POKER RULES

The Game:

Texas Hold’em Poker

General House Rules:

Show up to play a strong, fun and enjoyable game
Please.... Remember poker etiquette
The deal will be passed, and no one is a professional dealer so mistakes might happen.
I will make the final decisions on any rule interpretation
Cards Speak
Chips round up when buying up
Table consolidation procedure will be in the sole discretion of the Tournament Director, moves will be to replace the spot busted out.
“One player to a hand” Nobody shall contribute advice to a player active in a hand. However, advice and heckling is allowed in between hands.
Heads up Button is SB

Dealing for the Button

The person who picks the Ace seat will deal 1 card to every seat. High card is the deal or the suit of.

Spades
Diamonds
Hearts
Clubs

Misdeals and Dealer Errors

1. The following circumstances can cause a misdeal, provided attention is called to the error before two players have acted on their hands. (If two players have acted in turn, the deal must be played to conclusion, as explained in rule #3). If the cards can be moved back to the proper player with no seen cards then play can continue.

Two or more cards have been exposed by the dealer.
Two or more cards improperly faced in the deck are found.
Cards dealt to an empty seat or player not entitled to a hand

2. If a card is dealt face up it will be used as the burn card and the deal will continue with the player having one card short. The top card on the deck will replace the exposed card.

3. Action is considered to occur when two players after the blinds have acted on their hands. Action being a call or raise. 3 actions including folds. Once action occurs, a misdeal can no longer be declared. The hand will be played to conclusion and no money will be returned to any player whose hand is fouled.

4. If there was no burn on a 3 card flop, if no action has occurred, the 3 cards are placed face down, mixed and one is selected as the burn card. The next card from the deck will be delt to make a 3 card flop. If any action has occurred action will proceed.

5. If the flop contains 4 cards. If Flop has 4 cards TD will be called. 4 Cards will be mixed and TD will randomly pick one and that will be the burn for the turn.

6. If the dealer turns the fourth card on the board before the betting round is complete, the card is taken out of play for that round, even if subsequent players elect to fold. The betting is then completed. The dealer burns and turns what would’ve been the 5th card in the 4th card’s place. After this round of betting, the dealer reshuffles the deck, including the card that was taken out of play, but not including the burn cards or discards. The dealer then cuts the deck and turns the final card without burning a card.

7. If the fifth card is turned up prematurely, the deck is reshuffled and dealt in the same manner.

8. You must protect your own hand at all times. Your cards may be protected with your hands, a chip, or other object placed on top of them. If you fail to protect your hand, you will have no redress if it becomes fouled or the dealer accidentally kills it.

If the dealer rakes the cards and there is still action, play will continue unless the community cards cannot be retrieved by the dealer. The remaining cards that have not been seen will be reshuffled and play will continue. If the cards cannot be retrieved then the pot will be split between the remaining players.

Dead Hands

(a) You fold or announce that you are folding when facing a bet or a raise.

(b) You throw your hand away in a forward motion.

(d) You act on a hand with a joker as a hole card in a game not using a joker. (A player who acts on a hand without looking at a card assumes the liability of finding an improper card)

(e) You have the clock on you when facing a bet or raise and exceed the specified time limit.

Irregularities

1. A card discovered face up in the deck (boxed card) will be treated as a meaningless scrap of paper.

2. If you play a hand without looking at all of your cards, you assume the liability of having an irregular card or an improper number of cards.

3. One or more cards missing from the deck does not invalidate the results of a hand.

4. Before the first round of betting, if a dealer deals one additional card, it is returned to the deck and used as the burn card.

5. A card that is flashed by a dealer is treated as an exposed card. A card that is flashed by a player will play.

6. If a card is exposed due to dealer error, a player does not have an option to take or reject the card.

7. If you drop any cards out of your hand onto the floor, you must still play them.

Dead Button

There can be a dead button. The big blind is posted by the player due for it, and the small blind and button are positioned accordingly. If SB busts out, button doesn’t move blinds posted as normal. BB busts out, button moves and there is no SB posted.

Betting

1. A verbal statement denotes your action and is binding on your turn. If in turn you verbally declare a fold, check, bet, call, or raise, you are forced to take that action. (Can change based on rule 6)

2. Minimum bet is the Big Blind.

3. All raises must be equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise on that betting round, except for an all-in wager.

4. If a player Underraises, it will be a minraise if 50% or more of the previous bet. If less than 50% it will be a call.

5. A player who has already acted and is not facing a full size wager may not subsequently raise an all-in bet that is less than the minimum bet.

6. A player who has taken action based on a gross misunderstanding of the amount wagered may receive some protection by the TD

Exposed cards

Do not expose your cards!

If a player intentionally exposes cards, cards can be ruled dead by TD.

An exposed hand with multiple players will result in a penalty. The hand is NOT dead.

Action out of turn

Verbal or physical Action out of turn is not allowed. If done repetitively the player will get a penalty.

A player who checks out of turn may not bet on their turn to act but can reraise a raise.

If player says “call” or makes a physical call, player will be forced to place 1 BB in the Pot. Action will continue in proper sequence. When action gets back to Out Of Turn (OOT) player, that player’s only actions will be to “call”. If there is a raise the OOT player can either call the raise, or fold pulling back the 1 BB.

If player says “raise” or makes a physical raise, the player’s chips stay in front of the player. Action will continue in proper sequence. When actions gets back to (OOT) player, that player’s actions will be to; count that bet as the current bet and action continues if no action, call, fold to a raise pulling chips back, or reraise a raise.

If player says “All IN” or makes a physical “All IN”, player will be forced to put all their chips as their bet. Action will continue in proper sequence with the ALL IN bet standing for all players to act on. If an OOT “ALL IN” bet is abused player may have hand called dead forfeiting all chips to the pot. If player who is ALL IN is covered he will be eliminated. If he has other people covered he will only lose as much as the other player has.