Tournament Director (T.D) reserves the right to make decision in the spirit of fairness as the top priority in the decision-making process.  T.D decision is final.

Playing Rules

1. General

• This is a live pubs, clubs and casinos tournament, we play a Texas Hold’ em No Limit – Double chance Freeze out, for our league players play to earn points by playing weekly to qualify to the Grand final for the prize fund.
• Membership fee is €10 per game, Entry is FREE, No re-buys are allowed.
• At the start players are given 2500 chips, if at any stage after first hand is dealt up to the first break, you can get a top up of 2500 chips but you could NOT do this middle hand only between hands.
• If the Tournament Director has been informed, before the start of the tournament that a player will be late, they will be allocated a seat, with the full starting stack. The blinds will be posted as usual until their arrival.  If however, the player has not arrived by the end of the first break, the player will be eliminated from the tournament and the remaining chips taken out of play.
• If a player arrives after the Tournament has started without informing the Tournament Director, they will be allowed to play with the reduced chip stack in relation to the blinds at the time of their arrival as follow:

Blinds Starting Stack   =  2500  with 1 top-up

At level 25-50             :  2400

At level 50-100           :  2200

At level 75-150           :  1900

At level 100-200         : 1600

At level 200-400          : 1400

After break : it is too late to start.

• A Player can leave the table at any time, but cards will be automatically folded, along with blinds if in that position.
• Players may not ask for advice as how to act during a hand.  If a player shows one player their cards they must show all players. Only the players are allowed to play their hand.
• Asking to see additional board cards after play is over, is forbidden.
• Speaking a foreign language during a deal is not allowed, English only at the table.
• A player who wants to use a cellular phone or any communication device must step away from the table.

2.   Cards/Hands

• Players must keep their cards in full view above table-level and not past the edge of the table.
• The cards should not be covered by hands in a manner to completely conceal them.
• A card that is flashed by a player will continue play.
• If you drop any cards out of your hand onto the floor, you must still play them.

If a card is exposed due to dealer error, a player does not have an option to take or reject the card.  The situation will be governed by the rules for the particular game being played.

3.   Chips

• Any player is entitled to a clear view of an opponent’s chips.  Higher denomination chips should be easily visible.  Anyone taking chips away from the table including during breaks unless being moved to a new table, will be disqualified.
• When a player throws in an oversized chip without making a verbal declaration, before the flop an oversized chip is a call.  After the flop, an oversized chip by the initial bettor will constitute the size of the bet  An oversized chip by a player facing a bet will be considered a call.
• When the Tournament Director “chips up” any odd number of chips will receive a chip of the higher value. E.g. When the ’25′ chips are no longer in play, a player with an odd 25,50 or 75 chips will receive one ’100′ chip in return.

4. Blinds

• Players must post blinds before cards are dealt.
• No player misses their big blind, the big blind moves clockwise, small blind and dealer button just follow it round.
• A Player cannot be big blind twice in succession.
• An absent player is always dealt a hand, and will be put up for the blinds.
• If a player does not have enough to cover his blind/ante, a side pot is created before cards are dealt and the side pot will equal the amount of the all-in times the number of callers through players being eliminated, no player should miss a big or small blind.

5. Folding, Calling, Betting and Raising Procedures

• Verbal declarations are blinding “Call & Raise”.
• Fold: A verbal or physical declaration (throwing cards forward) stands but is poor etiquette.  Cards cannot be retrieved, even if the betting round is checked.  Repeated folding out of turn may incur a penalty.
• Players must not declare what has been folded until the hand is complete.
• Check: If a player checks out of turn, the check stands if there’s no betting prior to his turn. If a bet has been placed, he may fold or call but cannot raise.
• Players must not declare what has been folded until the hand is complete.
• Check-raising (checking, then later raising over a bet) is allowed
• When betting a bet must be at least the amount of the big blind
• When raising a raise must be at least the amount of the previous bet.
• String betting (placing out bets with more than one motion without verbally declaring your intention) is forbidden. Any betting motions after the first motion will be dismissed.
• Under raise: This occurs when a player raises a prior bet but has to go all-in to do so.  If the player under raising – going all in to raise, has less than half of the expected raise for that betting round, the betting round is locked it means who has already acted in the round may no longer raise.  They may only call or fold.

