General House Rules
House Authority
The house has the authority to close a game at any time, for any reason. All decisions made by the house or house-appointed Tournament Director are final.
Buy In, Add-on, Rebuy, and Payout Structures will all be posted in plain view.
Drinks
When drinks are available, you are welcome to either use the cup holders on the table, or find another place for your drink. Please take care of the table and be cautious. If alcoholic drinks are available, the house retains the right to limit the intake of any person at the game, playing or not. Basic rule: don’t be a moron and get wasted at our poker games.
House does not offer credit
All chips and buy-ins must be paid for up front, in cash. Since this is a home game and we wish to remain legal, there are no entry fees or raked pots.
Chips only at the table (cash does not play)
A player must leave the table between hands to purchase more chips or rebuy. Chips are the only valid currency at the table, cash presented at the table may not be placed into a pot.
Etiquette/Miscellaneous
Act in turn, and in appropriate time
Do not bet or fold until it is your turn. Tempting though it may be to throw away that garbage hand as soon as possible, wait for your turn to act. When it is your turn to act, act in a reasonable amount of time. In a friendly home game, no one wants to start the clock on another player.
Cards and Chips on the table
Hole cards and chips should remain on the table, visible at all times. Hole cards removed from the table during play will be considered “dead” and the hand will be folded. Players are entitled to know the amounts of the chip stacks of all players at all times, so keep all chips on the table, neatly stacked with large denominations in front. Any attempt to hide or otherwise disguise the size of your stack is unethical and will not be allowed.
Retrieval of Mucked Cards
Mucked cards may never be retrieved from the muck pile, neither by the player that mucked them, nor by any other player, dealer, or spectator.
Show One Show All
If a players shows his folded hand to one other player, the rest of the table is entitled to see that hand as well.
Slow rolling
While not against the rules, slow rolling (showing your hand slowly, allowing another play to believe they have won when you know you have the superior hand) is considered poor poker etiquette.
Use of card protectors
Use of a card protector to signify you are still in the hand is encouraged. This prevents hands from being prematurely mucked. One of your chips will suffice.
Deals allowed
Deals to split the pot amongst remaining players are allowed at any time, but are to be dealt with among the involved players, the house does not get involved.
Table talk
Part of the fun of the game is chatting it up with the other players, but stay mindful of the game. Respect another player’s thinking time, and try not to be distracting. At no time should a player discuss a hand he is no longer involved in, or give away any information that affects the current hand. (ie, “I folded a 9, I would have had a full house!”)
Late Players
Players who arrive late will have seats drawn for them, and their blinds will be posted and cards folded until they arrive. If they have not notified the house and they are still not present after the completion of the first level, their seat will be forfeited and their chips split up evenly amongst all remaining players.
Blinds Timer/Level Breaks
The on-screen timer provides information regarding the average chip stack, current blind levels, and time until the next level. There is a 2 minute break between each level to allow for a completed hand. Once the timer has sounded at the end of a level, the in-progress hand is the last hand at that blind level. The next hand MUST be at the new level, even if it deals before the break is completed. There is also a 20 minute break after the first hour to color up, and complete the rebuy period (if applicable).
Moving Players (Multi-table tournament structures)
With more than one running table, an effort will be made to keep the tables as balanced as possible. When the tables become unbalanced, at the completion of a hand, the seat of the eliminated player will be replaced with a player from the other table, from the same position relative to the button. When down to 2 remaining tables, when the tables combine, all players will redraw for position at the final table.
Side Games
Eliminated players may start up a side game. The house does not administrate or otherwise manage this game, except that the house retains authority to close the game at any time.
Seating Players
Initial table seating is determined by random drawing.
General Playing Rules
Cards Speak
The cards speak for themselves. In other words, it doesn’t matter what a player thinks they have, or announces they have, what actually shows on the table is what matters. It is the responsibility of the entire table to ensure that play proceeds accurately. This includes any event where a player does not know they’ve won—all players are responsible to ensure fair and accurate play, even if the error is to their own benefit.
Dead Button
The dead button rule will be used when moving the button through empty seats.
• If the SB is knocked out, the button essentially goes into his empty
seat.
• If the BB is knocked out, then the BB moves on to the player who
would have had it next and there isn’t a SB on this hand (SB
moves into the empty seat). On the following hand, the button would
wind up in the empty seat. The player who just had the BB would have
SB, and the BB moves on normally to the next player.
• When play is down to two players, figure out who would get the BB
next if nothing had happened. He will be the BB on the next hand.
The SB is always on the button and the other player is the BB.
Rabbit Hunting
Rabbit-hunting (dealing the community cards after all players have folded to see ‘what would have happened’) is not allowed.
Coloring Up
At predetermined points in the tournament, lower denomination chips will be cashed in for higher denominations. At this time, the lower denominations will be completely removed from the game using one of two methods.
