Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The
following words and terms as used for Texas Hold 'em tournaments shall have the
following meanings:
"All-in" means a player bets all of his or her chips.
"Betting interval" means the period of play during which each
player has an opportunity to bet, check, raise, call or drop (fold).
"Big blind" means a mandatory bet, typically twice the amount
of the small blind, placed by the player to the left of the small blind
position before cards are dealt.
"Board/community cards" means the cards dealt face up in the
middle of the table that may be used by all players in constructing a standard
five card poker hand.
"Burning" means discarding the top card from the deck face
down.
"Call" means a player placing enough chips into the pot to
make their contribution equal to, but not greater than, the contribution of any
other player.
"Check" means a player remains in the round of play but does
not place a bet. This may only occur if no previous player has made a bet
during the betting interval.
"Dealer button" means an object used to designate the player
in the dealer position.
"Equipment" means the standard 52 card deck of playing cards
and chips used for betting during the conduct of Texas Hold 'em.
"Fold (drop)" means a player discards his or her hand and no
longer participates in the round of play.
"Hand" means any combination of two pocket cards and/or five
board/community cards that are used to create a standard five card poker
hand.
"Hi/Lo" means a variation of Texas Hold 'em in which the
highest and/or lowest poker hands split the pot.
"Pocket cards" means the two cards dealt face down to each
player that can be used only by that player in constructing a standard five
card poker hand.
"Raise" means a player places enough chips in the pot to
call, plus one or more chips.
"Rake/cutting of pot" means that the entity holding a Texas
Hold 'em tournament takes a portion of the pot as poker revenue.
"Re-buy" means the fee paid by a player to purchase
additional chips.
"Round of play" means the period of play commencing with the
first card dealt by the dealer and concluding with the awarding of the
pot.
"Side pot" means a new pot(s) established by the dealer after
a player has gone all-in and additional bets have been placed.
"Small blinds" means the mandatory bet placed by the player
immediately to the left of the dealer button before any cards are dealt.
"Wild card" means a card that may serve as any other suit or
value in making a poker hand.
(b) A Texas Hold 'em tournament shall be
conducted with equipment that is owned by the licensee or rented from a casino
equipment provider approved by the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission
and maintained in accordance with
13:47-20.15(a).
(c) In a Texas Hold 'em tournament, all
players shall pay an established buy-in for the same value of chips; chips
shall not have a cash redemption value.
(d) A Texas Hold 'em tournament shall be
played at tables large enough to accommodate a dealer and up to 11 players in
such a manner as to ensure that players may examine their cards without
disclosing their value to other players.
(e) The method of play for a round of play in
a Texas Hold 'em tournament shall be as follows:
1. The dealer shall manually shuffle the
cards prior to each round of play;
2. Prior to the first round of play, the
dealer shall place the dealer button in front of the player immediately to the
dealer's left. The dealer shall move the button to the next player in a
clockwise direction prior to commencing each subsequent round of
play;
3. The player immediately to
the left of the dealer button shall post the required small blind before the
beginning of each round of play;
4.
The player immediately to the left of the small blind position shall post the
required big blind before the beginning of each round of play. When all but two
players have been eliminated from the table, the player with the dealer button
shall post the small blind and the other player shall post the big
blind;
5. All cards shall be dealt
clockwise beginning with the player immediately to the left of the dealer
button;
6. The dealer shall
commence betting interval one by burning a card and then dealing one card to
each player face down, then a second card to each player face down;
7. Players may examine their pocket cards at
any time;
8. Players shall keep
their pocket cards face down in full view of the dealer at all times and shall
ensure that they are examined in a manner that does not disclose their value to
other players;
9. Betting interval
one shall proceed as follows:
i. The player
immediately to the left of the big blind position is the first to act and must
call, raise or fold (drop);
ii.
Betting continues in a clockwise direction until each player has had an
opportunity to call, raise or fold (drop), with the exception of the player in
the big blind position who may check if no other player has raised;
and
iii. Raises are limited to
three per the betting interval;
10. The dealer shall commence betting
interval two by burning a card and then dealing three board/community cards
face up in the middle of the table, commonly referred to as the Flop;
11. Betting interval two shall proceed as
follows:
i. The player immediately to the
left of the dealer button is the first to act and must bet, check or fold
(drop).
ii. Betting continues in a
clockwise direction until each player has an opportunity to bet, check, call,
raise or fold (drop); and
iii.
