STRUCTURE
Chip Values
White = $25 Red = $50 Blue = $100 Green = $500 Black = $1000
Players start with $3,000 in chips.
Final Tournament variation: Players start with $4,000 - $5,000 in chips depending on rank.
Blind Raises
The blinds go up every 20 minutes with a 10 minute break every other blind raise.
$25/$50 | $50/$100 | $100/$200 | $200/$400 | $300/$600 | $400/$800 | $500/$1000 | $1000/$2000 | $2000/$4000 | $3000/$6000 | ….
Final Tournament variation: blinds go up every 30 minutes with a 15 minute break after each hour of play.
Hand Strengths
|
example: |
|
High Card |
A♣ 8♠ 6♦ 4♠ 2♣ |
(lowest) |
One Pair |
K♣ 9♣ 9♦ 5♠ 3♥ |
|
Two Pair |
K♣ K♠ 9♣ 9♦ J♥ |
|
3 of a Kind |
4♣ 4♥ 4♦ A♣ K♠ |
|
Straight |
8♠ 7♣ 6♦ 5♦ 4♥ |
|
Flush |
A♠ 10♠ 9♠ 6♠ 2♠ |
|
Full House |
K♠ K♥ K♦ 4♣ 4♥ |
|
4 of a Kind |
4♣ 4♦ 4♥ 4♠ 9♦ |
|
Straight Flush |
J♣ 10♣ 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ |
|
Royal Flush |
A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
(highest) |
RULES OF NO LIMIT TEXAS HOLD ‘EM POKER
Objective
The objective in tournament play is, ultimately, to get ALL the chips. To do this, you first must take down individual pots. There are two ways to accomplish this: you can win a pot either
1) by betting more than your opponents are willing to call, thus winning the pot uncontested, or 2) by having the best hand during the showdown after all the betting rounds are completed.
Texas Hold 'Em is a community card game. Every player is dealt two cards face down (the pocket), and then five community cards are dealt in the middle of the table. The five community cards are also called the board.
Each player tries to make the best five-card hand through any combination of his/her down cards and the community cards (see Hand Strengths above).
Dealer and Blinds
A dealer button is used to mark who the dealer is. The button rotates clockwise around the table between every hand. This is important as the "dealer" is the last to act, and thus gains a position advantage during that hand.
There are two forced bets every hand, called blinds. The small blind (player left of the dealer) posts 1/2 of the minimum bet size, and the big blind (two players left of dealer) posts the minimum bet size. These bets count towards the players’ first round bets, and are considered live, meaning the players in the blinds may choose to raise even if nobody else has.
Betting
A player has five betting options when it’s his/her turn to bet:
Check – If no player has bet, a player may opt not to bet either by checking his/her hand.
Bet – If no player has bet, a player may opt to bet by committing chips to the pot, which every other player will have to call in order to stay in the hand.
Call – If another player has made a bet, then each player (in turn) can call the bet simply by matching (or committing the same number of chips) as the initial better.
Raise – If a player has made a bet, then each player has the option of raising by matching the initial bet and making an additional bet that is equal to or greater than the original bet.
Fold – A player may opt not to commit any more chips to a hand by folding (or mucking) his/her cards.
Betting Rules
When a player bets, he/she may bet or raise any amount over the minimum bet, up to the amount in front of him/her (called going all-in). Each bet or raise must be equal to or greater than the previous bet or raise, with the exception of a player that is raising all-in. (Note: if an all-in re-raise is not greater than or equal to a previous raise during the same betting round, then the original raiser or players who already called the original raise may not re-raise the all-in bet.)
Before the flop, the action begins with the player left of the big blind, who must decide to check (opt not to bet), call (by matching the big blind), or raise (by calling the big blind or another previous bet and making an additional bet). Action proceeds clockwise around the table until all players still in the hand have matched all bets and raises.
After the flop, the action begins with the player to the immediate left of the dealer (small blind), who must decide to check (opt not to bet) or bet (by committing chips).
Action proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player will have the option of checking (if no bet has been made), folding (if a bet has been made), calling a previous
bet, or raising (calling a previous bet and making an additional bet). Again, action proceeds until all players in the hand have matched all bets and raises.
Betting Rounds
There are four rounds of betting:
Preflop - Two cards are dealt to every player face down (the pocket), starting with the small blind. Prior to the flop, the action begins with the player to the immediate left of the big blind, who must decide to fold, call or raise. Action proceeds clockwise around the table. The small blind may call the big blind’s initial bet (assuming nobody has raised) by adding the other 1/2 of the minimum bet he was already forced to commit. The big blind may simply check (assuming nobody has raised) since he/she has already put in the minimum bet. The big blind also has the option of raising, even if no one else has raised his/her initial bet.
