Poker in the Pub Rules

All players must be 18 years or over

General Rules

Poker in the Pub leagues run for 12 weeks. During this time pubs should play either 10, 11 or 12 games with no more than 1 game each calendar week. If you wish to play more than 1 game a week, you can start a B league in your pub.

Any scores not uploaded within 4 weeks will be negated. For example, if week 1 scores are not uploaded by week 5 then the pub will lose the scores and the tournament will be marked as void. If there is a valid reason why you will not be able to upload scores in this time period you must let us know beforehand.

If a player is unable to attend a regional final then their seat can be passed to the next highest scorer, the place can only be passed down a maximum of 3 places. So if a pub has 3 qualifying places and the top 2 players are unable to attend, players up to and including 6th place can be offered the seat. Even if only 2 players in the top 6 are able to attend the 3rd seat will not pass to seventh place. Poker in the Pub must be informed of any changes to the qualifiers. Exceptional cases will be considered on an individual basis.

The number of National Final seats awarded as prizes at the regional finals will be given out on a 1: 10 ratio from who qualifies within that region. If 82 players qualify then 8 seats will be given out as prizes. (Please note. This is based on the number of qualifiers not the number of people who actually turn up and play)

If a player who has already qualified for the National Final wins another National Final seat, then they will win the next prize down that is not a national final seat and the seat in the national final will pass down to the next eligible player at the regional final.

If a player cannot attend the National final in November then they have the choice to carry the place over to the next National Final in May. If they chose not to then this place will be passed down to the next qualifier at the regional final where they won their seat. Seats in the May National final can not be carried over into the next season so any player who is not able to attend will lose their place and it will go to the player below them in the regional final.

At the national finals, play will stop once the Vegas holidays are reached and the final table will be played out in Las Vegas.

If a player wins a Las Vegas holiday at the November National final and then finishes in a Vegas holiday position at the May final, they will receive £800 spending money instead of an additional Vegas holiday. The Vegas holiday prize will not pass down.

Any player who wins a holiday to Las Vegas but is under the age of 21 during the Vegas trip dates will be offered £800 as an alternative prize.

In Las Vegas players will start with the chip stacks they finished with at the national final. These stacks will be balanced against the number of players at each national final meaning that if two players from different national finals each finished with 20% of the chips in play at their finals, they will start the final table in Las Vegas with the same amount of chips, even if their actual chip stacks at the end of their national finals were slightly different.

Points for Poker in the Pub nights

Players receive 40 points for each player they finish above, plus bonus points for finishing in the top six.

Bonus points are 1st 1500, 2nd 1000, 3rd 750, 4th 500, 5th 250, 6th 100

So with 11 players:

1st.. 1940 (440 + 1500 bonus points)
2nd..1400 (400 + 1000 bonus points)
3rd.. 1110 (360 + 750 bonus points)
4th.. 820 (320 + 500 bonus points)
5th.. 530 (280 + 250 bonus points)
6th.. 340 (240 + 100 bonus points)
7th.. 200
8th 160
9th 120
10th 80
11th 40

KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER

There are several main rules that every player should know.

• Do not act out of turn.
• When raising say ‘raise’ and then push/place the whole amount into the pot in one movement. Alternatively say how much you would like to raise to avoid any confusion.
• The first action you make will be your move; if you say ‘call and raise’ you are now forced to only call.
• Do not discuss anyone’s hand including your own whilst there are still players in the pot.
• Do not show your cards to anyone.
• Do not pass chips to anyone.
• Play fairly, no team play is allowed.
• Do not add or remove any chips from the table.
• Do not waste time, this is not the World Series of Poker.

FAIR PLAY

Poker in the Pub brings together a wide variety of different people and players. Whether you are playing for fun or taking it seriously our aim is for everyone to have an enjoyable evening. Disagreements and mistakes will always occur so below are the basic rules which all the Poker in the Pub games should abide by. If a situation comes up that is not listed please use your best judgment to determine the right course of action.

THE GAME

• No Limit Texas Hold’em.
• Each level will last for 15 minutes.
• All players will start with $2000 in chips.
• Each starting stack must consist of at least 4 $25 chips and 4 $100 chips.
• Once a player has lost all of their chips they are out of the tournament.

