February 29, 2008 by Steve Silver.

I am the tournament director at the River Poker Room at the Mountaineer Casino in West Virginia.  I deduct 1 Small Blind and 1 Big Blind for each round the late registering player misses .  This never goes past the third round as thats when registration closes.  I put the missed blinds into the pot on the first hand that the new player is in as dead money.  There are some players that argue with me and want a full stack.  They tell me that the Bellagio gives full stacks even if a player is late.  I told them that I would give a full stack only if the event was sold out and the players in line were ON TIME. They would be seated as alternates.  BUT late players would be blinded off. Any comments?

Thanks

Steve Silver

Posted in Late Registration, Missing Players Etc, Registration, Buy-Ins, & Awards | Print | 4 Comments »

February 25, 2008 by frenchflush.

Hello,

Do you agree if: A is button / B is SB / C is BB … B is eliminated … X is arriving because of a closing table (not to balance) … B seat is the only seat free … X seat there and I make it:

X is button / C is SB / D is BB !

For me there is no reason in this case to have X wait for the button to pass BECAUSE PLAYER “A” ALLREADY HAD DURING THE PREVIOUS HAND THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE THE BUTTON (and to play at the best position).

In fact if B was still there, A, C and D would be now in this same situation: A as cut-off, C as SB and D as BB!

So X takes is seat and immediatly plays as the button BECAUSE IT CHANGES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR THE OTHER PLAYERS!

I ask that because so many people used with this internet eternal sentence “a new player can’t play immediatly at button or small blind” …

 Your opinion?

 GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Empty Seats, Penalties, Clocks, Ejected Players, Buttons & Blinds, Seating & Moving Players | Print | 2 Comments »

February 20, 2008 by 52cartas.

Hi all,

Situation: At the beginning of a “S n G”. The dealer brings the turn without burning a card. Nobody notes it, player A makes a bet and player B calls. Another player, not in that hand suddenly realizes that no card was burn.

Question: Are two actions considered “substantial action” here?

Thanks a lot.

Posted in Gross Misunderstandings, Underbets, etc, Substantial Action, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Dealer Errors, Bad Flops, Etc., Misdeals | Print | 2 Comments »

February 19, 2008 by Nina C.

I’m putting together a Holdem, Stud and Omaha 8 or better tourn for about 32 ppl. Only omaha will be 8 or better. I would like to structure it as pot limit. Can anyone out there direct me to any source where I could find a good structure for this evernt?

Posted in H.O.R.S.E. Variations, Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Start Chips, Blind Raising Structure, Tourney Timing, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties, Tournament Directors, Event Structure & Management | Print | 1 Comment »

February 18, 2008 by drneau.

I’ve always been of the opinion that if a paying player has failed to show for a tournament or has to leave during the middle of a tournament, then that player’s chips should remain on the table and that player should be blinded out.

 I’m fully aware that many tournaments subscribe to the “if they aren’t coming back, then remove their chips” method.  My question: Why?

 Why not leave their chips on the table, let them be blinded out and finish where they finish when their chips run out?

 My opinion: If you remove their chips, then they should get their buy-in back.

Thoughts?

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Registration, Buy-Ins, & Awards | Print | 2 Comments »

February 17, 2008 by paigowtommy.

Playing last night when this situation arose.  Blinds at 300/600, under the gun raises to 2300, 2 folds, J to my left was watching TV (slam dunk competition), so I let him know it was his turn to act.  He acts (poorly) like he didn’t know it was his turn and announces “raise TO 2000″, and throws out 2000 in chips.  Well, the raise before him was to 2300, so then he throws out 10000.  TD asks me what the ruling should be.  I said since he specifically stated an amount, and that amount was less than a legal bet, it should be a call.  If he would have just stated raise, it would have been a minimum raise.  The TD, lets his bet of 10K stand, UTG goes all-in and J insta-calls and flips over pocket KK.  He knew exactly what he was doing and admitted to doing it as an angle to induce action from UTG.  I mentioned that is against the rules, and it shouldn’t have been allowed.  Who was right?

Posted in Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn | Print | 5 Comments »

February 11, 2008 by -EvelcyclopS-.

this is one the racing post can’t solve!

