General Poker Rules
THE BUY-IN
1. When
you enter a game, you must make a full
buy-in for that particular game. A full buy-in at limit poker is at least ten times the maximum bet for
the game being played, unless designated otherwise.
2. You are allowed to
make only one short buy-in for a game. Adding to your stack is not considered a
buy-in, and may be done in any quantity between hands.
3. A player who is
forced to transfer from a broken game or must-move game to a game of the same
limit may continue to play the same amount of money, even if it is less than the
minimum buy-in. A player switching games voluntarily must have the proper buy-in
size for the new game.
MISDEALS
1. The following
circumstances 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 #2)
(a) The first
or second card of the hand has been dealt faceup or exposed through dealer
error.
(b) Two or more cards have been exposed by the dealer.
(c)
Two or more boxed cards (improperly faced cards) are found.
(d) Two or
more extra cards have been dealt in the starting hands of a game.
(e) An
incorrect number of cards has been dealt to a player, except the top card may be
dealt if it goes to the player in proper sequence.
(f) Any card has been
dealt out of the proper sequence (except an exposed card may be replaced by the
burncard).
(g) The button was out of position.
(h) The first card
was dealt to the wrong position.
(i) Cards have been dealt to an empty
seat or a player not entitled to a hand.
(j) A player has been dealt out
who is entitled to a hand. This player must be present at the table or have
posted a blind or ante.
2. Action is considered to occur in stud games
when two players after the forced bet have acted on their hands. In button
games, action is considered to occur when two players after the blinds have
acted on their hands. 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.
DEAD HANDS
1. Your hand is
declared dead if:
(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
causing another player to act behind you (even if not facing a bet).
(c)
In stud, when facing a bet, you pick your upcards off the table, turn your
upcards facedown, or mix your upcards and downcards together.
(d) The
hand does not contain the proper number of cards for that particular game
(except at stud a hand missing the final card may be ruled live, and at lowball
and draw high a hand with too few cards before the draw is live). [See Section
16 - 'Explanations,' discussion #4, for more information on the stud portion of
this rule.]
(e) You act on a hand with a joker as a holecard 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, as given in Irregularities,
rule #8.)
(f) You have the clock on you when facing a bet or raise and
exceed the specified time limit.
2. Cards thrown into the muck may be
ruled dead. However, a hand that is clearly identifiable may be retrieved at
management's discretion if doing so is in the best interest of the game. We will
make an extra effort to rule a hand retrievable if it was folded as a result of
false information given to the player.
3. Cards thrown into another
player's hand are dead, whether they are faceup or facedown.
IRREGULARITIES
1. In button
games, if it is discovered that the button was placed incorrectly on the
previous hand, the button and blinds will be corrected for the new hand in a
manner that gives every player one chance for each position on the round (if
possible).
2. 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.
3. If a card with a different color
back appears during a hand, all action is void and all chips in the pot are
returned to the respective bettors. If a card with a different color back is
discovered in the stub, all action stands.
4. If two cards of the same
rank and suit are found, all action is void, and all chips in the pot are
returned to the players who wagered them (subject to next rule).
5. A
player who knows the deck is defective has an obligation to point this out. If
such a player instead tries to win a pot by taking aggressive action (trying for
a freeroll), the player may lose the right to a refund, and the chips may be
required to stay in the pot for the next deal.
6. If there is extra money
in the pot on a deal as a result of forfeited money from the previous deal (as
per rule #5), or some similar reason, only a player dealt in on the previous
deal is entitled to a hand.
7. A card discovered faceup in the deck
(boxed card) will be treated as a meaningless scrap of paper. A card being
treated as a scrap of paper will be replaced by the next card below it in the
deck, except when the next card has already been dealt facedown to another
player and mixed in with other downcards. In that case, the card that was faceup
in the deck will be replaced after all other cards are dealt for that
round.
8. A joker that appears in a game where it is not used is treated
as a scrap of paper. Discovery of a joker does not cause a misdeal. If the joker
is discovered before a player acts on his or her hand, it is replaced as in the
previous rule. If the player does not call attention to the joker before acting,
then the player has a dead hand.
9. If you play a hand without looking at
all of your cards, you assume the liability of having an irregular card or an
improper joker.
10. One or more cards missing from the deck does not
invalidate the results of a hand.
11. Before the first round of betting,
if a dealer deals one additional card, it is returned to the deck and used as
the burncard.
12. Procedure for an exposed card varies with the poker
form, and is given in the section for each game. A card that is flashed by a
dealer is treated as an exposed card. A card that is flashed by a player will
play. To obtain a ruling on whether a card was exposed and should be replaced, a
player should announce that the card was flashed or exposed before looking at
it. A downcard dealt off the table is an exposed card.
13. If a card is
exposed due to dealer error, a player does not have an option to take or reject
the card. The situation will be governed by the rules for the particular game
being played.
14. If you drop a card on the floor out of your hand, you
must still play that card.
15. If the dealer prematurely deals any cards
before the betting is complete, those cards will not play, even if a player who
has not acted decides to fold.
BETTING AND RAISING
1.
Check-raise is permitted in all games, except in certain forms of
lowball.
2. In no-limit and pot-limit games, unlimited raising is
allowed.
3. In limit poker, for a pot involving three or more players who
are not all-in, these limits on raises apply:
(a) A game with three or
more betting rounds allows a maximum of a bet and three raises.
(b) A
game with two betting rounds (such as lowball or draw) allows a maximum of a bet
and four raises. [See 'Section 16 - Explanations,' discussion #6, for more
information on this rule.]