BLIND STRUCTURE

BLIND STRUCTURE
Level 1	25-50
Level 2	50-100
Level 3	75-150
Level 4	100-200
Level 5	150-300
Level 6	200-400
Level 7	300-600
Level 8	500-1000
Level 9	1000-2000	Estimated completion level for 10 players
Level 10	1500-3000	Estimated completion level for 20 players
Level 11	2000-4000	Estimated completion level for 30 players
Level 12	3000-6000	Estimated completion level for 40 players
Level 13	4000-8000
Level 14	5000-10000

SEATING AND DEALING

• Seating will be determined by drawing cards (A-8 are used for 8 players). The A will be the button, deuce will be small blind (SB), 3 is big blind (BB), etc.
• The cards will also show your table number.
• In order to keep the game running smoothly the most competent dealer at the table should take over the dealing for the whole table. If a dealer cannot be decided on then all the players must deal on their button.
• The player on the dealer’s right must always cut the cards before a hand is dealt.

BLINDS

• The two players to the left of the dealer are required to post “blind” bets before seeing their cards. The 1st is the SB and the 2nd is the BB.
• If the SB is knocked out, the button essentially goes into his empty seat.
• If the BB is knocked out, then the BB moves on to the player who would have had it next and there isn’t a SB on this hand (SB moves into the empty seat). On the following hand, the button would wind up in the empty seat. The player who just had the BB would have SB, and the BB moves on normally to the next player.
• When play is down to two players, figure out who would get the BB next if nothing had happened. He will be the BB on the next hand. The SB is always on the button and the other player is the BB.

THE DEAL

• The player to the right of the dealer must cut the deck before the cards are dealt.
• The dealer is responsible for making sure that all bets have been called before dealing each round of card(s).
• Order of the deal:
  • Dealer deals two cards (one at a time) face down to each player, starting with the player to the left of the button.
  • Betting round 1 occurs. (PRE FLOP)
  • Dealer burns one card and deals 3 cards in the middle of the table face up.
  • Betting round 2 occurs. (THE FLOP)
  • Dealer burns one card and deals one card (turn/4th street) in the middle.
  • Betting round 3 occurs. (THE TURN)
  • Dealer burns one card and deals the final card (river/5th street).
  • Betting round 4 occurs. (THE RIVER CARD)
• Mucked cards cannot be retrieved from the pile.
• If a player is missed out in the deal or the deal starts on the wrong player the hand should be re-dealt if it cannot be easily amended.
• If a card is exposed during the deal, the deal carries on around the table as normal. The card exposed card is now shown to the table, the player is now given the top card from the deck and the exposed card is placed on top to become the burn card. The button does not move.
• If a burn card or a mucked card is exposed, the card is made available to the table. The hand is not re-dealt.
• If a community card is exposed prior to the action being completed, the card should be swapped with the top card in the deck. If two or more flop cards are exposed swap the first one as normal and then use the third card in from the back of the deck. If another is needed use the 4th back.
• If there was a bet or raise on the end, the person who made that last bet or raise shows his/her cards first. If it’s checked around, the first person to act (left of dealer) shows first.
• If a player is shown a better hand, he is not required to reveal his cards.

BETTING

• A checkraise is allowed.
• The minimum bet is equal to the size of the BB.
• The raise must always be at least double the size of the previous bet or raise.
• Any player can bet all of their chips at anytime (ALL-IN).
• Betting round 1 begins with the player to the left of the BB.
• Betting rounds 2-4 begin with the player to the left of the button.
• When only two players are left sitting at the table, the BB is dealt to first, the button acts first before the flop, and the BB acts first after the flop.
• Do not splash the pot. Stack your bets in front of you and push them into the pot after the betting round is complete. This will eliminate some confusion that may occur with no limit betting.
• Do not bet, check, call, fold, or raise out of turn.

POKER ETIQUETTE

The following actions are improper, and grounds for warning, suspending, or barring from all future games.

• Deliberately acting out of turn.
• Deliberately splashing chips into the pot.
• Agreeing to check a hand out when a third player is all-in.
• Revealing the contents of a live hand in a multihanded pot before the betting is complete.
• Revealing the contents of a folded hand before the betting is complete.
• Needlessly stalling the action of a game.
• Deliberately discarding hands away from the muck.
• Making statements or taking action that could unfairly influence the course of play, whether or not the offender is involved in the pot.
• Stacking chips in a manner that interferes with dealing or viewing cards.
• Using a cell phone at the table.

CODE OF CONDUCT

The following are not permitted

• Verbally or physically threatening any patron or employee.
• Creating a disturbance by arguing, shouting, or making excessive noise.
• Using profanity or obscene language.
• Throwing, tearing, bending, or crumpling cards.
• Destroying or defacing property.
• 
  
  Shuffle Up and Deal!