TOURNAMENT RULES
We hold two poker "seasons" each year. A season consists of a 20 week tournament, with one tournament game per location per week. Player scores each week are tabulated and rankings are maintained. At the end of the tournament, the top players from each location play in a championship match for prizes, titles and awards!
During each tournament night, players are to play out their set number of chips. The standard 1000 points in chip value is given out, though it is at the discretion of each location to assign the value of each chip color, based on the attendance, chip style, and chip count available. Please check with your local location's staff for details the night of the game.
The last three players to leave the table are awarded "tournament points." The person to win it all gets five points, the person cleared out by them gets three, and the person leaving before them gets one. Everyone else playing who left earlier gets an evening of practice out. Remember, if you're one of the last to go, that's a whole lot of eyes watching to figure out your tells and strategies! How you finish takes just as much bluffing as how you go in!
Most locations award a prize for each evening's winner or winners. This is definitely encouraged, as it helps boost attendance and excitement, but is not at all manditory. They value your patronage, so if you feel a location that does not offer prizes should, politely suggest it to the staff or visit another location. We have no control over the decisions of management on ths issue.
At the end of the season the top four players from each location continue on to the all-day championship. Because many players play at multiple locations, but can only occupy one chair at the tournament, often we will add additional players from location based on their highest point accumulation at a given location. We do not allow combining tournament points from multiple locations, and we do the totalling.
The all day championship is a "last man standing" tournament, or in this case sitting, as in at the table. Players again start with 1000 chip points, and keep playing until it's down to one person holding all of the chips. It's that simple!
POKER RULES
We currently play Texas Hold 'Em as the standard tournament game. Between tournaments we encourage locations to play other forms of poker, providing the rules for everyone of course, to encourage diversity in the challenge and possibly a deeper appreciation for the many different forms of the game that have been passed down through the generations.
For rules on different styles of poker that you can play, as well as instructions forthese games, please visit some of the great poker resources found here on the internet.
OTHER RULES
Besides the rules of poker specifically, and the tournament overall, we ask that certain rules pertaining to ettiquite be followed. Please do not look at another player's cards unless they specifically show them to you. If tyou are in the game this will happen if called or challenged head to head to go "all in." If you are not in the game at the moment, it is still prohibited, as while you may not mean to give their hand away, you still may have tells that clue in those around you. It's bad form.
Any smoking, profanity, controversial topics of discussion, or other potentially distracting or otherwise potentially harmful behavior must be agreed upon by everyone at the table before proceeding. We're all here to have a good time.
No weapons of any kind may be brought to the table. Discussions of weapons you have in your vehicle is strongly discouraged. No fist fights are allowed at the table. If you must fight, take it outside during a properly allocated game break.
Enjoy yourself, and remember to tip your servers.