffft. Better hand doesn't mean squat, all that matters is the winning hand. I find that old school ABC type players are too quick to discount their hands whenever they see they are up against 'a better hand'. I've even seen situations in which the players are all in on the flop, Player A shows a strong hand like KK, Player B will have been caught making a move with air, and Player B will muck his hand with 2 cards to come even though he is all in, just because Player A has 'the better hand'.

Its the dealers responsibility to push the pot to the right player or announce a chop, but dont ever rely on the dealer! They are often terrible poker players, and can barely read them board themseleves, they are often apathetic, or just tired and not having a good day.

This was your fault 100%. You cant blame anyone but yourself.

However, this DID happen at the WSOP main event and the guy came back less than 5 mins later, they reconstructed the hand and the chipcounts and gave him some chips back, it was pretty shady in my opinion and if I was the floor I would have never allowed the person to sit back down. Once you muck your hand, its dead, you forefeit the pot and there is no going back to chop the pot or win it outright.

So, it's everybody else's fault except for the players?

Unfortunate situation, but once the next hand is dealt out, it is too late to do anything about it. Protect your hand and pay attention. Hopefully this was a learning moment.

If you properly table your hand and it is/should be the winner, it cannot be mucked into losing, even by the dealer.

Having said that, once the next hand starts, you should not be able to contest the result of the previous hand.

Most of the blame lies on the dealer. All-in, call, hands are tabled. Split-pot. Even if the guy walks away, half the pot must be awarded to his seat. But, since nobody said anything, and the next hand was dealt out, then it's too late. I'll say 70% dealers fault 30% players fault.

...and then there is the possibility that OP did not remember the board/hands correctly and he really did lose the hand...

The dealer made a mistake - and if you spend any time around a casino, you will know that dealers routinely make mistakes. Its the player's fault that hes not still in the tournament, because he is the only person at the table who is his own advocate. All the other players are rooting against him, and the dealer is impartial, as well as often incompetent.

In a cash game I would guess somebody would speak up because the other players have no stake in it.

It is sad to me that nobody spoke up. But it doesn't really surprise me too much.

You have to protect your action - dealers make mistakes.

It is also entirely possible that he walked from table before the dealer had a chance to declare the winner...in which case NONE of the blame falls to the dealer.

I don't play tournaments so I don't understand all the technicalities. Shouldn't the dealer have shoved half the pot to the OP? Does getting up from your chair in a tournament concede the hand?

If the room is following the TDA rules (should be, but never assume), then the dealer should have split the pot even if you left (Rule 10).

Since it is a tournament, you tabled your cards when everyone was AI. The result should have been that the pot was split and you would have then been blinded off. If you realized the mistake before you were blinded off, you could come back to play.

Therefore, the dealer didn't handle it correctly. That said, you brought it upon yourself by getting up and leaving before a declaration by the dealer of who won the hand. Once the next hand is dealt, it is too late to correct.

I also note that players are merely "encouraged" to assist in a tournament but have an "ethical obligation" in Robert's Rules of Poker. Frankly, "encourage" is rather dopey. Nobody has an incentive to read help a player who is busting out or becoming crippled. I'd just leave it as, "allowed" only to prevent the OPTAH arguments if you don't want to worry about correcting dealer errors.

There have been several of these threads lately.

I don't see how anyone who plays poker regularly doesn't know how simple it is to protect your freaking hand. Put a chip on it. Keep your hand on it. Don't push it toward the muck until you either have the pot in front of you or are done with it and never want to see it again. Pretend the dealer is a machine, and read the board yourself. Do not listen to what the other players are saying (except when looking for tells, of course).

Remove the objective aspects of the rules by protecting your hand properly.

If the hand was tabled, the cards are in play and cards speak. All In showdown, the hands must be face up for all players in the hand.

Had the dealer seen the hand was a split pot,. event with the player leaving the table, half the pot belonged to the OP. Just because he walked off does not allow the dealer to push the entire pot to the other player. He should have called the OP back if he saw him leaving.or at least push the pot to the empty seat.

I think it is clear that the dealer did not see the hand was split and no one else pointed it out either.

Don't paint everyone with the broad brush that you're slapping on yourself, thank you.

It's too late and there's nothing they can do.