   
Blinds: During the opening rounds, all tables will begin play at the same time. Blinds will change at predetermined intervals. When the blind change is announced, the blinds will change on the next hand dealt, not on the hand being currently played.
Missed Blinds and Other Blind Rules: When the small blind is eliminated or when both blinds are eliminated during a hand, the dealer button does not move for the next hand. The players who should have next paid the small and big blinds will continue to do so. When the big blind is eliminated during the hand, the dealer button will move to the next player. The player due to pay the next big blind will play the big blind. There will be no small blind in that hand.
Betting: The tournament is no-limit betting, including no limit on the number of raises per betting round. Check and raise is permitted. String bets or raises are not allowed. A player must put in the full amount of the bet at one time or announce his intention to raise. No pot may be awarded until all losing hands have been killed. The winning hand should remain face up until the pot is awarded. All cards will be turned face up once a player is all in and all action is complete.
Before The Deal: Everyone at each table will draw a card. Whoever draws the highest card will begin the deal, or if multiple high cards are drawn, those people will redraw. Highest card wins the deal.
The players to the left of the dealer are always the "blinds"; small blind and big blind.
The blinds serve a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the hand. However, only two players will "post" or "put up" the blinds.
The first player to the left of the dealer is the small blind. The second player to the left of the dealer is the big blind. As the deal rotates around the table all players must pay both big and small blinds. (See below: Missed Blinds) Once small and big blinds are paid the dealer is ready to deal.
Opening Deal The dealer always deals from the player closest to the dealer's left. Moving clockwise around the table, the game will "deal in" each player.
The players will be dealt one card face down, then a second card face down.
A round of betting will occur starting with the player seated to the left of the large blind.
The player seated to the left of the large blind will always have the action on the opening deal. This player may not check, but rather can only fold, call, or raise the amount of the large blind.
The game will now advance to each player seated asking to fold, call, or raise until we reach the large blind for an action decision. If no one has raised by the time the play comes back around to the large blind, the large blind has the option to "check" his own BLIND wager or raise. Once all players have completed the first round of wagering, they will proceed to the flop.
Flop: Before the flop, the dealer will burn one card face down into the pot. After the burn card, the dealer will deal three cards face up in the center of the poker table. These three cards are called "community cards" which are available to all players for potential use to make a poker hand. The area in which these cards lie on the table is commonly referred to as the "board".
After the opening deal, the player who is seated closest to the left of the deal shall have the initial action for the remainder of the game. The player that has the action may check or bet. As soon as one player chooses to bet, then the other players in the hand can no longer check; they can only fold, call or raise by any amount since this is a no-limit tournament.
Turn Before the turn, the dealer will again burn one card face down into the pot. After the burn card the dealer will deal one card face up in the center of the poker table. The player who is seated closest to the left of the deal, again, shall have the initial action.
River Before the river the dealer will again burn one card face down into the pot. After the burn card the dealer will deal one face up in the center of the poker table. This is the last card dealt for the players.
Showdown After all action is complete during the river, players must now show their cards to determine the winner. The determination of which players' cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the action or with the person who had initiated the last bet, raise or reraise. This simply means that whoever had the last action on the river must show his/her cards first.
A player who has a winning hand does not have to show his/her cards if his/her bet was not called. A player is not required to show their cards if, and only if, they are not the player who had the last action. If a player calls a bet and sees that he/she cannot win, he/she may fold his/her cards. The best hand, best five card combination, takes the pot.
Betting & Side Pots After all bets are complete before the burn card the dealer must move all chips into the center of the pot. When raising, a player must either put the amount of the raise out in one motion or state the raise amount. By stating the word raise, a player protects his right to raise, but the raise must be made in one additional motion unless he states the amount. When a player goes all in, this means that a player is making a bet that uses up all of the chips he has remaining at the table. If there is only one other player left in the hand at that point, the betting has ended for that hand, and the dealer will deal out the remainder of the cards. If there are three or more players remaining in the hand when someone runs out of money and goes all in, a "side pot" is created, which is contested only by the players who still have money. It is possible, in multi way hands, for more than one side pot to be created, if more than one player runs out of money at different times. If you are involved in a side pot, you may win that, even if you cannot beat the all-in player for the main pot.
| Poker Hand Rankings |
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1. Royal Flush
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal. 2. Straight Flush
Five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J- 10- 9- 8- 7 . Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5- 4- 3- 2- A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot "turn the corner": 4- 3- 2- A- K is not valid. 3. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as "quads", and in some parts of Europe it is called a "poker", though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2 . It can't happen in standard poker, but if in some other game you need to compare two fours of a kind where the sets of four cards are of the same rank, then the one with the higher fifth card is better.
4. Full House
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as "sevens full" or more specifically "sevens on tens"). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A . If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.
5. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K- J- 9- 3- 2 beats K- J- 7- 6- 5 because the nine beats the seven. 6. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q- J- 10- 9- 8 . When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five. 7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better. So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q . If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared. 8. Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K . Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4 . 9. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q . If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8. 10. High Card
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
The Dealer: The dealer will shuffle the deck of cards, and offer the cut to the player always to the right of him. When a supervisor makes a decision on a hand that decision is final. There will be no type of protests allowed. The supervisor(s) also has the right to eject any player from a table upon his discretion including when a player may be using vulgar language, arguing with players, or cheating.
Dealer Errors: If a player's hole card is exposed due to a dealer error, then it is a misdeal. All cards will be collected, reshuffled, and redealt.
If a player is dealt more or less cards than the game he is playing in calls for, then it is a misdeal.
Before the flop, turn, or river, if the burned card is not burned and showed as one of the face up cards on either the flop or showed faced up as either one of the turn or river cards, the card is picked up (along with the other two cards showed face up on the flop for example) and placed into the deck and reshuffled. If the flop has too many cards, it will be taken back and reshuffled except the burn card will remain burned.
No new burn card will be used. If cards are flopped by the dealer before all the betting is completed, the entire flop is taken back and reshuffled. The burn card will remain and no additional burn card will be used for this flop.
If a card is showed face up by the dealer during the turn or the river after the burn card but before all betting is completed, the card is picked up and the deck reshuffled. A new card will then be showed and no new burn card will be burned.
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