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, until the hand is over.

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. Discussion of cards discarded or hand possibilities are 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. Basically, Do NOT discuss anything about a hand while it is in progress.

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.

Expose

A player who exposes his cards during the play may incur a penalty, but will not have his hand killed. The exposed player may not initiate any action, but he may call.

Verbal abuse & the ‘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 given 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.

Ethical Play

Poker is an individual game.  Soft play will result in penalties, which may include forfeiture of chips and/or disqualification.  Chip dumping will result in disqualification.

Etiquette Violations

Repeated etiquette violations will result in penalties.  Examples include unnecessarily touching other players cards or chips, delay of the game, and excessive chatter.  Players are required to act in turn. 

Table seating

Players may sit 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.

Drawing the button

When the game first starts, each player will be dealt one card. High card by suite (spade, heart, diamond, club) starts with the button. Any time 3 or more players join a table, the button will be re-drawn for using the same method.

Moving Players

If it is necessary to move a player, the dealer may ask the table for a volunteer. If there is no volunter, the player will be randomly determined by ‘high card’. Tables will be balanced so that no table has fewer than 2 players compared to any other table. Play will halt on any table at least 3 players short until it is balanced.

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 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.

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

It is a misdeal if either of 1 of the first 2 cards dealt are exposed, if any card leaves the table or if 2 or more cards are exposed during the deal. Players may be dealt 2 consecutive cards on the button.

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.

At Table

A player must be at the table by the time the action reaches him. If he, the hand is considered dead. If the big blind is not in his seat when it’s his turn to act, the hand is dead, even if no one raised because he is not there to exercise his option.

Oversized chips

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

In NL or PL there is no cap on the number of raises allowed. 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.

Mis-calling a bet after action has been made

Sometimes a player will “call’ a bet, not realizing that someone else has raised. If they put chips out, those chips must stay in the pot. The player is not forced to call the raise and can choose to forfeit those chips. At the dealer’s discretion (say it’s a new player) they may warn the player and allow them to take their chips back once. If it happens again then the chips stay in the pot.

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.

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.

Showdown

At the end of last round of betting, the player who made the last aggressive action in that betting round must show first.  If there was no bet the player to the left of the button shows first and so on clockwise. A player must show both cards in order to get all or part of the pot even if playing the board.

Show 1, Show all

If a player show 1 other person his cards, he must show all players his cards. If any player only shows one of his cards, they will be required to show both cards.

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.

Button in Heads-up

When heads-up the small blind is on the button and acts first.  When beginning heads-up play the button may need to be adjusted to ensure that, no player takes the big blind twice in a row.

Pot Size

Players are entitled to be informed of the pot size in pot-limit games only.  Dealers will not count the pot in limit and no-limit games.

Chipping Up

When it is time to color-up chips, we will simply round up the players chip count to the new denomination. We do this instead of the official chip race due to speed and ease.

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.