Raises are limited to three per the betting interval;
12. The dealer shall commence betting
interval three by burning a card and dealing one board/community card face up,
commonly referred to as the Turn;
13. Betting interval three shall proceed as
in (e)11 above;
14. The dealer
shall commence betting interval four by burning a card and dealing one
board/community card face up, commonly referred to as the River;
15. Betting interval four shall proceed as in
(e)11 above;
16. Upon completion of
the four betting intervals:
i. If only one
player remains in the round of play (that is all but one player has folded
(dropped)), the remaining player is not obligated to show his or her hand;
or
ii. If two or more players
remain in the round of play, the player who made the last bet shall show his or
her hand first, or, if no player has placed a bet, all remaining players shall
show their hands;
17.
Any combination of a player's pocket cards and/or board/community cards may be
used to construct a standard five card poker hand;
18. If only two players remain in a round of
play, and one player does not have enough chips to call the bet made by the
other player, then the player with the fewest chips may move all-in and the
player with the most chips shall remove enough chips from his or her bet to
make it equal to the bet of the player moving all-in. The round of play will
then continue with no further betting;
19. If two or more players wish to bet more
than the bet of another player moving all-in, the dealer shall establish a side
pot;
20. The dealer shall declare
the last remaining player the winner or determine the winning hand among the
remaining players in accordance with the appropriate ranking of poker
combinations consistent with (f) below;
21. In the event of a tie the high card not
used in the poker combination shall break the tie;
22. If a tie cannot be broken the pot shall
be split equally between the players who have the hands that are
tied;
23. Pots shall be awarded to
the player(s) with the winning hand; and
24. The dealer shall collect the cards and
shuffle them prior to the next round of play.
(f) The ranking of poker hands, from highest
to lowest, is as follows:
1. Royal
flush;
2. Straight flush;
3. Four-of-a-kind;
4. Full house;
5. Flush;
6. Straight;
7. Three-of-a-kind;
8. Two pairs; and
9. One pair.
(g) In Texas Hold 'em, all suits have the
same value. The rank of cards, from highest to lowest, shall be ace, king,
queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, except when an ace is used as a low
card in a straight (ace, 2, 3, 4, 5).
(h) Re-buys are permitted. A maximum of three
re-buys are permitted within the first hour of play.
(i) The order of finish for a Texas Hold 'em
tournament shall be determined by one of the following methods:
1. If play continues until all but one player
is eliminated, the order of finish shall be the order of elimination from last
to first. The last remaining player shall be declared the winner; or
2. If play stops at a set time, the order of
finish shall be determined by ranking the value of chips held by each player at
the end of play from highest to lowest. The player having the highest value of
chips shall be declared the winner.
(j) The following restrictions shall apply to
the method of play:
1. Wild cards are
prohibited;
2. Hi/Lo games are
prohibited;
3. Rake/cutting of pots
is prohibited;
4. A player shall
not bet on more than one hand in any round of play;
5. Players are prohibited from exchanging
information concerning their hand; and
6. Players that fold (drop) from the round of
play shall not reveal their pocket cards.
(k) A player shall be eliminated from a Texas
Hold 'em tournament when he or she has lost all of his or her chips and is not
able to re-buy.
(l) Any dispute concerning a
Texas Hold 'em tournament shall be referred to the licensed Class A Casino
Night Operator for final determination.
(m) A casino night holder conducting a Texas
Hold 'em tournament shall post the rules governing the tournament in a
conspicuous manner. Such posting shall include:
1. Buy-in and value of chips
received;
2. If the holder permits
re-buys, a statement that includes:
i. The
number of allowed re-buys (maximum of three);
ii. The purchase price for each
re-buy;
iii. The value of chips
received with each re-buy; and
iv.
The period of time during which re-buys are permitted (limited to, at most, the
first hour of play);
3.
The time that the tournament will end or a statement that the tournament will
continue until all but one player is eliminated;
4. The amount of blinds and the progression
of increase in the blinds;
5. A
statement that raises are limited to three per betting interval;
6. The prize payout schedule; and
7. Any other information essential to a
player's understanding of how the tournament will be conducted.
(n) No casino night holder shall
conduct more than six Texas Hold 'em tournaments in a calendar year.
(o) A casino night holder
shall conduct a Texas Hold 'em tournament only when at least one other casino
night game authorized by
13:47-20.4 is being
played.
