[bav]

Yes, the dealer is supposed to pull the mucks in as soon as they hit the table. That avoids this problem. I've lost hands several times because of this. Last time it happened to me I could see it coming in slow motion. Dealer left all the cards and the board out there, collected the pot, shoved it toward me, and I saw the other player suddenly get a "wait a fricken' minute" look on his face. I tell the dealer quietly "please muck his hand now" and the dealer says "what?!?" I reiterate "T A K E H I S C A R D S ! !" "oh... yeah, ok" and as the dealer reaches for the cards the player grabs them and flips 'em over. sigh. I gave up the pot without a fight. Nobody was table talking and the other player realized on his own that he had folded the winner, but the floor later said if he'd been called over he still woulda ruled in my favor because so much time had transpired. He wasn't sure what the statute of limitations should be, but figured if there was enough time for the dealer to pull the pot together and shove it and then reach to collect the cards, it was too late and the other player shouldn't get to profit because the dealer didn't follow procedures and bury his cards immediately.

Your case is a bit fuzzier than fraser's earlier post. In his case, someone else told the mucker she had folded a winner and actually even pulled the cards back on behalf of the mucker. That's not even close. This one... well... I claim the table talk is clearly what helped the guy realize he had the winner so no, if asked to rule I probably wouldn't let him take back his mucked cards. But it's near that fuzzy "how much time has passed, how much table talk has happened" line.