CHAPTER 11 Poker Classic

Basic Info

The game is no-limit Texas Hold 'Em. The entry fee per tournament is usually $2 to keep it friendly and for educational purposes. Don't let the low buy-in fool you, the play is very competitive.
Cheat sheet of rankings of poker hands.

In one evening, it is quite easy to complete two tournaments.

Winners and Historical Tournament Results

Payout Chart

Official payout chart for tournaments from 6 to 30 players is located here.

The design criteria for the payout chart were:

• At least a 1 in 3 chance of winning your entry fee back.
  
• We want the game to be congenial, not cutthroat, and to encourage a large number of players.
  
• A big difference between 1st and 2nd place payouts.
  
• On the other hand, we like the last few positions to have meaningful play and some excitement.
• Payout is expressed in whole units, where 1 unit = a tournament's entry fee.
  
• Allows for varying entry fees and not having to worry about breaking bills when prizes are paid out.
  

House Rules

• Everyone starts with 700 in chips; 4 ten value chips, 8 twenty value chips, and 5 hundred value chips.
• Blinds
• Start at 10 and 20 blinds.
  
• A common timer is set to go off every 15 minutes, at which point blinds go up at all tables on the next hand. Blind values are:
• 10 / 20
  
• 20 / 40
  
• 40 / 80
• 60 / 120 (at the start of these blinds, chip up to eliminate the ten value chips; chip up time does not count towards the 15 minutes)
• 100 / 200
• 140 / 280
• 200 / 400 (at the start of these blinds, chip up to eliminate the twenty value chips)
• raise by 100 / 200 from now on.
• When 4 players remain, blinds go up every 10 minutes to quicken the finish of the tourney.
• At the start of the tournament, and when whole tables are combined, players will draw to randomly determine their table and seat position.
• In case of multiple tables, whenever the number of players at a table falls to two or more below another table, players will move from the larger table to the smaller table. (Usually this will only be one player, but if there's a monster hand where multiple players go all in and then out it's possible two or more players may need to move at once.) Each player at the larger table will be dealt a face up card, with the high card recipient moving to the smaller table.
• Raises: The player may raise the bet by matching the amount of the first bet and adding an equal amount to it thereby making it 2 bets, or bet his entire stack (no limit hold'em). Thus, he may raise the bet any amount in between the original bet and all the chips he has.
• Re-raises: The player may re-raise by matching the amount posted by the previous caller or raiser and adding an amount equal to or greater than the previous raise. For example: Player A starts the betting at $100, Player B raises $400 to $500 (Player B posts $500, his raise is $400), Player C calls and posts $500. If Player D now wants to re-raise, he must raise by $400 or more ($400 being the amount of B's raise, the previous raise). So, to raise again, Player D would post $500 + x (where x is his raise of $400 or more). There is no limit to the number of reraises per round. [Derived from Poker Dictionary, http://www.planetpoker.com/games/dictionary/vocabr.asp]
• If two (or more) players are eliminated on the same hand, the player who started the hand with the most chips will be awarded the higher finishing position.
• When two Players remain, the Player due to assume the Big Blind will do so, and the Small Blind will inherit the button. The Small Blind or button will act first prior to the flop and second after the flop. [Source: PartyPoker]
• All-in: If more than one player goes “All-In” during a hand, additional (side) pots will be created. A player may only win a pot equaling his All-In bet and the called bets from following players. For example if the person went all-in for $25, the most the main pot would be is ($25 x number of players in). So if the blinds were $50/100 and he went all-in and 5 people called including him, the main pot would be $25 x 5. The rest would be in the side pot. An all-in player can win from each player as much as he himself wagered. [Source: learn-texas-holdem.com]
• Misdeals: The following circumstances will result in a misdeal.
  Dealer exposes any of the “ hole” cards to any player
  Dealer starts with the wrong position or deals out of sequence (empty chair)
  Dealer gives any player less or more than the two “hole” cards
  All misdeals shall be reshuffled and cut
  Once two players (after the blinds) have acted upon their hands the entire hand shall be played to conclusion regardless of misdeal
  If too many cards are exposed during the flop or a card was not burned, the cards shall be reshuffled and a new card burned with three new “flop” cards being dealt
  If too many cards are turned or a card not burned during the “turn” or “river” the existing “community” cards shall remain with the remaining cards reshuffled and a new card burned and a new single card turned
  If a card is found face up in the deck it shall be placed on the bottom of the deck and the next card shall be played
  If a card is found missing from the deck prior to any betting it shall be replaced, shuffled and cut. If two players have taken action the hand shall be played to conclusion
  A card dropped or exposed by a player shall continue to be played.
• Chip-up: When racing for chips, a player can earn a maximum of one chip. [Source: World Series of Poker]
• Odd chips (ie. after splitting the pot for identical hand situations): will go to the left of the button; ie. to the player in early position. [Source: World Series of Poker]
• Tables will be balanced (Max occupancy - Min occupancy) according to the following variance:
  • 2 players if the number of running tables is > 2 and < 10
  • 1 player if the number of running tables is 2
  • [Source: PartyPoker multi-table tournament rules, PokerStars tourney rules, World Series of Poker (broken tables)]
• Late arrivals: Late players that have not missed the big blind (BB) will post BB on their starting hand and the regular BB when it is their turn. Late entrants that missed the BB, will post BB when they start and SB+BB in following hands for each BB they missed. This is effectively the same as someone who has folded their blinds from the beginning of the tournament.

Revision History

• 6/27/04: First release.
• 7/1/04: Specified this is no-limit hold 'em. Added rule about raises being equal to the original bet or more (up to all the chips the player has).
• 7/3/04: Changed 2nd chip-up from 100/200 blinds to 200/400 blinds. Added blind rules when only 2 players remain. Added rules for re-raises, all-ins/sidepots, elimination of 2 players or more, and misdeals.
• 7/10/04: New blind structure. Was: 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 100, 140, 200 small blinds. Now: 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100, 140, 200 small blinds. So starting chip stacks had to change too. Was: 8 x $5, 13 x $20, 5 x $100 ($800 total). Now: 6 x $10, 7 x $20, 6 x $100 (still $800 total). First chip-up now at 40/80.
• 8/22/04: Removed 140/280 blind level. Add rules for chip-up race, odd chips, 10min blinds when there are 4 players, and balancing players across tables. Starting chips now 5 hundred value chips, instead of 6 (better because chip sets come with multiples of 50 blue chips).
• 9/26/04: Revised and smoothed blind structure.
• 11/12/04: Added rule for late arrivals.