| One Player per hand | The one-player-to-a-hand rule will be enforced. This means a player shall not show his cards, or state what his cards are, to any other person, whether they're in the game or not. |
| No Discussion | 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. Verbally disclosing the contents of your hand or advising a player how to play a hand may result in a penalty. Players may not make deals concerning how they will play a hand. Ex. "I'll check it down with you." Out of courtesy, once a player is All-In, players not in the hand will not discuss the hand in progress at all, nor will they encourage or discourage the action of players still in the hand. |
| Expose | A player who exposes his cards during the play may incur a penalty, but will not have his hand killed. |
| Verbal abuse & 'F' bomb | There will be no verbal abuse directed at other players or at the dealer. It is also preferred that players do not use profanity at the table. If a player uses the "f" word, they will be giving a verbal warning not to use that word at the table. If they continue using it, a penalty will be assessed. If a player directs abusive comments towards another player "F $#* you", "You're an asshole for calling with that", etc. they WILL be given a penalty, no warning. |
| English only | The English-only rule will be enforced during the play of hands. Its is preferred that only English be spoken by anyone while they are seated at a table, even if a hand is not in progress. |
| Cell Phone | Players may not use a cellular phone while they are in a hand. |
| Verbal declaration | Verbal declarations in turn are binding. Action out of turn may be binding. Verbal declarations as to the content of a player's hand are not binding; however at the dealer's discretion, any player deliberately miscalling his hand may be penalized. |
| Penalties | A penalty MAY be invoked if a player exposes any card with action pending, if a card(s) goes off the table, if soft-play occurs, or similar incidents take place. Penalties WILL be invoked in cases of abuse, disruptive behavior, or similar incidents. Penalties available for use by the Dealer are verbal warnings, 5 or 10 minutes away from the table and may be used with discretion. These may be utilized up to and including disqualification. A player who is disqualified shall have his chips removed from play. |
| Table seating | Players may seat at any available seat. It is preferred that friends and family members sit at different tables where possible or at seats not right next to each other. Once play starts there will be no 'seat changes' Seats at the final table will be randomly drawn to prevent conflict. |
| Moving Players | Moving players: In flop games, players will be moved from the big blind to the worst position. |
| Dead Button | Tournament play will use a dead button. |
| Broken Tables | Players going from a broken table to fill in seats assume the rights and responsibilities of the position. They can get the big blind, the small blind, or the button. The only place they cannot get a hand is between the small blind and the button. A player moved to balance tables will take the worst position. A dead button situation may occur. |
| Dodging Blinds | A player who intentionally dodges his blind(s) when moving from a broken table will forfeit the blind(s) and/or incur a penalty. The money will be put into the next pot and will be considered dead money. |
| At Table | A player must be at the table by the time the action reaches him. If he is not seated by that time, the hand is considered dead. If the big blind is not in his seat when its his turn to act, the hand is dead, even if no one raised. |
| Calling for the clock | Once a reasonable amount of time has passed any player at the table or the dealer may call clock and once a clock is called for, a player will be given one minute to make a decision. If action has not been taken by the time the minute is over, there will be a 10-second countdown. If a player has not acted on his hand by the time the countdown is over, the hand will be dead. |
| New limits | When time has elapsed in a round and a new round is announced, the new limits apply to the next hand. A hand has begun with the first riffle. |
| Misdeal | In Hold-em if either of the 'buttons' hole cards are exposed it is a misdeal. This is because a player cannot receive two consecutive cards. In Omaha it is a misdeal if the buttons 3rd or 4th card is exposed. If any card leaves the table it is a misdeal. |
| Unprotected hand | If a dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to his money back. An exception would be if a player raised and his raise had not yet been called, he would be entitled to receive his raise back. |
| Call | In no-limit, an oversized chip before the flop is a call; after the flop, an oversized chip by the initial bettor put in the pot will constitute the size of the bet. In pot-limit and no-limit, if a player states raise and does not state an amount when they throw in an oversized chip, the raise will be the maximum amount allowable up to the size of that chip. |
| Raise | The minimum a player may raise is double the previous bet, (a raise is considered a bet by itself. In other words it is double the raise, NOT double the total of the call & the raise). Ex. Bet is 200, next player raises 500 (total of 700), the minimum raise allowed to the next player is a total of 1200 (not 1400). If a player puts in a raise of 50 percent or more of the previous bet, he will be required to make a full raise. The raise will be exactly the minimum raise allowed. |
| One Motion | In NL or PL, when raising, a player must either put the amount of the raise out in one motion or state the raise amount. By stating the word raise, a player protects his right to raise, but the raise must be made in one additional motion unless he states the amount. |
| Re-raising an All In | In order to reopen the betting to a player who already has acted, the all-in bet must have been 50% or more than the previous bet. Ex. Player 1 bets 800, player 2 goes all-in for 1100, player 3 calls 1100. Player 1 may call the 300 raise or fold, they may not raise since the all-in bet was less than 50% of the bet. Had the all-in been 1200 or more, then they would have the option of re-raising. |
| Side Pots | Each side pot will be split as a separate pot. They will not be mixed together before they are split. |
| Face up | All cards will be turned face up once a player is all in and all action is complete. |
| Odd chips | In flop games, when there are two or more high hands, the odd chip(s) will go to the left of the button. |
| Killing a hand | Dealers cannot kill a winning hand that was turned face up and was obviously the winning hand. |
| Rabbit Hunting | Rabbit hunting is discouraged and will be at the dealer's discretion, and even then will only be done very rarely. |
| Chip Visibility | All chips must be visibly displayed at all times with the highest denomination chips on top or stacked in front. Players may not remove chips from the table at any time. When players move tables, the dealer will give them a voucher with the amount of their chips written on it. They will give that voucher to the dealer at their new table, who will give them chips based on the amount on the voucher. |
Rules of the Game