© 2005 Texas Hold’em Consultants LLC
1 BUY-IN
The initial buy-in for the Tournament is $100 entry fee with a $10 Registration fee. The buy-in will purchase an allocated number of chips ($16,000). These chips have no monetary value. Unlimited Re-Buys will be permitted for the first 2 hrs, for $50, $8,000 in chips, If you have less than $16,000 in chips. One (1) Add-On will be permitted (only) at 2 hrs, into the game for $100. If a player announces the intent to re-buy before the first card is dealt, that player is playing behind and is obligated to make the re-buy. No teams, substitutes, refunds, transfers or assisted play. Participants must register prior to the start of the event. Each participant must give their full Name, Address, E-Mail Address, Phone #s, Date of Birth, SS#, Drivers license #, and Age Verification. Each participant must sign a statement that they have received a set of RULES and will be bound by them. This tournament will be set for approximately 6 hrs of play time.
ª SIT & GO GAMES
All poker rules will apply – this will be a one (1) table tournament that will last about 2 hrs. The pay-out will be 70% of the money taken in. All cash prizes will be paid by Visa Gift Card.
2 GAME TIMES
The Organization’s tournament times are approximate. The Organization reserves the right to change the tournament times due to unforeseen or extenuating circumstances. The Organization may cancel, modify, relocate or reschedule the tournament for any reason with prior notification to the appropriate gaming regulators.
3 WINNING THE TOURNAMENT
The final player remaining with all the chips will be the first-prize winner. The last player eliminated will be the second- prize winner; the second-to-last player eliminated will be the third-prize winner, etc. If more than one player is eliminated on the same hand, the player with the most chips immediately prior to that hand will place higher. In case of a tie, the tie will be broken by a draw of a card from the deck. High card wins. In case of another tie the process will be repeated until a winner is declared.
4 TIMER USE AND BREAKS
A timer will be used to time the blind progression. When the timer expires, it should be immediately restarted. The next hand will be dealt at the new blind level. For the purposes of this rule, a hand is considered currently in play once the blinds are posted AND the dealer has begun shuffling (rifles the deck). The official time for the satellite games will be by the timer provided to the dealer at the table. The official time for the tournament game will be by the computer which will control all tables simultaneously.
5 SEATING
Each table will seat a maximum of 11 players in the tournament’s first round and the Tournament Director will consolidate to 10 players thereafter. Players will be distributed as evenly as possible between all tables. The Tournament Director randomly generates all seating.
6 PLAYERS LEAVING
If a player leaves the table
for any reason and will return before 20 minutes are up, he will be responsible
for all blinds and will not be dealt cards but cannot win any hands. At the
direction of the dealer, players remaining at the table will post all blinds for
the absent player. If the missing player is moved to another table, his chips
will move, and he will continue to blind appropriately at the new table. If a
player leaves the table for any reason and will be away for longer than 20
minutes, he forfeits all his remaining chips and they
are returned to the bank. There will be no refunds.
A player must be seated at the table when the cards are dealt. If not,
the players cards are mucked. NO EXCEPTIONS.
7 PLAYERS ARRIVING LATE
Players who have committed their attendance to the Tournament Director but have not arrived by the deal of the first hand will, at the Tournament Director’s discretion, be assigned a seat and issued chips. At the direction of the dealer, a player will post all appropriate blinds on behalf of the absent player. If the absent player has not arrived before the first hand is dealt under the second level, the absent player’s chips are removed from play and he forfeits any chance to play. All forfeited chips are returned to the bank.
8 THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
The Tournament Director is
responsible for all table, seating, and dealer decisions. The Tournament
Director is responsible for the handling of the timer although he may delegate
this task to any assignee or dealer/player at his discretion.
In the case of disputes and/or interpretations of the rules, the Tournament
Director is the final authority and his decision is final and cannot be
appealed. If the dispute directly involves the Tournament Director, a member of
the board of directors of the Organization, will resolve the dispute. The
decision of the Tournament Director is FINAL – NO EXCEPTIONS
9 CHOOSING DEALER
Tournament - Dealer Button will begin at seat number one, the first position to the left of the House Dealer.
