Local Journal Poker

Rules of Texas Hold'em

Below are the full rules that govern all
Local Journal Poker “Texas Hold'em” tournaments.

Tournament Director

It is the Tournament Director's role to control the tournament, setting blind levels, solving arguments and breaking down tables.

Tournament Directors are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as the top priority in the decision making process. Unusual circumstances may require that exceptions be made in the interest of fairness and fun. The TD's decision is final.

The dealer

Whilst in most cases the player with the dealer button is the player who will deal the cards, this does not necessarily have to be the case. Any player who is proficient at dealing can deal the cards instead.

To decide who will be dealer first on each table, all players are dealt or draw one card from the deck, with the player who draws the highest card starting with the button. In case two players get the same high card, the suit, in descending order of, spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs will determine who deals first.

This procedure is used again if a table is re-seated and 50% or more of the players are new to the table, and at the start of the final table.

Chips

All players arriving at a poker tournament prior to the start of play begin with an equal amount of chips. Play continues with players betting chips against each other until one player remains with all the chips.

Blinds

If the player in the small blind position is eliminated then the dealer button moves to the empty position as if the player were still at the table and the player who had the button on the previous hand deals again. This is called a “dead button”. The blinds rotate as usual.

If the player in the big blind is eliminated, the small blind position is 'dead' as above and only the big blind is posted. The following hand the blind structures will return to normal. This ensures every player is posting a big blind and there is forced action on every hand and no-one is posting more or less than anyone else.

Shuffling and dealing cards

The Dealer must shuffle the cards at least three times, and dealer must cut the cards every hand. If concerned about the shuffle, cut, or other preparation of the cards any player may call for a reshuffle before the cards have been dealt.

Betting rounds and 'the pot'

Call - If a player 'calls', they are declaring that they are happy with the current level of the bet and wish to play the hand. The player must say “Call”. and put forward the same amount of chips as the current highest bet.

Raise - If a player 'raises', they are increasing the current level of betting and anyone who wishes to play the hand must at least match the amount of chips the player puts forward (or 'go all-in', see further down) in order to play the hand. The player must say “Raise”. and state the amount they wish to raise the bet to before putting forward the amount of chips they have stated. The amount the player puts forward must be at least as much as the previous bet plus the amount the previous bet was increased over the bet previous to that. I.e the amount of the raise must be at least the amount of the previous raise.

For example: The blinds are 100 and 200. If the first raise is 400, (total bet 600), the second raise must increase the bet by at least another 400, i.e the next bet must be 1,000 or more.

Fold - If a player does not wish to take any further part in the hand they can choose to 'fold'. The player must state “Fold”. and push their cards, face down, into the middle of the table. Any chips that they had put into the hand so far, in any betting round, including blinds, are forfeit and left on the table for the remaining players to win.

If at any point all players bar one fold, that player is immediately the winner.

If all players call the big blind with no raises taking place, the big blind has the option to raise if they wish to do so, but if all players call again, then the round of betting ends.

The pot - Only the dealer is allowed to touch the chips in the pot. If a player needs change they should first ask someone to their immediate left or right. If they can't help, the player should state their action, (call, raise or posting a blind), along with the amount then put down their chips, asking the dealer for change.

Check - If there is no current bet a player may check by stating “Check”.

Bet - If there is no current bet a player may place a bet with a minimum value equal to the big blind. The next player in sequence then has the option to either call for the value of the bet, raise (to at least double the value of the bet) or fold.

The turn - Once betting on the flop has completed, the dealer plays another card face down in the 'burnt' pile and places a single card face up next to the flop. A third round of betting now starts in the same manner as with the flop.

The River - As above, one more burnt card is dealt followed by a final face up card. A fourth and final round of betting is started, after which the 'showdown' begins.

Showdown - Once all rounds of betting are over, players show their cards to determine who has won the hand, starting with the player who made the last 'aggressive' action (e.g. betting or raising) and moving around the table in order. Both cards from the winning hand must be displayed to claim any part of the pot.

Any player that was in the hand may request to see any hand that has been called once a hand is over.

In the case of a draw (two identical hands) the pot is divided equally between all the players with the winning hand. No 'suit rankings' are taken into account. In the case of a split pot that can not be divided equally the extra chip will be given to the first person to the left of the dealer that was in the hand and eligible for that pot.

Hand rankings

These are all the hands which are allowed in Texas Hold'em Poker from best to worst. Only five cards can ever count in a hand of poker. Should two players have the same five card hand, no sixth or seventh card can be brought in to decide between the hands.

Royal Flush - Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace all of the same suit.
Straight Flush - Five cards in a row, of the same suit.
Four of a Kind - Four cards that are the same.
Full House - Three of a kind, along with two of a kind.
Flush - Five cards of the same suit.
Straight - Five cards in a sequence.
Three of a Kind - Three cards that are the same.
Two Pair - Two separate pairs.
Pair - Two cards that are the same.
High Card - This is what you have when you don't have anything.

