Poker Rules - Texas Holdem Rules - Omaha High-Low Rules - 5/7 Card Stud Rules
CONDUCT CODE
Management will attempt to maintain a pleasant environment for all our customers and employees, but is not responsible for the conduct of any poker player. We have established a code of conduct, and may deny the use of our online poker cardroom to violators. The following are not permitted:
Collusion with another poker player or any other form of cheating.
Verbally or physically threatening any patron or employee.
Using profanity or obscene language.
Creating a disturbance by arguing, shouting, or making excessive noise.
Throwing, tearing, bending, or crumpling online poker cards.
Destroying or defacing property.
Using an illegal substance.
Carrying a weapon.
POKER ETIQUETTE
The following actions are improper, and grounds for warning, suspending, or barring a violator:
Deliberately acting out of turn.
Deliberately splashing chips into the online poker pot.
Agreeing to check a hand out when a third poker player is all-in.
Reading a hand for another poker player at the showdown before it has been placed faceup on the table.
Telling anyone to turn a hand faceup at the showdown.
Revealing the contents of a live hand in a multihanded online poker pot before the betting is complete. Revealing the contents of a folded hand before the betting is complete. Do not divulge the contents of a hand during a deal even to someone not in the online poker pot, so you do not leave any possibility of the information being transmitted to an active poker player.
Needlessly stalling the action of a game.
Deliberately disonline poker carding hands away from the muck. online poker cards should be released in a low line of flight, at a moderate rate of speed (not at the dealer's hands or chip-rack).
Stacking chips in a manner that interferes with dealing or viewing online poker cards.
Making statements or taking action that could unfairly influence the course of play, whether or not the offender is involved in the online poker pot.
Using a cell phone at the table. Back to top
TOBACCO USE
(These rules are for an establishment that does not completely bar smoking.)
The seat on each side of the dealer is a nonsmoking seat.
Cigar or pipe smoking is not allowed in the online poker cardroom.
Smoking by a guest or spectator is not allowed. Back to top
POKER RULES PART 2 - HOUSE POLICIES
DECISION-MAKING
1. Management reserves the right to make decisions in the spirit of fairness, even if a strict interpretation of the rules may indicate a different ruling.
2. Decisions of the shift supervisor are final.
3. The proper time to draw attention to an error or irregularity is when it occurs or is first noticed. Any delay may affect the ruling.
4. If an incorrect rule interpretation or decision by an employee is made in good faith, the establishment has no liability.
5. A ruling may be made regarding a online poker pot if it has been requested before the next deal starts (or before the game either ends or changes to another table). Otherwise, the result of a deal must stand. The first riffle of the shuffle marks the start for a deal.
6. If a online poker pot has been incorrectly awarded and mingled with chips that were not in the online poker pot, and the time limit for a ruling request given in the previous rule has been observed, management may determine how much was in the online poker pot by reconstructing the betting, and then transfer that amount to the proper poker pro player.
7. To keep the action moving, it is possible that a game may be asked to continue even though a decision is delayed for a short period. The delay could be needed to check the overhead camera tape, get the shift supervisor to give the ruling, or some other good reason. In such circumstances, a online poker pot or portion thereof may be impounded by the house while the decision is pending.
8. The same action may have a different meaning, depending on who does it, so the possible intent of an offender will be taken into consideration. Some factors here are the person's amount of poker experience and past record. Back to top
PROCEDURES
1. Management will decide when to start or close any game.
2. Collections (seat rental fees) are paid in advance. In all time-collection games, the dealer is required to pick up the collection from each poker player before dealing. A poker player not wishing to pay collection may play one courtesy hand in poker stud, and may play until the blind in button games, provided no one is waiting for the game. If there is more than one person on the list for that game when the collection becomes due, everyone must pay collection. A new poker player is not required to pay if there is either no list or only one person waiting.
3. Cash is not permitted on the table. All cash should be changed into chips in order to play. If a poker player appears unaware of this rule and attempts to play unnoticed cash that was on the table during a online poker pot, the dealer may let the cash play if no one in the online poker pot objects, then have all the cash changed into chips after the hand. Any chips from another establishment are not permitted on the table, do not play in the game, and if discovered will be treated similarly to unnoticed cash. [See POKER RULES PART 16 Explanations, discussion #5, for more information on this rule.]
