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:
  1. Dealer deals two cards (one at a time) face down

     to each player.

  2. Betting round 1 occurs.
  3. Dealer burns one card and

     deals 3 cards (flop) in the middle of the table face up.

  4. Betting round 2 occurs.
  5. Dealer burns one card and deals one card (turn/4th street) in the middle.
  6. Betting round 3 occurs.
  7. Dealer burns one card and deals the final card (river/5th street).
  8. Betting round 4 occurs.
• 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.