1) The rounding method: If a player has left over chips after cashing in, the remaining lower denominations will be rounded to the nearest amount. Example: Player A has 12 reds ($5 chips) and trades them in on 2 green chips ($25 chips), and has 2 left over ($10). Player B has 14 red chips and trades them in on 2 green chips. Player A rounds his $10 down and forfeits his remaining red chips, while Player B rounds his $20 up to $25 and trades his remaining red chips in on one $25 chip.
2) Race Off. When it is time to color-up chips, they will be raced off with a maximum of one chip going to any player. The chip race will always start in the No.1 seat. A player cannot be raced out of a tournament. In the event that a player has only one chip left, the regular race procedure will take place. If that player loses the race, he will be given one chip of the smallest denomination still in play.
Example: There are five players remaining. Each player exchanges (from the bank) all his existing Red (5) chips for as many Green (25) chips as possible. After doing so - Seat 1 (small blind) has 3 Red (5) chips that he could not exchange for a Green (25) chip, Seat 2 (big blind) has 2 Red chips, Seat 3 has 1 Red chip, Seat 4 has 4 Red chips, and Seat 5 has 3 Red chips.
The dealer (or Tournament Director) deals 3 cards face-up to Seat 1. The dealer then deals 2 cards to Seat 2, 1 card to Seat 3, 4 cards to Seat 4, and 3 cards to Seat 5. The dealer then collects all 13 Red (5) chips.
The dealer has collected 13 Red (5) chips and exchanges these (from the bank) for 2 Green (25) chips but still has 3 Red (5) chips remaining. Since 3 Red (5) chips is greater than half of a Green (25) chip - a third Green (25) will be given out. The dealer exchanges (from the bank) the 3 Red (5) chips for 1 Green (25) chip.
The dealer gives one Green (25) chip to the player with the highest card (ace of spades is highest). The dealer then gives the second Green (25) chip to a different player with the next highest card and then gives the third Green (25) chip to an entirely different player with the next highest card.
A player cannot be eliminated from the tourney by a color-up. Using the same example as above, assume that Seat 4 with 4 Red (5) chips had only 20 chips remaining in the tourney … those same four chips that just went into the color-up. Seat 4 now has zero chips remaining on the table. Let’s also assume that Seat 4 was dealt the following four cards for his chips - 2s,5h,4d,2c (this guy is a real loser!). He has the four lowest cards of any player at the table and he should be given zero chips from the color-up but … he cannot be eliminated from the tournament by a color-up so … he must be given one Green (25) chip from the bank. The three color-up chips are then awarded.
Dealing
Dealers
In most cases, there will not be a dedicated dealer. When available, an eliminated player may volunteer to deal for any portion of the remainder of the tournament. If playing dealers are used, it is not necessary to rotate the dealer with the button. It is often more efficient to have a table assigned dealer. No dealer should be required to deal for more than 2 levels. Regardless of whether the dealer is playing, it is the dealer’s responsibility to move the game along efficiently and accurately, to manage the pots and the flow of play. If you don’t know how to deal, learn! You may be called upon to deal. Dealers will use cut cards when available.
The Deal
• The player to the right of the dealer must cut the deck before the
cards are dealt.
• The dealer is responsible for making sure that all bets have been
called before dealing each round of card(s).
• Order of the deal:
1. Dealer deals two cards (one at a time) face down
to each player.
2. Betting round 1 occurs.
3. Dealer burns one card and
deals 3 cards (flop) in the middle of the table face up.
4. Betting round 2 occurs.
5. Dealer burns one card and deals one card (turn/4th street) in the middle.
6. Betting round 3 occurs.
7. Dealer burns one card and deals the final card (river/5th street).
8. Betting round 4 occurs.
Dealer Error
• If a card is exposed during the deal, the deal is declared a misdeal
and the hand is re-dealt. The button does not move.
• If a burn card or a mucked card is exposed, the card is made available
to the table. The hand is not re-dealt.
• If a community card is exposed prior to the action being completed,
the card remains as is. It will not be burned.
• If there was a bet or raise on the end, the person who made that last
bet or raise shows his/her cards first. If it’s checked around, the first
person to act (left of dealer) shows first.
• If a player is shown a better hand, he is not required to reveal
his cards.
Betting
Straddle Bets
In tournament play, straddle bets are not allowed. Live straddles may be allowed during cash game play.
String Bets
String bets are not allowed. Chips must be put into the pot with one forward motion. Unless a bet is announced, the amount of chips first committed into the pot comprises the entire bet.
Verbal bets are binding
Any play made verbally is binding. For example, if a player announces “I raise to 100” and actually puts 200 into the pot, the verbal announcement is considered the binding bet, and the bet must be modified to match the verbal.
Splashing the Pot
Do not splash the pot. It is not expected that all chips be perfectly placed into the pot, but throwing chips around and making it difficult on the dealer and other players to see what bets have been made is not allowed.
Bets in front of you
Don’t place bets into the pot, keep them in front of you. The dealer will pull all bets into the pot once the betting round is complete. This makes counting and managing the pot easier.
No side bets
Side bets are not allowed.
Bet Sizes
In No-Limit games, the minimum bet in each round is the size of the big blind. Any raise must be equal to the amount of the previous raise, or greater.
