Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a) Poker shall be
conducted in a separate area of the licensed facility designated specifically
for the operation of Poker as approved by the Board or the Board's Executive
Director in accordance with §
467a.1 (relating to gaming floor
plan).
(b) Poker shall be played
with no less than two players. For all types of authorized Poker games in this
chapter, the dealer may not participate in the playing or outcome of the game
in any way except as otherwise authorized in this chapter.
(c) A player shall bet on the cards that the
player holds in his hand. All bets by a player shall be placed by the dealer in
the designated area of the table known as the pot. A player may be required to
place an Ante or Blind Bet prior to the receipt of any cards. After each round
of cards is dealt, a betting round shall be conducted. Each player shall decide
whether to continue contending for the pot by calling or raising the bet of the
other players.
(d) The object of
Poker is for a player to win the pot either by making a bet that no other
player elects to call or, depending on the type of Poker being played, by
having the highest ranking high hand, the highest ranking low hand or both the
highest ranking high and low hands in accordance with §
637a.6 (relating to Poker
rankings). If two or more players are still in contention for a pot after all
cards have been dealt and the final betting round has been completed, there
shall be a showdown among those players to determine which player has the
winning hand.
(e) The following
procedures shall be utilized by the dealer when dealing the game of Poker:
(1) The dealer shall place the stacked deck
of cards in either hand. After the dealer has chosen which hand in which to
hold the cards, the dealer shall continue to use that hand whenever holding the
cards during that round of play. The cards held by the dealer shall be kept in
front of the dealer at all times and as level with the Poker table as possible.
If during a round of play the deck shall be set down to handle a transaction,
the dealer shall place a marker button on top of the deck until the transaction
has been completed.
(2) The dealer
shall verbalize or physically indicate the action that is occurring at the
Poker table with regard to the conduct of the game and instruct each player as
to the player's various turns to act and options.
(3) All burn cards required under this
chapter must be kept separate from the pile of discarded cards.
(4) The dealer shall either:
(i) Count the entire deck of cards at least
once every 5 rounds of play to determine if 52 cards are present. The dealer
may count the stub in the games of Hold 'Em Poker and Omaha Poker.
(ii) Utilize an automated card shuffling
device, submitted to the Bureau of Gaming Laboratory Operations and approved in
accordance with §
461a.4 (relating to submission for
testing and approval), which counts the number of cards in the deck after the
completion of each shuffle and indicates whether 52 cards are
present.
(5) If a count
of the deck or stub indicates that the number of cards in the deck is
incorrect, the deck shall be removed from the table.
(6) At the completion of a round of play, the
dealer shall award the pot to the winning player or players after a showdown or
to the last remaining player if all other players have folded. Prior to pushing
the pot to the winner and collecting the winning hand, the dealer shall:
(i) Collect the cards from all losing
players. The losing hands shall be counted by the dealer to determine that the
proper number of cards has been returned.
(ii) Award all side pots.
(iii) Collect the rake in accordance with
§
637a.17 (relating to Poker
revenue).
(iv) Collect, if
applicable, any amount required to be contributed to a Bad Beat or High Hand
Jackpot payout fund in accordance with §§
637a.15 and
637a.16 (relating to Bad Beat
payout; posting of rules; contributions; counting and displaying of payout
amount; procedures for implementation; and High Hand Jackpot payout; posting of
rules; contributions; counting and displaying of payout amount; procedures for
implementation).
This section cited in 58 Pa. Code §
637a.5 (relating to shuffle and
cut of the cards).
