TOURNAMENTS
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. Players, whether in the
hand or not, may not discuss the hands until the action is complete.
Players are obligated to protect the other players in the tournament
at all times. Discussing cards discarded or hand possibilities
is not allowed. A penalty may be given for discussion of hands
during the 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.
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. A no-show or absent player is always dealt a hand. That player's
stack will post chips for blinds and antes, and have the forced
lowcard bet put into the pot at stud.
7. In all tournament games using a dealer button, the starting
position of the button is determined by the players drawing
for the high card.
8. Limits and blinds are raised at regularly scheduled intervals.
9. 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.)
10. 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.
11. A player must be present at the table to stop the action
by calling “time.”
12. 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.)
13. 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.
14. A change of seat is not allowed after play starts, except
as assigned by the director.
15. 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.
16. New players are dealt in immediately and take over the
obligations of that position, including the small blind or
button position.
17. 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.
18. 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.)
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. All players must leave their seat immediately after being
eliminated from an event.
22. 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.
23. 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).
24. 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.
25. Non-tournament chips are not allowed on the table.
26. Higher-denomination chips must be placed where they are
easily visible to all other players at the table.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. The deck is not changed on request. Decks change when
the dealers change, unless there is a damaged 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.
33. 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 multiple players go broke on the same hand, the player
starting the hand with the larger amount of chips finishes
in the higher place for prize money and any other award. Players
eliminated on the same deal who start their final hand with
an equal amount of chips receive equal prize money, with the
best hand on that deal receiving any non-divisible award.
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
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