The Flop - Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These community cards are used by all players in the hand to try to make the best five card hand. In this round, and in the following two rounds, the player to the immediate left of the dealer is the first to act. Play proceeds in a clockwise manner around the table. All bets and raises must be equal to or greater than the minimum bet size (and then equal to or greater than any previous bet in the same round of betting).
The Turn (or 4th Street) - A fourth card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. Betting proceeds as in the previous round.
The River (5th Street) - A fifth and final card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. Betting proceeds as in the previous round.
Showdown – Any player who has not folded after the last round of betting is complete will now have the option of showing his/her hand and possibly of winning the pot. The person who bet last is the first to show his/her hand, and then it proceeds clockwise from there, with each remaining player either choosing to show his/her hand, or mucking it. In order to win a pot, a player must show both down cards (unless every other player has mucked his/her hand).
Additional Betting Rules
Split – When two or more players have the same winning hand, they split the pot equally among them. If there is an extra chip, it goes to the player left of the dealer.
No Limit – Any player can go all-in at any time. The number of raises per betting round is unlimited.
Dealing
Everyone should shuffle an odd number of times (at least five times) and have the player to his/her right cut the deck and place the top stack onto the cut card. The dealer then puts the bottom stack onto the top stack and commences with the deal.
The deal moves clockwise around the table. Before the flop, the dealer deals two cards face down to each player (one at a time). After the preflop round of betting, the dealer first burns a card by dealing a card face down into the muck and then deals three cards face up in the middle of the table (the flop). After another round of betting, the dealer burns another card into the muck and then deals the turn (one card) next to the flop. After another round of betting, the dealer burns a third burn card into the muck and then deals the river (one more card) next to the turn.
Misdeals
In the following situations, the dealer will reshuffle and deal the cards again.
- A card has been dealt face-up to one of the blinds.
- Two or more cards have been exposed by the dealer.
- An incorrect number of cards has been dealt, an extra hand has been dealt, or a player who was entitled cards did not get cards.
- Cards from the deck had not been shuffled into the deck when the deal took place.
* If a dealer accidentally exposes a player’s down card, then that card can NOT be kept. After the dealer finishes dealing, he/she replaces the exposed card with the burn card.
** If a dealer accidentally exposes a card, then every player is entitled to see the exposed card.
*** If a dealer accidentally deals a community card before the round of betting is complete, then the dealer must return that card to the deck and reshuffle the deck.
Dead Hands
In the following situations, a player’s hand will be folded:
- A player folds (mucks cards) or says ‘fold’ at any time during his/her turn to bet.
- A player does not have the right number of cards (except during the deal).
- A player in the hand calls time, and the player acting fails to act within 30 seconds.
The following situations do NOT constitute reason for a dead hand:
- If a player inadvertently shows cards at any time during a hand, then all players in the hand may see the exposed cards and play continues. The player who exposed cards may continue to play the hand.
- If the dealer inadvertently exposes a community card before a round of betting concludes, then the exposed card will be reshuffled into the deck.
Dead Blinds
As players get knocked out of play, by losing or forfeiting all their chips, play will continue around the table. In those situations where a player who has been knocked out would have been the dealer or one of the blinds, the following rules apply:
Dead Button – If a player who would have been dealer has been knocked out, the deal moves counterclockwise to the next player still in the game.
Dead Small Blind – If a player who would have been Small Blind has been knocked out, there is just a Big Blind.
Dead Big Blind – The Big Blind continues to move clockwise around the table to the player next to the would-be Big Blind. There is always a Big Blind, and each player is Big Blind exactly once per time around the table.
Heads Up – When play gets down to the final two players, the Big Blind moves clockwise from the previous Big Blind. The other player is Small Blind. Small blind is always dealer in heads up play.
Penalties
Depending on the severity of the transgression, penalties for breaking tournament rules may include temporary removal from the tournament, disqualification from the tournament, or a permanent ban from all FreeWorldSeriesSeat.com competition.
Cheating
If you are suspected of cheating (with chips, cards or in any other way), you will be disqualified from the tournament. You may be banned from further FreeWorldSeriesSeat.com competition.
Chips
Do NOT touch another player’s chips.
(Only the dealer and players in the hand may touch the chips in a pot.)
Do NOT remove chips from a table.
(One exception: you may be asked by a tournament director to move only your own chips from one table to another.)
Do NOT put any chips in your pockets.
(If a tournament director sees any player pull chips from their pocket, this will result in an automatic disqualification from a tournament finale.)
Respect
Treat all competitors, patrons and employees with respect at all times.
Friendly banter is allowed. Insulting behavior and abuse are not.
Please keep swearing to a minimum.
General
Drink responsibly. You must be sober enough to play, to deal, to count your own chips, and to treat other competitors with respect.
Time: Once action has been on a player for at least 30 seconds, another player in the hand may call time. The action player has 30 seconds from that point to make a decision. Inaction will result in your cards being mucked.
If you are not at the table when it’s your turn to bet, you will be given 30 seconds before your cards are mucked.