All-in and side pots

During any hand a player may go “all-in” wagering all of their chips. Remaining players may call the all-in, or raise beyond it, either by a standard raise or by going all-in themselves.

If a player has gone all-in, and all betting action is complete (all players are either all-in, folded or have finished all stages of betting), all hands in play will be turned face up.

All-ins and raising - Going all-in affects the raising sequence if the player's all-in move does not reach the amount that would normally be required for a raise, but exceeds the amount required for a call. See the examples below for an explanation of what to do in this circumstance.

Example 1

Player A bets 100, player B raises to 300, player C goes all-in for 350 (was unable to complete the raise). The next to act may call the All-in but; if next to act wishes to raise they must complete the raise making the bet a minimum of 500. If no one calls or raises player would pull back 150 at the end of the betting round.

Example 2

(Blinds are 100 and 200) Big blind goes all-in for 150 (unable to complete the blind requirements). Next to act must call 200 (BB) as no bet can be smaller than the Big Blind.

Breaking down and moving tables

Once players at a table are reduced to 4 or below, their table is 'broken down' and the players are moved to other tables in the tournament, provided there is space.

Players may also be moved from table to table by the tournament director if numbers at tables are becoming unbalanced. This prevents players from having to post the big blind more often than players on tables with more players.

Players moved to a table are dealt in immediately unless they sit down in the small blind or dealer position. In these two cases, they must wait until the button passes before being dealt in. If a player is seated in the Big Blind position, the player must post the Big Blind and will be dealt in the hand.

Chipping up

At the tournament director's discretion, the lowest denomination of chip will be 'chipped up' and removed from play when no longer needed in the blind structure. All lower denomination chips that are of sufficient quantity for a new chip will be chipped up directly. All remaining odd chips will be rounded up to the next chip denomination.

The final table and heads up play

When only 2 players are left in the round the table is said to be 'heads up'. For this situation special rules apply as follows:

The dealer places the small blind.
The big blind is dealt the first card.
Pre-flop the dealer acts first
After the flop the dealer is second to act (play returns to normal).

Absent or late players

Players can join a tournament up until the end of the second blind increase. A late player entering a tournament will be docked 10 times the amount of the big blind currently in play. Players can join later at the TD's discretion but with a maximum of roughly 30% of the original chip allocation - e.g. 1500 for 5000 chip tournaments.

A player who has left the table for whatever reason but has not left the tournament is always dealt a hand, and will be put up for blinds if in a blind position. If a player is not present when their first card is dealt, the hand will be automatically folded after all cards have been dealt.

Misdeals, mucked cards and other problems

If two or more cards are exposed due to dealer error, it is a misdeal. If only one card is exposed, or seen by someone at the table, the dealer continues, and then replaces the seen card with a new card, and the seen card then becomes the first burn card.

The burn cards and pile of folded cards must be kept separate until the hand is completed. If at any time a player's cards (face down) touch the pile of folded cards the cards are dead. They must remain in the pile and the player loses all action on that hand. The current dealer is the only player allowed to touch the folded cards. No player is allowed to turn over any cards in the pile, even the dealer. After completion of the hand, the current dealer will collect all cards and pass the dealer button onto the next player.

A hand is declared dead if: a player folds or announces they are folding when facing a bet or raise, throws their hand away in a forward motion causing another player to act behind them, cards touch the fold pile (face down), or if cards are thrown into another players hand (face up or down), in this situation both hands are dead. Once a hand is dead and/or in the fold pile it can not be retrieved or made live again and the player may take no further part in that round.

Preventing cheating

A player must state their intentions (call, raise) before placing chips in front of them. If a player does not state raise, any single chip placed by a player will be an assumed call and the dealer will return the change. Multiple chips placed by a player will be an assumed raise for the total amount placed out. All chips must be placed in one motion to prevent 'string betting' where players keep adding chips one at a time to see other players' reactions.

All chips must remain visible and on the table at all times unless you are moving to a new table. A player's highest chip denomination must be visible to all players at all times.

Etiquette

When calling, raising or posting a blind, players are to place their chips calmly in front of them, and then push the chips to the centre. If a player throws their chips in haphazardly, then the chips can become confused. If a player does throw their chips in, they should be reminded that this is bad etiquette and asked not to do it again. If players consistently splash the pot you may wish to take them aside and explain the importance of keeping the chips separate and ask them to stop.

Players are responsible for holding on to their cards until the winner is declared. Although verbal declarations are not binding, intentionally miscalling your hand with the intent to cause a player to discard a winning hand may result in forfeiture of the pot at the tournament director's discretion.

A player is responsible for protecting their cards at all times. All cards must remain above the table top, and not past the edge of the table, as well as remain visible during play. If a dealer folds an unprotected hand the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to their chips back. An exception would be if a player raised and their raise had not been called yet. They would be entitled to receive their raise back.

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