Wednesday, May 31, 2006

New Procedure in Registering for the PBT@ACF Saturday

When you register this Saturday, you will find that the sign-up sheet will have a signature field that all players will be required to sign and a declaration that reads:

"By participating in a tournament, I agree to abide by the rules and behave in a courteous manner. If I violate any rules I may be verbally warned, suspended from play or disqualified from the tournament."

Here are the rules that we are going to be using. Its a amalgam of rules available to the poker community (Robert's Rules of Poker, WSOP Rules, Ferry's Complete Poker Room) Kinda on the strict side, but in light of what has happened, we just felt we needed to step up and protect our poker players in the community.

Rule #1
All decisions regarding the interpretation of Poker rules, player eligibility, scheduling, staging of the tournament and penalties for misconduct lie solely with the Tournament Director whose decision is final.
Rule #2
The Tournament Director will consider the best interests of the game and fairness as the top priority in the decision-making process, with the understanding that “best interest of the game and fairness” shall be determined by the Tournament Director, acting in his sole and absolute discretion. Unusual circumstances can, on occasion dictate that the technical interpretation of the rules be balances against the interest of fairness. The Tournament Director’s decision is final and non-appealable and shall not give rise to any claim for monetary damages, as each participant understands the very nature of poker is speculative and dependent on many factors, including but not limited to the cards dealt, the cards retained and the actions of other participants

Before the Tournament
Buy-in and Re-buys
The buy-in amount and corresponding starting stack shall be the same for every player. Non-value chips are used for tournament play. They are exclusive property of the Tournament Organizer and may not be removed from the tournament area.

If re-buys are allowed, a player can avail of the rebuy after he busts out and before the deal of the next hand. If the player declines his option to re-buy at that time he can not re-buy anymore for that tournament. A player is “playing behind” the amount of the re-buy while his chips are being delivered and is obligated to re-buy at that point.

Payouts
The approximate payout structure shall be clearly indicated before the beginning of the tournament. The final payout structure may be modified due to re-buys or late players increasing the pot and will be announce as the tournament is on-going.

The TD may disqualify any person for any prize based upon fraud, dishonesty, violation of promotional rules or other misconduct during the tournament, it its sole and absolute discretion.
Table and Seat Assignment and Dealer Button Placement
Table and seat assignments will be done through random computer selection.

The button shall be placed on the seat to the right of the dealer at the beginning of the tournament.

During the Tournament
Card Protection
It is the player’s sole responsibility to protect his cards. If a dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to his money back with the exception of a player raising a bet and no players have called it yet, he would be entitled to receive his raise back.

Language
Filipino and English will be the only languages spoken during the play of hands. Players that curse during play will be given a penalty by the Tournament Director. If there are foreign players at the table, only English will be spoken.

Blinds
Small and Big blinds will be used in tournaments. The player to the left of the button will post the small blind. The player to the left of the small blind will post the big blind. The small blind will constitute one-half of the big blind.

The schedule for the increase of these blinds will be decided upon before the tournament. When time has elapsed and a new level is announced, the new limits will apply to the next hand. A hand has begun with the first riffle shuffle.

Dead Button
Dead button will be in play for tournaments with no player missing his Big Blind.

Chips at the Table
Players must keep their highest denomination chips visible at all times. No foreign chips at the table except for a maximum ONE card cap.

Late Players
If a participant is not at his seat at the start of the tournament, all blinds and antes will be taken from his stack. If the player shows up and still has chips remaining, he can play his chips.

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. Dealers will be instructed to kill the hands of all absent players immediately after dealing each player a starting hand.

Switching 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 dealer button. The only place they cannot get a hand is between the small blind and dealer button. A player moved to balance tables will take the worst position. A dead button situation may occur

Changing Seats at the Same Table
Players may not change seats at the same table.

Final Table
There will be a redrawing of seats for the final table and the dealer button will begin at the dealer’s right.

Chips Race
When it’s time to color-up the chips, they will be raced off with a maximum of one chip going to a player. The chip race will always start with seat one. A player cannot be raced out of the tournament. In the event that a player is left with one chip left, the regular chip race procedure will take place and if he loses the race, he will be given one chip of the smallest denomination still in play.

Heads-Up Play
In head's-up play, the small blind shall be posted by the player with the dealer button and the big blind by the other player. The player with the dealer button will receive his cards last and will act first pre-flop. After the flop, the other player will act first.

Betting
There is no limit on the amount a player met bet up to everything he has in front of him and there is no limit on the number of raises in any betting round.