10 FACE UP
If two or more players are still in the game at the end of action and none of the players fold to leave only one player to take the pot, all cards will be turned face up once the action (betting) is finished. A player who forfeits his/her hand does not have to show their cards.
11 ONE PLAYER
The one-player-to-a-hand rule will be enforced.
12 RANDOM SEATS
All tournament seats will be randomly assigned by the Tournament Director. Using a process of drawing a chip with the table and seat number on it. # 1 seat will be the dealer. Players will be randomly selected and moved to consolidate tables at the direction of the TD.
13
ENGLISH ONLY
The English-only rule will be enforced during the play of hands.
14 CELL PHONE or EARPHONES
Cell phones should be placed on “vibrate mode” during tournament play. A player who wants to use his/her cell phone must step away from the table and, forfeit all hands while away from his/her seat. No other listening devices will be allowed except for a hearing aid.
15 CALLING FOR CLOCK PROCEDURES
Once a reasonable amount of time has passed and 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 player’s hand will be dead. The only person that can call for the clock is a player at the table or the Tournament Director.
16
SIDE POTS
Each side pot will be split as separate pots. They will not be mixed together
before they are split.
17
AT TABLE
A player must be
at the table by the time all players have complete hands in order to have his
hand live.
18
RABBIT HUNTING
No rabbit hunting
is allowed.
19 CHIPS & CARDS VISIBLE
All chips and cards must be visibly displayed on the table at all times. Players may not have tournament chips or cards in their pockets or lap at any time. A player who has chips in his pocket will forfeit the chips. The forfeited chips will be taken out of play from the tournament and returned to the Bank.
20
MOVING PLAYERS
To consolidate
tables, players
will be moved at random to the worst possible position.
21 BROKEN TABLE
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 if more than one seat is available at the table the player is being moved to. A player who intentionally dodges his or her 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.
22 MINIMUM BET
Minimum bet is the big blind. 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 no-limit, if a player states a raise and throws in an oversized chip, the raise will be the maximum amount allowable up to the size of that chip.
23
MISDEAL
If any of the
players' two down cards are exposed during the deal or there is an error due to
the dealer, before the betting will be a misdeal and be dealt over. No
exceptions.
24
THE
ORGANIZATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
Organization’s Board of Directors
reserves the right to cancel or alter any event at its sole discretion in the
best interest of the Organization or its players.
25
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. All
penalties will be issued by and at the sole discretion of the Organization’s
Tournament Director. Penalties available for use by the TD are verbal warnings,
10, 20, 30, and 40 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.
26 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.
27
EXPOSE
A player who
exposes his cards during the play may incur a penalty, but will not have his
hand killed.
28 ONE MOTION
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.
29 STRING BET
String betting is not allowed and may result in a penalty. See “One Motion” on how you can prevent yourself from accidentally doing a “string bet.”
30
VERBALLY
DISCLOSING CONTENTS
Verbally
disclosing the contents of your hand or advising a player how to play a hand may
result in a penalty.
31 SHOWING HAND AFTER THE HAND IS OVER
Showing hand (cards) to anyone after the hand is over must be shown to all players
32
CHECK RAISING
Check raising
is allowed.
33
RAISING
A bet or raise must equal or exceed the preceding bet or raise. If someone bets
or raises $5, then the next player's minimum raise would be $5. The minimum bet
is the big blind.
34
BURN CARDS
The dealer must
discard (burn)
one card at the beginning of each betting round. These are called the
burn cards.
35
MISSED BLINDS
Players are
required to post the small blind and the big blind once per round. The only
exception is the dead button rule.
36
MUCK
If a hand has been thrown into the middle of the table and touches another
player’s cards, the burn pile, or any active chips, the hand is immediately
considered a dead hand and referred to as “mucked.” This hand is no
longer playable and no player may retrieve this hand to be replayed. If an
Organization’s dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress
and will not be entitled to his or her money back. An exception would be if a
player raised and his/her raise had not been called yet, [s]he would be entitled
to receive his/her raise back. The Organization’s dealers cannot kill a winning
hand that was turned face up and was obviously the winning hand.
