New Year, New Rules

During the year 2001, there were many new rules that were introduced in both tournament and ring game poker. As poker progresses, rules will be instituted on a regular basis that will help to protect players, tournaments, and the overall image of poker. A giant step was taken in trying to standardize rules for poker tournaments. The following is a list of rules adopted by many major tournaments in the year 2001:

Tournament Directors Association Standard Rules

1. Chip race rule: When it is time to color-up chips, they will be raced off with a maximum of one chip going to any player. The chip race will always start in the No.1 seat.

2. Odd chips: The odd chip(s) will go to the high hand. In flop games, when there are two or more high hands or two or more low hands, the odd chip(s) will go to the left of the button. In stud-type games, the odd chip will go to the high card by suit.

3. Side pots: Each side pot will be split as a separate pot. They will not be mixed together before they are split.

4. Calling-for-the-clock procedures: Once a clock is called for, a player will be given one minute to make a decision. If action has not been taken 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.

5. Dead button: Tournament play will use a dead button.

6. Penalties: 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 if similar incidents take place. Penalties will be invoked in cases of abuse, disruptive behavior, or similar incidents.

7. Players must be at the table to call time. In flop games, the big blind's hand will be dead if he is not there to act on it before the flop. In stud-type games, the forced low hand will be immediately dead if the player is not there to act on his hand at the time he is required to put money in the pot (the minimum bring-in will be posted and the hand will be killed).

8. Half-bet rule: If a player puts in a raise of 50 percent or more of the previous bet, he will be required to make a full raise.

9. All cards will be turned faceup once a player is all in and all action is complete.

10. In limit games, an oversized chip will be considered to be a call if the player does not announce a raise. In no-limit, an oversized chip before the flop is a call; after the flop, an oversized chip put in the pot will constitute the size of the bet.

11. The one-player-to-a-hand rule will be enforced.

12. A draw for the button will be held at the beginning of each flop-type event.

13. Tournament and satellite seats will be randomly assigned. In satellites, the dealer will shuffle and give each player a seat assignment that cannot be exchanged.

14. The English-only rule will be enforced during tournament play.

I agree with almost all of these rules and hope that the year 2002 will bring many more standardized rules. In my next several columns, I will explain the benefits of these rules and why they are important. I will also talk about some yet-to-be-adopted rules that I believe would be beneficial to tournaments in general.

If the poker room that you frequent has not adopted the above rules, it would be beneficial to yourself as a player to express your opinion to the tournament director as to how you feel about standardized rules. The more players show their support for standardized rules, the more management will be inclined to listen.

Maybe by the end of 2002, we will see an increase in the number of rules used by all cardrooms, as well as an increase in the number of tournaments that use standardized rules.