6. Split Pots, Side Pots, and going All-in

• A player who is all-in must show his cards at the showdown.
• In the case of a split pot when there are two or more high hands, the chip(s) will be split as evenly as possible (chips may need to be broken down into smaller denominations) with any odd chip(s) left over given out to the winning player with the worst position (left of the button being the worst).
• Each side pot will be split as a separate pot. They will not be mixed together before they are split.
• When a player creates a side pot by going all-in, the side pot will be the current pot plus each call up to the amount of the all-in. Any raises (or calls in the case of a below-the- limit all-in) go into the new pot.
• At the showdown with a side pot, the player who is all-in can only win the pot set aside when he or she went all-in. After the winner of that hand is resolved, the players involved in the main pot determine the winner without regard to the all-in hand.
• In case of multiple side pots, a player can only win up to what he put in times the number of calls up to the all-in amount.

7. Killing a Hand / Dead Hands

• Another player who is in the hand may call for a clock against a player who is taking an unreasonable amount of time to make a decision.
• Once a clock is called for, the player with action will be given one minute to make a decision. If a decision has not been made by the time the minute is over, there will be a 10-second countdown. If a player has not acted on his hand by the time the countdown is over, the hand will be dead.
• A player must be in their seat by the time all players have complete hands in order to have a live hand. Otherwise the blinds/antes will be forfeited and the hand will be killed.
• If a live hand touches the muck, it will immediately be ruled dead.
• If a dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to his money back. An exception would be if a player raised and his raise had not been called yet, he would be entitled to receive his raise back.
• Dealers cannot kill a winning hand that was turned face up and was obviously the winning hand.
• Dead hands :Your hand is declared dead if you fold or announce a fold when facing a bet or raise

8. Exposing Cards

• During the initial deal, if any pocket card is exposed due to dealer error, it is a misdeal.
• If a player accidentally exposes their cards, the game continues.  It is the player’s responsibility to protect their cards at all times.  If any player at the table saw the exposed card(s), then any other player at the table has the right to know what the exposed card(s) was.
• A player who exposes his cards during the play may incur a penalty, but will not have his hand killed. If any player at the table saw the exposed cards, any other player has a right to know what the exposed card or cards were.
• At the showdown players begin the show their cards starting with the player to the left of the last to call. A player may “muck” his cards if they cannot win over a previously shown hand. If the house suspects cheating or collusion, you may be asked to expose your cards to the dealer, coordinator, and/or the other players.
• Any player who is live during the showdown may ask to see both pocket cards from a player who reveals only one.
• Any player may ask another player to reveal his or her pocket cards if they were exposed to any player at the table.
• A player may not ask to see both pocket cards from another player who revealed them to a spectator

9. Penalty Situations

Penalties available for use by the tournament director are verbal warnings 5, 10 and 15 minutes away from the table and may be used with discretion. These may be utilized up to and including disqualification. A player who is disqualified shall have his chips removed from play.

• A penalty may be invoked if a player exposes any card with action pending, if a card(s) goes off the table, if soft-play occurs, or similar incidents take place. Penalties WILL be invoked in cases of abuse, disruptive behavior, or similar incidents.
• Players who appear intoxicated, or act in a disrupting manner, will not be allowed to play/continue. Players, who act abusive, are ejected, banned from a venue for their behavior during a league event, or found to be cheating of any nature will face a lifetime ban from the League.

10.  Players arriving late and leaving during a game

• If a player leaves after the Tournament has started, and advises the Tournament Director (T.D) they will not be returning, the cards remains “Live” and blinds will be posted for every hands
• If this player makes it to the final table, they will be receive 10th place only and allocated 1 point.
• If a player leaves after the Tournament has started, and advises the T.D they will be returning the cards remains “Live”, The empty position will be dealt cards and post small and big blind as per usual, until they return. If they have not returned before the final table start, they will be receive10th place only and allocated 1 point.
• If a player leaves the Tournament without advising the T.D of their intention, if they have not returned before the final table start, the player will be eliminated from the tournament and the remaining chips taken out of play.

The above are IPPT League rulings, as we appreciate that some players due to work or personal matters sometimes cannot make it to a venue for the start time, or may have to leave at some point during the Tournament.