4. Money and chips may be removed for security purposes when leaving the table. The establishment is not responsible for any shortage or removal of chips left on the table during a poker player's absence, even though we will try to protect everyone as best we can. All removed funds must be fully restored when returning to the game.
5. If you return to the same game within one hour of cashing out, your buy-in must be equal to the amount removed when leaving that game.
6. All games are table stakes (except playing behind as given in the next rule). Only the chips in front of a poker player at the start of a deal may play for that hand, except for chips not yet received that a poker player has purchased. The amount bought must be announced to the table, or only the amount of the minimum buy-in plays. Awareness of the amount being in play for each opponent is an important part of poker. All chips and money must be kept in plain view.
7. Playing behind is allowed only for the amount of purchased chips while awaiting their arrival. The amount in play must be announced to the table, or only the amount of the minimum buy-in plays.
8. Playing out of a rack is not allowed.
9. Only one person may play a hand.
10. No one is allowed to play another poker player's chips.
11. Permission is required before taking a seat in a game.
12. Playing over without permission from the floorperson is not allowed. A playover box is required. Permission from the absent poker player is not necessary.
13. Pushing bets (saving or online poker potting out) is not allowed.
14. Pushing an ante or posting for another person is not allowed.
15. Splitting online poker pots will not be allowed in any game. Chopping the big and small blind by taking them back when all other poker players have folded is allowed in button games.
16. Insurance propositions are not allowed. Dealing twice (or three times) when all-in is permitted at big-bet poker.
17. The game's betting limit will not be changed if two or more poker players object. Raising the limit is subject to management approval.
18. poker players must keep their online poker cards in full view. This means above table-level and not past the edge of the table. The online poker cards should not be covered by the hands in a manner to completely conceal them.
19. Any poker player is entitled to a clear view of an opponent's chips. Higher denomination chips should be easily visible.
20. Your chips may be picked up if you are away from the table for more than 30 minutes. Your absence may be extended if you notify a floorperson in advance. Frequent or continuous absences may cause your chips to be picked up from the table.
21. A lock-up in a new game will be picked up after five minutes if someone is waiting to play. No seat may be locked up for more than ten minutes if someone is waiting to play.
22. A new deck must be used for at least a full round (once around the table) before it may be changed, and a new setup must be used for at least an hour, unless a deck is defective or damaged, or online poker cards become sticky.
23. Looking through the online poker cards or deck stub is not allowed.
24. After a deal ends, dealers are asked to not show what online poker card would have been dealt.
25. A poker player is expected to pay attention to the game and not hold up play. Activity that interferes with this such as reading at the table is discouraged, and the poker player will be asked to cease if a problem is caused.
26. A non-poker player may not sit at the table.
27. In non-tournament games, you may have a guest sit behind you if no one in the game objects. It is improper for a guest to look at any hand other then your own.
28. Speaking a foreign language during a deal is not allowed. Back to top
SEATING
1. You must be present to add your name to a waiting list.
2. It is the poker player's responsibility to be in the playing area and hear the list being called. A poker player who intends to leave the playing area should notify the list-person, and can leave money for a lockup. The lockup amount is $20.
3. When there is more than one game of the same stakes and poker form, and a must-move is not being used, the house will control the seating of new poker players to best preserve the viability of existing games. A new poker player will be sent to the game most in need of an additional poker player. A transfer to a similar game is not allowed if the game being left will then have fewer poker players than the game being entered.
4. A poker player may not hold a seat in more than one game.
5. The house reserves the right to require that any two poker players not play in the same game (husband and wife, relatives, business partners, and so forth).
6. When a button game starts, active poker players will draw a online poker card for the button position. The button will be awarded to the highest online poker card by suit for all high and high-low games, and to the lowest online poker card by suit for all low games.
7. In a new game, the poker player who arrives at the table the earliest gets first choice of remaining seats. If two poker players want the same seat and arrive at the same time, the higher poker player on the list has preference. A poker player playing a online poker pot in another game may have a designated seat locked up until that hand is finished. Management may reserve a certain seat for a poker player for a good reason, such as to assist reading the board for a person with a vision problem.
