>>>The Floor-Man said that I could take the bet down to the Table Max or bet anything less than that.
maybe the floor man only allowed you the choice to reduce further than table max because you had a TEN. If you had a 6, the floor man could have insisted that you reduce the bet to exactly the table maximum.
It's like you got a BJ, and the pit boss says "hey, you can bet $5000 on that BJ, or you can just bet $400. Your choice, our first class casino is so classy that we don't care, we let our customer decide if they want $5000 BJ or $400 BJ".
... and you choose $400 BJ.... haha
(not saying it is a wrong choice for an AP, but definitely wrong if you are a ploppy)