 Our 4th annual society poker series is coming up, and we always schedule in  HORSE game… in our first year, the organisers ere ignorant of the fact that the WSoP played 7stud8 rather than the PLO8 we played. The year later, they were a little wiser, and opted to play the “official” version, and has been played like this to this date. now i am in charge, and having played in the original HORSE (with PLO8) game, i felt it was a far more enjoyable experience, and i wish to revert back to the format. HORSE as it is, i find quite turgid, with it mostly being 7stud format games, but takes on a frsher character with plo8. I’m facing objections from one person in the society (ex chair no less). basically his argument is that it is not right and proper to play the unnofficial version of the game. With this view, i would be also obliged to revert back to holdem on the final table (which will not be happening during my reign). I also think its a pretty lame argument:- the WSOP is not the be all and end all of poker, i play poker for enjoyment, and i presume most of our members do too, and i find the official version just too much to bear. With his view i cant see why we shud ever play any other game, or format that does not carry a bracelet… However, i’m a man of reson, so i’ve come to see what an experienced director thinks of the quandry

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, H.O.R.S.E. Variations, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Lowball & Razz, Other Games, High-Low Games, Uncategorized | Print | 4 Comments »

February 7, 2008 by Spessartine.

A few quick questions for those of you who probably know better than I, and hopefully you can help me out.

1. Up until the WSOP rules were brought to our attention last year, my bar league always played that No-Limit meant there was no maximum on bets/raises, and no limit to the number of raises allowed. The WSOP 2007 rule set we have has a rule (that the head honchos brought in after a lot of player griping), where a player who has already acted cannot reraise an all-in that doesn’t make a minimum raise. I’ve been fighting this tooth and nail ever since, so I’m a little biased, but I am curious too. Does anyone know where this rule comes from? It sounds suspiciously like a Limit rule to me, that people are accidentally applying to NL play. Is this rule enforced in NL games at the WSOP? What’s the basis for it?

2. I recently had to toss a player from a tournament who got rowdy (while drunk) when he realized that we shorten the blinds at our final table (30 minute blinds until the final table, and then 15 minute blinds). This rule predates me, and has a very necessary basis in finishing the tournament before the bar has to lock the doors for the night. The player claimed that this is absolutely unheard of and a gross misconduct on our part. Any thoughts? ** I realize that we could probably accomplish the same thing with constant 20 minute blinds, but this is one of the few things that I don’t get to decide. Also, it should be noted that the blind schedule and timing is posted with our rules for all to see, and I always mention it if some one asks about the blind schedule.**

Posted in All-In Bets; Re-Opening Betting, Side-Pots, Split Pots, Start Chips, Blind Raising Structure, Tourney Timing, Limit, No-Limit, Pot Limit | Print | 5 Comments »

February 6, 2008 by Jodly.

I have raised money from 11 backers to play in a series of tournaments in Vegas.  I will divide a percentage of any money won between the backers.  Obviously  I need to account for taxes.  I thought the way to do this was to file out a form 5754 from the IRS that is used to create multiple W-2G’s for each winner in a gambling activity (apparently used in Lotteries alot).  The IRS even uses a Poker tournament in their example on their website.  Trying to be thorough, I contacted Caesars poker room to find out exactly how they handle form 5754 and they told me they don’t recognise form 5754!  I will just get a w-2G for the whole payout and it’s up to me to deal with the backers however i want.  How is this situation usually handled?  Should i hold out a percentage for taxes?  Can I force Caesars to take a form 5754?

Posted in Registration, Buy-Ins, & Awards | Print | 1 Comment »

February 5, 2008 by frenchflush.

Hello,

Here is the case: NL Hold’em tournament - blinds 15/30 - four players left at the turn - pot of 450 - player A bet 300 - B folds - C folds - player D his having his cards in the hand close to his face (probs of vision) - the dealer don’t see the cards of D (think he folded or wasn’t in anymore) and push the pot to A (a total of 750) - player A throws is cards to the muck and start mixing his chips - before the dealer restart shuffling the cards, D react and claim for his right to act because he still has his cards in the hand …!?!

Well I gave him reason and asked player A to give back (only) 450 to D (a kind of agreement because I could also ask A to give 750 right?).  My arguments was that even if not seeing directly the cards, a pro dealer and a good player should have remember that D was still in the hand … AND … D reacted BEFORE the dealer started to shuffle the deck! I recommanded anyway to player D to let now his cards ON the table while playing.

What do you think?

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Fouled Hands, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Showdowns & Pot Awarding, Dealer Errors, Bad Flops, Etc., Mucking, Dead Hands, Etc, Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn | Print | 2 Comments »