December 30, 2007 by Michael Diaz.

If there are two players left on a tournament, one goes all in the other folds, do we still have to go to a showdown?

Posted in All-In Bets; Re-Opening Betting, Side-Pots, Split Pots, Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Showdowns & Pot Awarding, Heads Up Play | Print | 1 Comment »

December 30, 2007 by Mayhem_VI.

  I’ve run a couple H.O.R.S.E. Tourneys and participated in a couple of live games.  The issue always comes up regarding the placement of the button, and I have a simple solution.  Keep moving the button through the Razz, Stud and Stud/8 games and keep dealing to the left of the button.  After the last hand of Stud/8, the button gets moved, and the two players to the immediate left post the small and big blinds respectively.  It doesn’t matter who got knocked out of the tournament, who got moved to another table, or who left (or came into) the live game.

  Now, every time I’ve made this suggestion, it gets rejected immediately, and I don’t know why.   Finally, Roland Waters at the Wildhorse PRU suggested that I come here.  I think I’m getting him convinced, but he says when he brings it up with others in the TDA (again) they shake their head and change the subject.  As a system, it has worked like a charm in my tournaments and after watching closely and getting feedback from my players, I still don’t see a downside.  Personally, I like a button in Stud tournaments anyway as it takes away any advantage/disadvantge to the players sitting on either side of the dealer (I, myself, have a pathological hatred for the seat to the dealers right, and this system clears that right up). 

  Anyway, I would like some feedback on this.  And do me a favor please.  At least give it a try or a simulation before you tell me how full of crap I am.  Thanx.

Posted in Lowball & Razz, Start Chips, Blind Raising Structure, Tourney Timing, Official Rules & Guidelines, General, H.O.R.S.E. Variations, Buttons & Blinds, Tournament Directors, Event Structure & Management, Omaha, Other Games, 5 and 7-Card Stud, Texas Holdem | Print | 3 Comments »

December 28, 2007 by farrell.

I was dealing a NL hold’em tournament and accidentally burned two cards and turned over the flop.

what should be the ruling?  how should the rest of the hand be played?

thanks for your help!

farrell

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Dealer Errors, Bad Flops, Etc., Texas Holdem | Print | 3 Comments »

December 24, 2007 by lsoderman.

This one came up over the weekend…

 Players are heads up, middle of a MTT. Action is still available, one player shows one card. By the rules, he should be warned followed by a penalty if he persists.

The questions came, however, whether both cards should be turned over. By the ruling that gets him in trouble, turning over the second card is only a compounding of the problem. I was told, however, that this is exactly what was being done at this year’s WSOP.

 I can’t find a rule that describes turning the hand over as a remedy. Any thoughts?

Posted in Fouled Hands, Mucking, Dead Hands, Etc, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties | Print | 2 Comments »

December 20, 2007 by frenchflush.

Does anyone knows where I can find a list of all the different poker games (like Chicago, Baseball, Spit in the Ocean etc …)?

I finded some but am not sure they are the most complete! (I know it can be unlimited … let speak about the 100-150 most played!).

TY in advance!

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Other Games | Print | 3 Comments »

December 19, 2007 by wiredaces14.

I ran into an interesting situation at a table of a Pot-Limit Omaha game that I was looking for clarification on.  In a Pot Limit game, as a dealer I know to calculate any “pot” verbal as a pot size raise.  NOW, I had a player state “I bet the pot”, meaning that he did not intend to raise the pot size, but rather bet the size of the current pot.

 Scenario:  $1-$2 Pot Limit.  $24 in pot Pre-Flop.  After the flop, Player A Bets $16 and Player B states “I bet the pot”, but when I announced his raise as a total of $72 ($24+16bet+16call= raise of 56).  In this case the player’s intention was to bet the current amount of the pot (which would be $40).

Is this a legal bet??  As a dealer this creates some grey area to the pot size bet, and I have never run into this issue before, and didn’t think this was even a legal bet.  IMO if a player intends to raise any amount other than a full pot size raise, it is their responsibility to calculate their intended raise and give a numerical value.  What is next? I bet 3/4 of the pot plus 2? 

As a dealer I know verbals to be binding.  If a player states fold, they surrender their hand, If they state call they must meet the current bet, and if a player states the word “pot” they must make a full pot-size raise.

 Responses Appreciated.

Posted in Limit, No-Limit, Pot Limit, Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn, Texas Holdem | Print | 2 Comments »

December 18, 2007 by Sonny.

I am hoping to get some clarification of a rule. I run an amateur poker league, and I get players of all different skill levels who play with us. One of the things I try to do, is not only give rules, but give the “why” of the rule.  Another problem that I try to overcome, is the abundance of “house rules” , and misunderstood rules that people “think” they understand.

Lately the “disclosing contents of a live hand” rule is coming into question. I have players who think they have the right to tell people what they have in their hand, as long as they are lying. So we have a player who likes to tell opponents what his hand. His opponents think this is not allowed and call for me. The language of rule is about “disclosing or exposing” The argument is, if he is lying, then he did not disclose anything, therefore he is within the rules. And the problem is, now other players are following suit, thinking they have found another angle. I was considering using the disruptive behaviour rule. The problem is, everytime he announces his cards, someone wants me to check them. And I don’t think that is part of my job to be at the whim of someone who wants to angle. Where did this thing about disclosing contents, as long as you are lying come from? And is there anything in TDA, or Robert’s rules, that is more clear? I can see how the language can cause challenges. Thanks for your input.

Sonny

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties, Limit, No-Limit, Pot Limit, TDA & this forum: Questions, Comments, Suggestions, Texas Holdem | Print | 3 Comments »

December 3, 2007 by Legato.

The following happened at my table during a recent TDA sanctioned tournament:

Blinds 300/600. First player in tosses in 2*500 chips without announcing anything. It’s considered a call. I am not in the pot and I don’t get involved in the discussion until after the hand where I state that I thought it was a raise in a situation like that, because:

* The raise is more than 50% of the minimum raise (1000>900).
* The one chip rule does not apply since 2 chips were used.

The other players at the table say I’m wrong and it’s a call, they fail to motivate why though. One of them really wants to know and calls floor over. Floor says it’s a call in the described situation. The next day I talk to my neighbour at the table (a pokerstars pro) about the ruling, asking him of his opinion. He says he’s sure that it’s a raise and calls the head floor over. He says it’s a call, and when we ask if throwing in 3*500 on 400/800 also would be a call he says that would be a raise. He does not tell us why he thinks we are wrong when we say “there is no 2 chip rule, right”?

My conclusion is that he felt that the intention of the 2*500 is clearly a call, while the intention of the 3*500 is clearly a raise. But is it really the right decision to abide by intention when “the book” clearly states it’s a raise? IMO it’s much easier if rules are enforced strictly according to book, since players will then learn to announce “call” or “raise” if the intention isn’t 100% clear. To me it seems like tricky follow up situations can occur otherwise. Let’s say someone calls his bet putting in 600, and the player now says “ohh, I meant to raise, it’s got to be 1200 right?”, what do you do know?

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties, Limit, No-Limit, Pot Limit, Money & Chips, Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn | Print | 6 Comments »