Being awarded a pot without cards?

[Chipr777]

I was just looking through our poker rulebook brushing up on a few of the seldom used rules and out of the ordinary decisions. Here's one that caught my attention.

Uncalled Bet

A player who makes a bet that nobody calls wins the pot. A player who makes a bet, and then incorrectly assumes there are no live hands against him; and throws his hand away into the discards, loses the pot, unless the hand is declared retrievable by the floorperson. Every effort should be made to rule in the direction of playing out the pot. If a player has been induced to discard his hand by the dealer indicating he has made an uncalled bet and won the pot, but someone still has a live hand, the following rules prevail:

A. If at all possible, the hand should be retrieved and the pot played out.

B. If the hand is irretrievable, the floorperson must make a decision based on the strength of the remaining hand, whether it was out in the open or concealed, and whether the player had the opportunity to speak up to prevent the bettor from thinking he won the pot.

C. The floorperson can and should rule a worthless hand dead. A powerful hand strong enough to have raised should get the whole pot. In between those extremes, it is up to the floorperson to decide what is fair.