Buy-in:
A buy-in
amount is determined for each participant to pay upon entry. Sometimes all money goes to the pot, other
times some of the money is used to buy food, snacks, and drinks.
1st
– 50%
2nd
– 30%
3rd
– 20%
Example
with 30 players with a $30 buy-in with $5 going toward food, snacks, and drinks:
Total in
pot: $750
1st
place: $375
2nd
place: $225
3rd
place: $150
Setup/Table
Structure:
There
will be two rounds of tournament play.
The first round consists of multiple tables. On each table, players will play until one player wins all chips
from all other players. All players names
will be randomly drawn to determine who they play with during the first
round. The player who wins all of the
chips “wins the table” and will advance to the second round. The second round consists of one table (the
final table). All first round table
winners meet at the final table and play until one player wins all of the chips
from all other players. This player
wins first place in the tournament. The
last three players that he beat are second, third, and fourth place. See the payout schedule above for payout
information.
Chips:
Each
player will start with the same number of chips. It doesn't matter what value they have (for example, everyone can
have $800 worth of chips to start). Once a player wins all chips from all other players at the table,
he wins the table. All players that
advance to the final table will begin with a fresh set of chips. The players will not use all of the chips won
from the previous table.
Deal/Burn:
Each
person at each table will take turns dealing.
The dealer will shuffle, offer the cut to the player on his right (who
may choose to cut the deck or tap it indicating that he does not wish to cut),
and begin dealing to the left. The
dealer will “burn” cards before the flop, turn, and river. Burning is dealing one card face down into
a “burn” (trash) pile before dealing the flop, turn, or river card(s).
Blind
Structure:
Before
the deal, the player to the immediately left of the dealer will put some chips
in the pot (this is called the “small blind”).
The player to the immediately left of the small blind will put more
chips into the pot (“big blind”), often double the amount of the small blind
- for example, round one could have a $5 small blind and a $10 big blind.
Since the deal rotates, every player will get his fair share of the
blinds. Once the initial two cards are dealt, the remaining
players must at least match the big blind ($10 for example) to stay in the
pot. Their other options are to raise
or fold. The blinds are in essence
a “blind bet”. This keeps the pot
active and this is the way Hold ‘Em is played in casinos. Once the bet gets back to the small blind, his options are to fold,
call, or raise. Keep in mind that
the small blind has not put a full be in thus far. So even if the pot has not been raised and the bet has come around
to the small blind, he still must put in more chips (as much as all other
players who have not folded) to stay in the pot.
How to Play:
The players make their best hand by using any combination of his cards and the five that have been turned up on the board. The player can use none, one, or two from his hand, and the rest from the board (yes, a player can use all 5 on the board and none of his – for example, if the board was a straight flush and the player’s cards did not help improve the hand, he would use the five cards on the board and none from his hand).
The player with the best five cards wins the pot. If there is a tie, the players split the pot (they do not use a sixth card or suit rankings).
Example 1:
|
Player A |
Player B |
Flop |
Turn |
River |
|
Jack of clubs King of spades |
6 of clubs 7 of clubs |
8 of hearts 3 of spades 9 of diamonds |
10 of hearts |
Queen of clubs |
Player A wins with a straight (9-10-J-Q-K).
Player B loses with a straight (6-7-8-9-10).
Example 2:
|
Player A |
Player B |
Flop |
Turn |
River |
|
Jack of clubs 3 of clubs |
King of spades Jack of spades |
King of hearts 10 of spades 9 of diamonds |
10 of hearts |
Queen of clubs |
Players A and B have a straight (9-10-J-Q-K) and they tie
(split the pot). It does not matter
that player B uses two cards in his hand and player A only used one card in his
hand. It does not matter about the suit
of the Jack these players hold. Both
players have the same straight and they tie.
When a misdeal occurs, all hands are void and all cards are re-shuffled.
A card placed face up in the deck (boxed card) shall be treated as a "scrap of paper". A Joker that appears is also a "scrap of paper". A card being treated as a scrap of paper is replaced by the next card below it in the deck. If a player is dealt the Joker facedown, it is replaced by the top card of the deck after completion of the round. If a player does not call attention to the joker among his down cards before action on his hand, then he has a fouled hand and forfeits all rights to the pot and all monies involved.
If a player's hole card is exposed due to a dealer error, he has the choice whether or not to keep the exposed card. If he elects not to keep it, the dealer will exchange the exposed card with the top card on the deck. If two or more cards are exposed on the deal, then it is a misdeal (all hands are void and all cards are re-shuffled).
If a player is dealt only one card and notices it before the flop, the dealer will give him the next card on the deck before he flops. If he notices after the flop, the dealer will give him the next card off of the top of the deck (surely the player will notice you only have one card before the flop).
If a player is dealt three cards (too many) and he has not looked at any of the cards, he chooses one to burn. If he has looked at one card, he chooses one of the remaining two to burn. If he has looked at two, he burns the one he has not seen. If he looks at all three, it is a misdeal (all hands are void and all cards are re-shuffled).
If the flop has too many cards, all will be burned except the first three flopped cards. The rest of the cards will be re-shuffled before the turn.
If cards are flopped by the dealer before all the betting is completed, the entire flop is taken back and reshuffled.
If the dealer turns up the fourth card on the board before the round of betting is completed, the card is not in play and will be burned.
If the fifth card is turned up before betting is complete, the card is not in play and will be burned.
Playing the Board:
A player may play the board by using all five cards on the board and none of his hole cards only if: (1) the hand has been checked around or (2) there has been a bet and a call, and the best hand is on the board. A verbal declaration is not necessary. If the player has folded at any time, he is out and cannot be involved in the board play.
The winning hand must show both cards face up on the table; one card up and the other face down is not a valid hand.
Disputes:
All
disputes should try to be settled by everyone on the table. If an agreement is reached by all players,
then it is solved. In the event that
the table cannot agree on a dispute, the tournament leader will have the final
word.
Betting:
There is no betting limit (this is a no-limit tournament). A player can bet all of his chips at any time. Check and raise is permitted. A bet and three raises are allowed. There is no limit on raises with only two players having bet during a betting round.
String bets or raises are not allowed. A player must put in the full amount of the bet at one time or announce his intention to raise.
When a player does not have enough chips to match a bet, he has two choices:
1) Fold
2) Go all-in
When a player goes all-in, he puts all of his chips in the pot. He can only win the amount that he is “in for”.
Example:
Two rounds of betting have taken place and there are 20 chips in the pot. Player A has five chips left. Players B and C have over 30 chips left. Player B bets 10 chips. Player A goes all-in with his five chips. The other five chips that player B bet go to a “side pot” in which player A cannot win. Player A can only win five of the ten chips that player B bet because that is the amount that he is all-in for. If player C chooses to call, he puts five of the chips in the main pot and the other five in the “side pot”. At this point, player A does not fold or bet because he is all-in. He can only win the amount that is in the main pot (the 20 chips from earlier betting rounds plus the 15 chips that were just bet – five chips from each of players A, B, and C). Players B and C can continue to bet, but all of their bets go into the “side pot” (the pot that player A cannot win).
Once the hand is over, if players B or C win, they win all of the money from both pots (player A is now out of chips and thus out of the tournament). However, if player A had the best hand and won, he only wins the main pot (he cannot win the side pot because he was all-in and the side pot contained extra bets from players B and C only). The side pot is won by either player B or C (whichever of the two had the better hand).