8. To avoid a seating dispute, a supervisor may decide to start the game with one extra poker player over the normal number participating. If so, a seat will be removed as soon as someone quits the game.
9. To protect an existing game, a forced move may be invoked when an additional game of the same type and limit is started. The must-move list is maintained in the same order as the original waiting list. If a poker player refuses to move into the main game, that poker player will be forced to quit, and cannot play in the must-move game or get on that list for one hour.
10. You must play in a new game or must-move game to retain your place on the list, if by your playing there would be three or fewer empty seats.
11. In all button games, a poker player going from a must-move game to the main game may play until due for the big blind. The poker player must then enter the game as a new poker player, and may either post an amount equal to the big blind or wait for the big blind. In all stud games, a poker player may play only one more hand before moving.
12. A poker player who is already in the game has precedence over a new poker player for any seat when it becomes available. However, no change will occur after a new poker player has been seated, or after that poker player's buy-in or marker has been placed on the table, unless that particular seat had been previously requested. For poker players already in the game, the one who asks the earliest has preference for a seat change.
13. In all button games, a poker player voluntarily locking up a seat in another game must move immediately if there is a waiting list of two or more names for the seat being vacated, except that the poker player is entitled to play the button if a blind has already been taken. Otherwise, a poker player may play up to the blind before moving. In a stud game unlike the Omaha poker rule , a poker player changing tables may play only the present hand if someone is waiting for the seat being vacated, or one more hand when no one is waiting.
14. When a game breaks, each poker player may draw a online poker card to determine the seating order for a similar game. The floorperson draws a online poker card for an absent poker player. If the online poker card entitles the absent poker player to an immediate seat, the poker player has until due for the big blind in a button game to take the seat (two hands in a stud game), and will be put first up on the list if not back in time. Back to top
POKER RULES PART 3 - GENERAL POKER RULES
THE BUY-IN
1. When you enter a game, you must make a full buy-in. At limit poker, a full buy-in 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 poker 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 poker player switching games voluntarily must have the proper buy-in size for the new game. Back to top
MISDEALS
1. The following circumstances cause a misdeal, provided attention is called to the error before two poker players have acted on their hands. (If two poker players have acted in turn, the deal must be played to conclusion, as explained in rule #2)
(a) The first or second online poker card of the hand has been dealt faceup or exposed through dealer error.
(b) Two or more online poker cards have been exposed by the dealer.
(c) Two or more boxed online poker cards (improperly faced online poker cards) are found.
(d) Two or more extra online poker cards have been dealt in the starting hands of a game.
(e) An incorrect number of online poker cards has been dealt to a poker player, except the top online poker card may be dealt if it goes to the poker player in proper sequence.
(f) Any online poker card has been dealt out of the proper sequence (except an exposed online poker card may be replaced by the burnonline poker card).
(g) The button was out of position.
(h) The first online poker card was dealt to the wrong position.
(i) online poker cards have been dealt to an empty seat or a poker player not entitled to a hand.
(j) A poker player has been dealt out who is entitled to a hand. This poker player must be present at the table or have posted a blind or ante.
2. 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 poker player whose hand is fouled. In button games, action is considered to occur when two poker players after the blinds have acted on their hands. In stud games just like in the Texas Holdem rule, action is considered to occur when two poker players after the forced bet have acted on their hands. Back to top
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 poker player to act behind you (even if not facing a bet).
(c) In stud, when facing a bet, you pick your uponline poker cards off the table, turn your uponline poker cards facedown, or mix your uponline poker cards and downonline poker cards together.
(d) The hand does not contain the proper number of online poker cards for that particular game (except at stud a hand missing the final online poker card may be ruled live, and at lowball and draw high a hand with too few online poker cards before the draw is live). [See POKER RULES PART 16 - Explanations,discussion #4, for more information on the stud portion of this rule- and you can contact us if you don't believe us.
(e) You act on a hand with a joker as a hole online poker card in a game not using a joker. (A poker player who acts on a hand without looking at a online poker card assumes the liability of finding an improper online poker 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. online poker 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 incorrect information given to the poker player.
3. online poker cards thrown into another poker player's hand are dead, whether they are faceup or facedown. Back to top
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 poker player one chance for each position on the round (if possible).
