I’ve run a few home poker tournaments (playing no-limit Texas Hold’em) and they’ve went quite well. I figured someone else could benefit from the rules and setup that I use. My rules/setup is a compilation from various things I found on forums, newsgroups, and websites.
I’m posting this as a guide so that people don’t have to go through all the work that I had to when I wanted to setup tournaments. It’s meant as a simple starting point, change it to fit your situation.
Shuffle Up and Deal!
THE GAME
- No Limit Texas Hold’em
- Buy-In: $20
- Payout:
- 1st – 60%, 2nd – 40% (4-6 players)
- 1st – 50%, 2nd – 30%, 3rd – 20% (7-8 players)
INITIAL CHIP DISTRIBUTION
Players | $10 | $20 | $50 | $200 | Total |
4 | 45 | 30 | 25 | 11 | $4,500 |
5 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 | $4,000 |
6 | 30 | 25 | 16 | 8 | $3,200 |
7 | 28 | 21 | 14 | 7 | $2,800 |
8 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 6 | $2,400 |
SEATING
- Seating will be determined by drawing cards (A-8 are used for 8 players).
The A will be the button (first to deal), deuce will be small blind
(SB), 3 is big blind (BB), etc.
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.
- Betting round 1 occurs.
- Dealer burns one card and
deals 3 cards (flop) in the middle of the table face up.
- Betting round 2 occurs.
- Dealer burns one card and deals one card (turn/4th street) in the middle.
- Betting round 3 occurs.
- Dealer burns one card and deals the final card (river/5th street).
- Betting round 4 occurs.
- Dealer deals two cards (one at a time) face down
- Mucked cards cannot be retrieved from the pile.
- If a card is exposed during the deal, the deal is declared a misdeal
and the hand is re-dealt. 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 remains as is. It will not be burned.
- 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
- Check and raise is allowed.
- The minimum bet is equal to the size of the BB.
- The raise must always be at least 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 post 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.
SCHEDULE FOR BLINDS
Time |
SB |
BB |
20 minutes | $10 | $20 |
20 minutes | $20 | $40 |
20 minutes | $30 | $60 |
20 minutes | $40 | $80 |
20 minutes | $60 | $120 |
20 minutes | $100 | $200 |
20 minutes | $200 | $400 |
20 minutes | $300 | $600 |
20 minutes | $400 | $800 |
OTHER
- Agreements can be made between players at anytime to split the payout.
- If two players tie for the high hand, the pot is split. If there
is a split pot, not equally divisible by the number of players in
the hand, the “extra” chips will be awarded to the player
closest to the left of the button.
- If two players get eliminated in the same hand, the person who started
the hand with the most chips gets the higher finish and awarded the
corresponding prize pool for that placement.
I’m having a 30 person tourny on Sat. and I was wondering what should my chip count start at and what kind of blind schedule should I use? I want the tourny to last 3-4 hours, please help
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Check out Home Poker Tourney. They have a lot of great info there.
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How long does say a 6-7 person tournament last with your chips counts and blind schedule. Just curious.
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If a card is exposed during the deal, the deal is declared a misdeal
and the hand is re-dealt. The button does not move.
this is a very bad rule, what if someone had pocket rockets they would be pissed! the hand should only be a misdeal if it is the first card off the deck exposed or more than one card is exposed, otherwise the card should be replased with the burn card and the exposed card is now the burn card. I have played in many casinos and this is how they always handle it.
Skeva
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Thank you for all your hard work to furnish this information to amatuer and up and coming holdem players – its guys like you that make the internet what it should be..Also I hope as the game increases in popularity more people will bound together and write or call their congressional reps to make online gambling legal in the US…when you really look in to it its a win-win-win situation for all concened – too bad our pious politicians have no real balls.
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I’m planning a poker tournament next week, & need to find out on how to move players from one table to the next to keep the tables even. What player do I pull to place on another table & how does it work? Could you explain to me how & why it’s done, so I can explain it to to the players?
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in three-way action the button gets eliminated, leaving last hands small and big blind as the only players, who is the big and small blind then
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i have a home game every friday night (8 to 10 ) players . after two weeks or so we still have the same dilema, two players left and on the flop we get 7 7 10 then 10 on the turn then Q on the river. one player calls all in. second player calls. frist player to play shows k,3 second player pocket 2’s. my question is who should have won the hand.
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john, the one with K,3 wins…
choose the best 5 card hand with the 7 cards available…
he has the hand 10 10 7 7 K
while the other has the hand 10 10 7 7 Q
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Thanks for the guide! There’s nothing worse than a disorganised poker tournament. Don’t forget the beer and niblets!
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Hi ! could enyone explain please the “all in” rule, how to share the pot, when several players go all in. thanx
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