By participating in any tournament, you agree to abide
by the rules and behave in a courteous manner. A violator
may be verbally warned, suspended from play for a specified
length of time, or disqualified from the tournament. Chips
from a disqualified participant will be removed from play.
1. Whenever possible, all rules are the same as those
that apply to live games.
2. Initial seating is determined by random draw or assignment.
(For a one-table satellite event, cards to determine seating
may be left faceup so the earlier entrants can pick their
seat, since the button is assigned randomly.)
3. The appropriate starting amount of chips will be
placed on the table for each paid entrant at the beginning
of the event, whether the person is present or not. Absent
players will be dealt in, and all chips necessary for
antes and blinds will be put into the pot.
4. If a paid entrant is absent at the start of an event,
at some point an effort will be made to locate and contact
the player. If the player requests the chips be left in
place until arrival, the request will be honored. If the
player is unable to be contacted, the chips may be removed
from play at the discretion of the director anytime after
a new betting level is begun or a half-hour has elapsed,
whichever occurs first.
5. A starting stack of chips may be placed in a seat
to accommodate late entrants (so all antes and blinds
have been appropriately paid). An unsold seat will have
such a stack removed at a time left to the discretion
of the director.
6. Limits and blinds are raised at regularly scheduled
intervals.
7. If there is a signal designating the end of a betting
level, the new limits apply on the next deal. (A deal
begins with the first riffle of the shuffle.)
8. The lowest denomination of chip in play will be removed
from the table when it is no longer needed in the blind
or ante structure. All lower-denomination chips that are
of sufficient quantity for a new chip will be changed
up directly. The method for removal of odd chips is to
deal one card to a player for each odd chip possessed.
Cards are dealt clockwise starting with the 1-seat, with
each player receiving all cards before any cards are dealt
to the next player. The player with the highest card by
suit gets enough odd chips to exchange for one new chip,
the second-highest card gets to exchange for the next
chip, and so forth, until all the lower-denomination chips
are exchanged. A player may not be eliminated from theevent
by the chip change process. If a player has no chips after
the race has been held, he will be given a chip of the
higher denominiation before anyone else is awarded a chip.
If an odd number of lower-denomination chips are left
after this process, the player with the highest card remaining
will receive a new chip if he has half or more of the
quantity of lower-denomination chips needed, otherwise
nothing.
9. An absent player is always dealt a hand, and will
be put up for blinds, antes, and the forced bet if low.
10. A player must be present at the table to stop the
action by calling “time.”
11. A player must be at the table by the time all players
have their complete starting hands in order to have a
live hand for that deal. (The dealer has been instructed
to kill the hands of all absent players immediately after
dealing each player a starting hand.)
12. As players are eliminated, tables are broken in
a pre-set order, with players from the broken tables assigned
to empty seats at other tables.
13. A change of seat is not allowed after play starts,
except as assigned by the director.
14. In button games, if a player is needed to move from
a table to balance tables, the player due for the big
blind will be automatically selected to move, and will
be given the earliest seat due for the big blind if more
than one seat is open.
15. New players are dealt in immediately and take over
the obligations of that position, including the small
blind or button position.
16. The number of players at each table will be kept
reasonably balanced by the transfer of a player as needed.
With more than six tables, table size will be kept within
two players. With six tables or less, table size will
be kept within one player.
17. In all events, there is a redraw for seating when
the field is reduced to three tables, two tables, and
one table. (Redrawing at three tables is not mandatory
in small tournaments with only four or five starting tables.)
18. A player who declares all-in and loses the pot,
then discovers that one or more chips were hidden, is
not entitled to benefit from this. That player is eliminated
from the tournament if the opponent had sufficient chips
to cover the hidden ones (A rebuy is okay if allowable
by the rules of that event). If another deal has not yet
started, the director may rule the chips belong to the
opponent who won that pot, if that obviously would have
happened with the chips out in plain view. If the next
deal has started, the discovered chips are removed from
the tournament.
19. If a player lacks sufficient chips for a blind or
a forced bet , the player is entitled to get action on
whatever amount of money remains. A player who posts a
short blind and wins does not need to make up the blind.
20. All players must leave their seat immediately after
being eliminated from an event.
21. Showing cards from a live hand during the action
injures the rights of other players still competing in
an event, who wish to see contestants eliminated. A player
in a multihanded pot may not show any cards during a deal.
Heads-up, a player may not show any cards unless the event
has only two remaining players, or is winner-take-all.
If a player deliberately shows a card, the player may
be penalized (but his hand will not be ruled dead). Verbally
stating one’s hand during the play may be penalized.
22. The limit on raises is also applied to heads-up
situations (except the last two players in a tournament
are exempted from a limitation on raises).
23. At pot-limit and no-limit play, the player must
either use a verbal statement giving the amount of the
raise or put the chips into the pot in a single motion.
Otherwise, it is a string bet.
24. Non-tournament chips are not allowed on the table.
25. Higher-denomination chips must be placed where they
are easily visible to all other players at the table.
26. All tournament chips must remain visible on the
table throughout the event. Chips taken off the table
or pocketed will be removed from the event, and a player
who is caught doing this may be disqualified.
27. Inappropriate behavior like throwing cards that
go off the table may be punished with a penalty such as
being dealt out for a length of time. A severe infraction
such as abusive or disruptive behavior may be punished
by eviction from the tournament.
28. The deck is not changed on request. Decks change
when the dealers change, unless there is a damaged card.
29. In all tournament games using a dealer button, the
starting position of the button is determined by dealing
for the high card.
30. The dealer button remains in position until the
appropriate blinds are taken. Players must post all blinds
every round. Because of this, last action may be given
to the same player for two consecutive hands by the use
of a "dead button". [See “Section 16 –
Explanations,” discussion #1, for more information
on this rule.]
31. In heads-up play with two blinds, the small blind
is on the button.
32. At stud, if a downcard on the initial hand is dealt
faceup, a misdeal is called.
23. If a player announces the intent to rebuy before
cards are dealt, that player is playing behind and is
obligated to make the rebuy.
34. All hands will be turned faceup whenever a player
is all-in and betting action is complete.
35. If two (or more) players go broke during the same
hand, the player starting the hand with the larger amount
of money finishes in the higher tournament place for point
and cash awards.
36. Management is not required to rule on any private
deals, side bets, or redistribution of the prize pool
among finalists.
37. Private agreements by remaining players in an event
regarding distribution of the prize pool are not condoned.
(However, if such an agreement is made, the director has
the option of ensuring that it is carried out by paying
those amounts.) Any private agreement that excludes one
or more active competitors is improper by definition.
38. A tournament event is expected to be played until
completion. A private agreement that removes all prize
money from being at stake in the competition is unethical.
39. Management retains the right to cancel any event,
or alter it in a manner fair to the players.
