Etiquette

POKER ETIQUETTE

Click here for complete tournament rules.

In the interest of fair and honest tournaments the following rules will be actively enforced:

  • Be Cool: Bad (and stupid) beats happen, how composed you remain in defeat says a lot about your character. Red Hot Poker Tour operates on a one warning system for verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour directed at another player. Second time = removal from the Tournament.
  • Checking the Muck: Looking at cards in the muck is cheating – so keep your hands out of the muck or you may be asked to leave the tournament. Players checking the muck must surrender a black chip (or equivalent to all-in) to the TD. Players checking the muck a second time results in a removal from the tournament (any remaining chips are removed from play). Players checking the muck a third time, even if in different tournaments, results in a two-week suspension.
  • Rookie Mistake: If you fold, don’t talk about your cards (or overtly react to cards) before the hand is over. If you know someone is bluffing watch them to gain information.
  • Pocketing Chips: Putting any chips (including pink/white chips) into your pocket has never been permitted. DOING SO FORFEITS THE CHIPS. If for any reason you have pink/white chips after you have been eliminated from the tournament, you must surrender them to the tournament director. If you attempt to use them in a tournament, it is cheating, and results in an automatic loss of membership.
  • “Soft Play”: Making an agreement to check a pot down to the river is collusion (a form of cheating) and not permitted. Collusion results in a removal from the tournament (any remaining chips are removed from play). Players colluding a second time, even if in different tournaments results in an automatic loss of membership.
  • Etiquette: Players who persist in conducting themselves in ways that are intentionally disrespectful to the game of poker or other members will receive a suspension and potentially a loss of membership. Unacceptable conduct includes: “rabbit hunting,” not submitting or pushing blinds or bets at least a foot distance from you (making it clear chips are in-play), not keeping cards in full view of others, not folding your cards to the muck, ordering chips in such a way that it is not possible for an opponent to understand the total chips in your stack, not keeping your highest value chips at the front of your chip stack, swearing and/or making derogatory remarks to another player, baiting another player to confrontation, and generally not following the Tournament Director’s instructions. There is a three strikes rule in effect: first time: warning, second time: you lose your spot in the tournament, third time: one month suspension. Rulings are at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

REGISTRATION

  • There is no pre-registration available.
  • Players are seated in the available spots on a ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis.
  • Once the available spots in the tournament have been filled, players are then placed on a waiting list and replace players that are eliminated from the Tournament.
  • No player, including waiting list players, will be seated after the first hour to ensure a quality tournament for all players.
  • All players are welcome to play for free, not all players gain final table points.

WAITING LIST PLAYERS

  • Waiting list and/or late players always have chips removed from their starting stack at the start of each blind level. A total of 2000 chips are removed from the 8000 starting stack during the first hour of play.
  • The chips do not go into play.
  • Players do not post when they are seated unless the open spot is the Big Blind.
  • If seated in the Small Blind the player waits until the button (deal) passes their position before being dealt a hand. A player may come in to the game as dealer at anytime; sometimes referred to as the “dead puck situation”.

BETTING RULES

Each round of betting can have a maximum of four (4) raises.

  • BETTING – When initiating action, the minimum bet is always the amount of the big blind.
  • RAISING – The initial raise is always double the big blind to ALL-IN.
  • RAISING A RAISE – The minimum raise is always double the amount of the previous raise, to ALL-IN.
  • ALL-IN – You can raise to ALL-IN (all your chips) in any betting round. A player that calls your ALL-IN with more than your chip total only needs to match the total of your chips. A player that calls your ALL-IN with fewer chips than you, can only win the total of their bet (you retain the difference if you lose).
  • SIDE-POT – A player cannot win more than the chips bet, multiplied by the number of players that equaled the bet (called). So bets placed after a player (or players) have gone ALL-IN is placed into a side-pot and goes to the best hand of the remaining players.
  • CHIP-OUT – Chips valued at 25, 100 and 500 will all be removed when they are no longer necessary.

Tournament Director Rulings are Final.