4. Unlimited raising is allowed in heads-up
play. This applies any time the action becomes heads-up before the raising has
been capped. Once the raising is capped on a betting round, it cannot be
uncapped by a subsequent fold that leaves two players heads-up.
5. In
limit play, an all-in wager of less than half a bet does not reopen the betting
for any player who has already acted and is in the pot for all previous bets. A
player facing less than half a bet may fold, call, or complete the wager. An
all-in wager of a half a bet or more is treated as a full bet, and a player may
fold, call, or make a full raise. (An example of a full raise is on a $20
betting round, raising a $15 all-in bet to $35).
6. Any wager must be at
least the size of the previous bet or raise in that round, unless a player is
going all-in.
7. The smallest chip that may be wagered in a game is the
smallest chip used in the antes, blinds, rake, or collection. (Certain games may
use a special rule that does not allow chips used only in house revenue to
play.) Smaller chips than this do not play even in quantity, so a player wanting
action on such chips must change them up between deals. If betting is in dollar
units or greater, a fraction of a dollar does not play. A player going all-in
must put all chips that play into the pot.
8. A verbal statement denotes
your action and is binding. If in turn you verbally declare a fold, check, bet,
call, or raise, you are forced to take that action.
9. Rapping the table
with your hand is a pass.
10. Deliberately acting out of turn will not be
tolerated. A player who checks out of turn may not bet or raise on the next turn
to act. An action or verbal declaration out of turn may be ruled binding if
there is no bet, call, or raise by an intervening player acting after the
infraction has been committed.
11. To retain the right to act, a player
must stop the action by calling 'time' (or an equivalent word). Failure to stop
the action before three or more players have acted behind you may cause you to
lose the right to act. You cannot forfeit your right to act if any player in
front of you has not acted, only if you fail to act when it legally becomes your
turn. Therefore, if you wait for someone whose turn comes before you, and three
or more players act behind you, this still does not hinder your right to
act.
12. A player who bets or calls by releasing chips into the pot is
bound by that action. 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.
13. In limit poker, if you make a forward
motion with chips and thus cause another player to act, you may be forced to
complete your action.
14. String raises are not allowed. To protect your
right to raise, you should either declare your intention verbally or place the
proper amount of chips into the pot. Putting a full bet plus a half-bet or more
into the pot is considered to be the same as announcing a raise, and the raise
must be completed. (This does not apply in the use of a single chip of greater
value.)
15. If you put a single chip in the pot that is larger than the
bet, but do not announce a raise, you are assumed to have only called. Example:
In a $3-$6 game, when a player bets $6 and the next player puts a $25 chip in
the pot without saying anything, that player has merely called the $6
bet.
16. All wagers and calls of an improperly low amount must be brought
up to proper size if the error is discovered before the betting round has been
completed. This includes actions such as betting a lower amount than the minimum
bring-in (other than going all-in) and betting the lower limit on an upper limit
betting round. If a wager is supposed to be made in a rounded off amount, is
not, and must be corrected, it shall be changed to the proper amount nearest in
size. No one who has acted may change a call to a raise because the wager size
has been changed.
THE
SHOWDOWN
1. A player must show all cards in the hand face-up on
the table to win any part of the pot.
2. Cards speak (cards read for
themselves). The dealer assists in reading hands, but players are responsible
for holding onto their cards until the winner is declared. Although verbal
declarations as to the contents of a hand are not binding, deliberately
miscalling a hand with the intent of causing another player to discard a winning
hand is unethical and may result in forfeiture of the pot. (For more information
on miscalling a hand see 'Section 11 - Lowball,' Rule 15 and Rule 16.)
3.
Any player, dealer, or floorperson who sees an incorrect amount of chips put
into the pot, or an error about to be made in awarding a pot, has an ethical
obligation to point out the error. Please help us keep mistakes of this nature
to a minimum.
4. All losing hands will be killed by the dealer before a
pot is awarded.
5. 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 a 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.
6. If you show cards to another
player during or after a deal, any player at the table has the right to see
those exposed cards. Cards shown during a deal to a player not in the pot should
only be shown to all players when the deal is finished.
7. If everyone
checks (or is all-in) on the final betting round, the player who acted first is
the first to show the hand. If there is wagering on the final betting round, the
last player to take aggressive action by a bet or raise is the first to show the
hand. In order to speed up the game, a player holding a probable winner is
encouraged to show the hand without delay. If there is a side pot, players
involved in the side pot should show their hands before anyone who is all-in for
only the main pot.
TIES
1. The ranking of suits
from highest to lowest is spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. Suits never break a
tie for winning a pot. Suits are used to break a tie between cards of the same
rank (no redeal or redraw).
2. Dealing a card to each player is used to
determine things like who moves to another table. If the cards are dealt, the
order is clockwise starting with the first player on the dealer's left (the
button position is irrelevant). Drawing a card is used to determine things like
who gets the button in a new game, or seating order coming from a broken
game.
3. An odd chip will be broken down to the smallest unit used in the
game.
4. No player may receive more than one odd chip.
5. If two
or more hands tie, an odd chip will be awarded as follows:
(a) In a
button game, the first hand clockwise from the button gets the odd
chip.
(b) In a stud game, the odd chip will be given to the highest card
by suit in all high games, and to the lowest card by suit in all low games.
(When making this determination, all cards are used, not just the five cards
that constitute the player's hand.)
(c) In high-low split games, the high
hand receives the odd chip in a split between the high and the low hands. The
odd chip between tied high hands is awarded as in a high game of that poker
form, and the odd chip between tied low hands is awarded as in a low game of
that poker form.
(d) All side pots and the main pot will be split as
separate pots, not mixed together.
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