Basic Rules For No-Limit Texas Hold'em

1. Prior to dealing the cards, two blinds (the Small Blind and the Big Blind) are placed in the 'pot' by the two players to the immediate left of the dealer. The 'blinds' are put in to start the action.

2. Everyone is dealt two down cards ('hole cards'). The action begins with the player to the left of the Big Blind folding, calling, or raising. Action continues with all players making one of these decisions. This is the first betting round.  Any amount of raise is allowed pre-flop.

3. Upon completion of the first round of betting, the dealer turns over three cards (community cards known as 'The Flop'). This is the second betting round. Beginning with this round of betting (and throughout the remainder of the hand), the player to the left of the button acts first. A player may now check or bet.  If there is betting and/or raising in front of them, they may call, raise, or fold.

4. Following the completion of action on The Flop, the dealer turns over another card (known as 'The Turn' or 'Fourth Street'). This is the third round of betting. Once again, the betting starts with the player closest to the left of the button.

5. Following the completion of action on The Turn, the dealer turns over the last card (known as 'The River' or 'Fifth Street'). This is the final round of betting.

6. Upon completion of the final betting round, the best hand wins the pot.  The player with the best 5 cards wins the pot; BOTH "hole" cards must be shown to win!

BAR RULES

* No cost or fee is necessary to play in our tournaments *

1. Players must arrive sixty (60) minutes prior to the tournament start to register and sign-up on the players list. Early sign-ups or call-ins will NOT be accepted, NO EXCEPTIONS. Each participant in The Poker Pub may sign-up themselves and one other person.

2. Normal rules of No-Limit Texas Hold'em apply.

3. Each player will receive $4,000 in chip points (19 total chips).

4. When all tables are full and players are seated, each person draws a card. The person with the highest card takes first deal (there is NO suit preference). If two players have the same card, they draw again. The deal then passes in a clockwise manner.

5. Those persons on the waiting list will fill empty seats in the order in which they are vacated. After thirty (30) minutes of the tournament have passed, the waiting list will close and NO waiting players will be allowed to join. Every waiting list player must post the Big Blind when they join their first table.

6. Blinds will be raised every twelve to twenty (12-20) minutes (25-50 ---> 50-100); this will be announced by the floor men. If a hand is still being dealt during the blind raise, the next round of play will be with the raised blinds.

7. In the event that the first session runs long, the second session blinds MAY start at 50-100. This is at the floor mens' discretion.

8. Players not at their table when they are to post a blind will have that blind posted for them (out of their chips) by the dealer. If said player is STILL not at their table when their turn comes in the first round of betting, their blind will be automatically added to the pot and their cards will be mucked (i.e. thrown into the fold pile).

9. If a player leaves the tournament early for any reason, ALL of his/her chips will be evenly distributed between the remaining players at his/her table. Any remaining chips that cannot be evenly distributed will be added to the pot for the next hand.

10. A ten (10) minute break will be offered after the first hour of play. Players must leave their chips so that they can be broken down and replaced with higher value chips (due to the increased blinds).

11. Once a player is eliminated (out of chips), they are not allowed to re-buy or borrow chips. If they want to play again, they must sign-up for the next round.

12. Pre-flop, the minimum bet is up to the Big Blind (i.e. calling the Big Blind). If any additional betting takes place either pre-flop or post-flop, the minimum bet is the Big Blind. On Fourth Street and Fifth Street (the final two cards), however, the minimum bet is double the Big Blind.

13. If hands are turned over early, betting is frozen and the hand is played out—highest hand wins. Abuse of this rule will result in disqualification from the hand, and possibly the tournament!

14. Moving players to new tables will happen as follows:

*If the whole table is moving: The host will have all players draw a card and re-direct them to a new table. 

*If only some players are moving from a table: players outside of the blinds and dealer will draw a card; the host will direct the player(s) who is moving to their new table. 