37 PASSING CHIPS
The passing of chips from one player to another is not allowed. Doing so will result in elimination of both the giving and receiving player from the tournament.
38
WITHDRAWAL
Any active player
who chooses to withdraw from the tournament before being knocked-out must hand
(resign) his/her chips to the house. These chips may not be passed to another
player. See ‘Passing Chips.”
39 PAID SEATS
Only Players with PAID SEATS can gain entry into the tournament. In the event there are not enough Dealers needed to service the required number of tables, the Tournament Director may refund the tournament ticket price plus the registration fee to the players with the highest ticket numbers until there are not players with tickets for tables other than those with dealers or the Tournament Director may initiate family style play. In family style play, a dealer must be designated for each hand.
40 OPENING SHUFFLE
Cards must be completely shuffled before start of play, by the player who sits in the dealer’s position. In the event that the Organization assigns a dealer to the table, the dealer will be responsible for dealing and cutting the cards.
41
DEALING FROM
THE BOTTOM
Dealing from the bottom of the deck is not allowed and will result in immediate
termination from the tournament.
42
PRE-SHUFFLE
The house may
pre-shuffle ALL decks of cards before the start of all tournaments.
43
CUT CARD
All decks being
used at the poker tables must be dealt with a cut card. The cut card must remain
on the bottom of the deck at all times during the game. Only one cut is
permitted. A cut is separating the packet into two packets. Then placing the
bottom packet on top of the original top packet. A cut must be at least 5 cards
from the top or from the bottom. A deck must be cut before the cards may be
dealt.
44 CHANGING DECKS
Deck change is only permitted when the dealer changes. A player may not call for a deck change. The Tournament Director may change decks at any time at his discretion.
45 GENERAL RULE
Nothing will be permitted on the table except chips, cards, and/or card protectors. A card protector is a small lucky charm, a chip, coin or some other small similar object. No drinks, food, cigarettes, etc…. may be placed on the card table or chairs. There is a side table for these items.
46 DEAD BUTTON RULE
If the big blind bust out and is not replaced from another table, the button moves to the player who posted the small blind and the player to the left of the former big blind assumes the big blind. There is no small blind for that hand. On the following deal, the button moves to the now empty seat (the seat vacated by the eliminated big blind player) and the two players to the left post normal blinds. This will result in the same player being dealer two hands in a row. When the small blind bust out and is not replaced by a player from another table, the button does not move. The player who was the big blind will now post the small blind and the player to his left will post the big blind, this will result in the same player being the dealer two hands in a row.
47 PLAYING HEADS UP
The large blind is always the button.
48 FOLD OR DROP
A player in turn may fold even when he has the privilege of checking. Any time that a player discards his hand, or permits it to be mixed with any discarded cards, he has folded, and his hand may not be reclaimed.
49 HIGHEST HAND (WINNING HAND)
Cards talk.
50 NO-LIMIT
This is a No-Limit game. A player may go all in at any time. And there is no limit to the amount of raises.
51 RE-DEAL
1) A card was exposed in cutting.
2) The cut left fewer than five cards in either packet.
3) One or more cards are face up in the pack and no bets have been placed.
4) The pack is incorrect or imperfect in any way.
5) A player is dealt out of turn.
52 INSUFFICIENT BET
When a player in turn puts into the pot a number of chips insufficient to call, he must either add enough chips to call and may not raise, or he must drop and forfeit his chips already in the pot. When a player raises by less then the minimum permitted, he may add additional chips to make the minimum bet or forfeit the additional chips he put into the pot. If a player puts in a raise of fifty percent (50%) or more of the previous bet, he will be required to make a full raise. The raise will be exactly the minimum raise allowed. In no-limit, less than a full raise does not reopen the betting to a player who already has acted.
53 ANNOUNCEMENT IN TURN OF INTENTION TO PASS OR BET
If a player in turn announces that he passes or folds, his announcement is binding whether or not he discards his hand. If a player in turn announces a bet but does not put any chips in the pot, he is bound by his announcement and must, if possible, supply additional chips necessary to bring the bet up to the announced amount.
