For more Poker Games Rules and other casino games rules, please go to CASINO GAMES RULES
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.