**Redrawing for dealer at a table (once the tournament has begun) will only happen if an equal or greater amount of players are brought to a new table & at the Final Table (regardless of how many players are brought over)!

15. THE IDEAL POSITION FOR A NEW PLAYER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE BUTTON (TO THE IMMEDIATE RIGHT OF THE DEALER). If a player finds him or herself in the Big Blind, he/she may wait for the deal to pass. If a player finds him or herself in the Small Blind, he/she must wait for the deal to pass.  If the blinds are "big, big", a person brought in from another table, that sits immediately to the dealers left will NOT have the option to post big.  They will have to wait until the deal passes them.

16. All players who make it to the final table (top 8), will be invited to join the other nightly top finishers in the Qualifer Round where the top 24 will progress to the TOC (Tournament of Champions).

17. Remember—it's JUST A GAME and best of all, it's FREE!!!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

* All players MUST forfeit their smaller chips when the floor men come around to change out the chips, NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

* If a table winds down to four (4) players, notify one of the floor men and they will add more players or reassign the table.  A table can NOT play with less than 5 players, unless it's the Final table!

* If there are any disputes or questions, they will be handled by the floor men.

* The Poker Pub and the participating establishment reserve the right to disqualify any player at their own discretion.

* Please use poker ettiquite and refrain from the following: No string betting, pot splashing (keep bets in front of you till round of betting is complete), strattle betting or chip-dumping.

* Please keep mucked cards seperate from burned cards.

* A Poker Pub Employee will Deal when the tournament winds down to 7-8 players and a final table is reached.  This will prevent confusing situations that might not be resolved correctly during play.

*If a card is accidentally flipped up (exposed) while dealing, there is NEVER an option to keep the card.  Continue dealing as usual and the exposed card will be replaced with what would have been the first burn card (the exposed card then becomes the burn card).  If a card is exposed on one of the blinds it is an automatic misdeal.

*Once cards are mucked (either intentionally or accidentally) they are "dead".  Please use a card protector to prevent any other cards from touching yours, thus preventing accidental mucks!

*Once a player verbalizes that they need to leave the tournament; after the third (3rd) time, their chips will be divided up for them, and they will no longer be allowed to play in that session.

*Players that arrive late to the tournament will have chips deducted based on the time they sign-up.  100 chips will be deducted for every 5 minutes they are late. (i.e.- tournament starts at 7pm: 7:01-7:05 = 100 chip deduction; 7:06-7:10 = 200 chip deduction...etc)

*Cards and chips must remain on the table at all times and in full view of everyone.

*If the person to the right of the dealer does not wish to cut the cards, the rest of the table (moving to the right of the dealer) has the option to.  Only one player will be allowed to cut, and the dealer cannot cut their own cards.  A legal cut must be at least seven (7) cards; and the cards may only be cut ONCE (no double/tri-cuts)!  The deck MUST be cut before dealing.

*Players must be AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD, and be able to show valid proof of I.D. if asked.

*A player can not show another player one of their cards to try to get a read on them.  This is bad etiquette and will not be tolerated!

*A player away from their seat for 15 minutes or longer, will have their chips divided evenly among the remaining players at their table.

Card Rankings (What Beats What)
High Card (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2)
Pair (A,A, etc.)
Two Pair (A,A,K,K, etc.)
Three-of-a-Kind (7,7,7, etc.)
Straight (Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, etc.)
Flush (five cards of the same suit: Spades, Hearts, Clubs, or Diamonds)
Full House (K,K,K,8,8, three cards of same denomination plus another pair)
Four-of-a-Kind (K,K,K,K, etc.)
Straight Flush (sequential five cards of the same suit)
Royal Flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of the same suit)

Points Awarding

First place/100 points
Second place/80 points
Third place/60 points
Fourth place/55 points
Fifth place/50 points
Sixth place/45 points
Seventh place/40 points
Eighth place/35 points
9th-16th place/15 points