54 ANNOUNCEMENT OUT OF TURN OF INTENTION TO PASS OR BET
If a player out of turn announces his intention, it is not binding and should be ignored.
55 CONCESSION OF A POT
A player who has discarded his hand after another player’s announcement of a higher hand may not later claim the pot – even if the announcement was incorrect.
56 ALL-IN
“All-In” means “ALL-IN” ----- NO EXCEPTIONS
57 TAXES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS AND FEES
Winners are responsible for any and all taxes, licenses, registrations and other fees.
58 PICTURES AND PUBLICITY
All participants and winners must make their presence availed for pictures, interviews and on-camera interviews, on the day and/or following day, for the purpose of publicity.
59 CONSENT & PERMISSION
By entering, each participant authorizes Texas Hold’em Consultants (THC) LLC and/or any of the Organizations that (THC) engages in business with to the unconditional use of his/her likeness and name and name of hometown throughout the world for purposes of advertising and promotion without compensation, consideration, notice to participant, review or consent where permitted.
ADDITIONAL RULES:
1. The Organization and Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. is subject to and will abide by all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including gaming. All aspects of the tournament are subject to the approval of appropriate regulatory authorities.
2. The Organization may limit the number of entries into the tournament.
3. The Organization and Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. is not responsible for injuries or losses arising or resulting from participation in the tournament and is not liable for any acts or omissions by employees, agents or assigns, whether negligent or willful, in the conducting of the tournament, and is not liable in the event of any equipment or software malfunction.
4. By participating in the tournament, entrants agree to all of the rules of the Organization and the tournament.
5. In the tournament entrants will be assigned to a table and seat through a random selection.
6. Non-value chips are used for satellite and tournament play.
7. The Organization and Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. is not responsible for electronic transmission errors or delays resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, hardware, software, or telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable connections, fraud, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions, whether caused by The Organization and/or Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. users, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the promotion or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions which may limit, restrict, or prevent a participant’s ability to participate in the tournament.
8. If for any reason the tournament is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes within or beyond the control of the Organization which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this tournament, the Organization and/or Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. reserves the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the tournament.
9. Any attempt by any person to deliberately damage any program or to undermine the legitimate operation of this tournament may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, The Organization and/or Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent of the law.
10. Entries will be retained for record keeping purposes in accordance with local legal requirements.
11. Tournament Rules and any and all changes in the rules and event descriptions for the tournament will be available at the tournament facilities.
12. No-value tournament chips used for the tournament are the exclusive property of Texas Hold’em Consultants, L.L.C. and may not be removed from the tournament area.
13. Prize structures depend upon number of entrants at the start of the tournament.
14. All prizes awarded are final. The organization will not exchange or buy back any prize won.
15. The Organization may disqualify any person for any prize based upon fraud, dishonesty, violation of promotional rules or other misconduct whether or not related to the Organization’s tournament. Winner must be at least 21 years old or older to win and claim his/her prize. Any winner, who is not 21 years old or older, will forfeit their prize and their prize will go back to the Organization.
16. Organization, as used in these rules, refers to the Non-Profit Charitable Gamming Organization licensed to conduct this Texas Hold’em Tournament.
17. A copy of these rules is on file with the State of Louisiana Department of Revenue, Office of Charitable Gaming.
18. Texas Hold’em Consultants LLC is Licensed by the State of Louisiana Department of Revenue, Office of Charitable Gaming to conduct Charitable Texas Hold’em Tournaments and Casino Nights. License Number D3050 – Private casino Contractor.
The Organization’s floor people are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as the top priority in the decision-making process. Unusual circumstances can, on occasion, dictate that the technical interpretation of the rules be balanced against the interest of fairness. The floor person’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.
Copyright:
The material in this set of rules is provided for personal, non-commercial, educational and informational purposes only. All material is copyrighted by Texas Hold’em Consultants LLC. The Copyright Act states that the unauthorized use of copyrighted material is a felony.