Except for a player going all-in, all bets must be for no less than the minimum bring-in designated for the structure. Further, all raises must be equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise on that round, except when making an all-in wager.

A player who bets or calls by releasing chips into the pot is bound by that action and must make the amount of the wager correct. (This also applies right before the showdown when putting chips into the pot causes the opponent to show that winning hand before the full amount needed to call has been put into the pot.) However, if you are unaware that the pot has been raised, you may withdraw that money and reconsider your action, provided that no one else has acted after you.

Oversized Chip
An oversized chip will be constituted to be a call if the player does not announce a raise before the flop. After the flop, an oversized chip by the initial bettor put in the pot will constitue the size of the bet. If a player states raise and throws in an oversized chip, the raise will be the maximum amount allowable up to the size of that chip.

Verbal Declarations
Players’ verbal declarations in turn are binding. Verbal declarations out of turn will be binding if that action is still legal when it comes time for that player to act.

Splashing the Pot
Players that excessively splash the pot can be given a penalty by the Tournament Director

String Bets
String bets are not allowed and players that excessively string bets can be given a penalty by the Tournament Director.

Motions Constituting a Check or Raise
The dealer and other players shall have the right to rely on a player's hand motions. Any tapping of the table or other hand signal that the dealer might reasonably construe to be a check shall be deemed a check. A player who makes an upward motion with his hand, a thumbs up signal or other signal that might be reasonably construed by the dealer to indicate a raise shall be deemed a raise.

All-in
All hands will be turned face up whenever a player is all-in and betting action is complete.

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.

Player Conduct
Penalties
The Tournament Director, at his discretion, can give penalties, 10, 20, 30 minutes away from the table. These may be utilized by the Tournament Director up to and including disqualification. A player that is disqualified shall have his chips removed from play.
Penalties MAY be invoked if a player exposes any card with action pending, if a card 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. All penalties will be issued in the Tournament Director’s sole discretion.

Commentary during the game
Players are obligated to protect the other players in the tournament at all times. Discussing cards discarded or hand possibilities are not allowed. Advising a player how to play a hand is also not allowed.

Players excessively participating in these types of discussions can be penalized by the Tournament Director

Exposing Cards
There will be a “One hand, one player,” rule in effect during tournaments. Players exposing cards to a player or a spectator must show their cards to all the players (Show one, show all) but will not have his hand killed.

Calling the Clock on a Player
Once a reasonable amount of time has passed and a clock is called for, a player will be given one (1) minute to make a decision. If action has not been taken by the time the minute is over, there will be a ten (10) second countdown. If a player has not acted on his hand by the time the countdown is over, the hand will be dead.

Winning the Pot
A player wins the pot either through an unmatched raise or a showdown. Dealers cannot kill a winning hand that was turned up and was obviously the winning hand.

Cards Speak
A hand that is turned over at the showdown is ranked according to the cards that are in it. If the hand is turned over then an incorrect assessment of a hand's rank or a verbal concession is not binding at showdown.

Showdown with Side Pots
If one or more players are all-In in a multi-way contested pot, then the side Pots shall be awarded first. If there is one all-In player eligible for the main pot only then he shall show his hand last. If there are multiple side pots then those participating for the last side pot shall show their hands down first, followed by those involved in the next-to-last side pot, etc., until the main pot is awarded.

Order of Showdown
Upon completion of action on the final betting round, the dealer shall ask the players to show their hands. If more than one player contests a pot through the final betting round, the player whose bet was last called must show his hand first. If there is no betting in the final round, the player to the right of the dealer button will show his hand first.

Tied Hands
In the case of one or more tied hands at the showdown, the pot shall be divided accordingly proportionately, with odd chips allocated as set forth in the next section. Suits shall in no way influence awarding any part of a pot.

Odd Chip
In all games where dividing the pot results in an odd-chip when the pot is split the odd chip--In increments of the minimum betting unit-will go to the player left of the dealer button.

Tournament Anomalies
Two or More Players Eliminated on the Same Hand
The player who had the higher chip stack before the hand finishes higher than the player who had the lower chip stack.

Called Hands
Any player who has been dealt in may request to see any hand that has been called, even if the opponent’s hand or the winning hand has been mucked. However, this is a privilege that may be revoked if abused. If a player other than the pot winner asks to see the hand that has been folded, that hand is dead. If the winning player asks to see a losing player’s hand, both hands are live, and the best hand wins.

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