2. You must protect your own hand at all times. Your online poker 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 online poker card with a different color back appears during a hand, all action is void and all chips in the online poker pot are returned to the respective bettors. If a online poker card with a different color back is discovered in the stub, all action stands.
4. If two online poker cards of the same rank and suit are found, all action is void, and all chips in the online poker pot are returned to the poker players who wagered them (subject to next rule).
5. A poker player who knows the deck is defective has an obligation to point this out. If such a poker player instead tries to win a online poker pot by taking aggressive action (trying for a freeroll), the poker player may lose the right to a refund, and the chips may be required to stay in the online poker pot for the next deal.
6. If there is extra money in the online poker pot on a deal as a result of forfeited money from the previous deal (as per rule #5), or some similar reason, only a poker player dealt in on the previous deal is entitled to a hand.
7. A online poker card discovered faceup in the deck (boxed online poker card) will be treated as a meaningless scrap of paper. A online poker card being treated as a scrap of paper will be replaced by the next online poker card below it in the deck, except when the next online poker card has already been dealt facedown to another poker player and mixed in with other downonline poker cards. In that case, the online poker card that was faceup in the deck will be replaced after all other online poker 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 poker player acts on his or her hand, it is replaced as in the previous rule. If the poker player does not call attention to the joker before acting, then the poker player has a dead hand.
9. If you play a hand without looking at all of your online poker cards, you assume the liability of having an irregular online poker card or an improper joker.
10. One or more online poker 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 online poker card, it is returned to the deck and used as the burnonline poker card.
12. Procedure for an exposed online poker card varies with the poker form, and is given in the POKER RULES PART for each game. A online poker card that is flashed by a dealer is treated as an exposed online poker card. A online poker card that is flashed by a poker player will play. To obtain a ruling on whether a online poker card was exposed and should be replaced, a poker player should announce that the online poker card was flashed or exposed before looking at it. A downonline poker card dealt off the table is an exposed online poker card.
13. If a online poker card is exposed due to dealer error, a poker player does not have an option to take or reject the online poker card. The situation will be governed by the rules for the particular game being played.
14. If you drop any online poker cards out of your hand onto the floor, you must still play them.
15. If the dealer prematurely deals any online poker cards before the betting is complete, those online poker cards will not play, even if a poker player who has not acted decides to fold.
16. If the dealer prematurely deals any online poker cards before the betting is complete, those online poker cards will not play, even if a poker player who has not acted decides to fold. Back to top
BETTING AND RAISING
1. Check-raise is permitted in all games, except in certain forms of lowball.
2. In no-limit and online poker pot-limit games, unlimited raising is allowed.
3. In limit poker, for a online poker pot involving three or more poker 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 POKER RULES PART 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 poker players heads-up.
5. In limit play, an all-in wager of less than half a bet does not reopen the betting for any poker player who has already acted and is in the online poker pot for all previous bets. A poker 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 poker 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 poker 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 poker 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 poker player going all-in must put all chips that play into the online poker 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 poker 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 poker player acting after the infraction has been committed.
11. To retain the right to act, a poker player must stop the action by calling time (or an equivalent word). Failure to stop the action before three or more poker players have acted behind you may cause you to lose the right to act. You cannot forfeit your right to act if any poker 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 poker players act behind you, this still does not hinder your right to act.
12. In limit poker, if you make a forward motion with chips and thus cause another poker player to act, you may be forced to complete your action.
13. A poker player who bets or calls by releasing chips into the online poker pot is bound by that action and must make the amount of the wager correct. (This also applies right before the showdown when putting chips into the online poker pot causes the opponent to show the winning hand before the full amount needed to call has been put into the online poker pot.) However, if you are unaware that the online poker pot has been raised, you may withdraw that money and reconsider your action, provided that no one else has acted after you. At online poker pot-limit or no-limit betting, if there is a gross misunderstanding concerning the amount of the wager, see POKER RULES PART 14, Rule 8.
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 online poker pot. Putting a full bet plus a half-bet or more into the online poker 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 online poker 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 poker player bets $6 and the next poker player puts a $25 chip in the online poker pot without saying anything, that poker 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. Back to top
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