Poker Rules

There are two situations when a player can be moved in a tournament:

1. A single player is moved to a new table to correct a table imbalance.
   • When a player is selected to move individually, we try to minimize the number of moves. If possible, the system tries to choose a player who has been moved less than others or to choose a sitting out player. Once the player to be moved is chosen, we try to find a seat for that player that has a relative position to the button close to the one the player was at previously.
2. An entire table might be redistributed to fill empty seats at other tables.
   • This happens when there are enough empty seats available to eliminate one table from play. The new table is chosen completely randomly.
   • Sometimes, this can create a situation where you’ll be moved back into the blinds after just paying them and even move from under the gun to a late position. All players are subject to the same random chance in such a move.

In summary, there are two fundamental goals that the table balancing system achieves, and they are:

• To distribute movement evenly between players.
• To maintain the position of the blind.

When two or more players are eliminated during the same hand, the player who started the hand with the most chips will be the one who ranks higher for the tournament. If all players started the hand with an identical number of chips, all players tie for that rank, and any prizes will be equally distributed between them.

For example, we have 6 players left in a tournament, and 2 players were eliminated in the same hand while starting the hand with the same stack. In such a scenario, players will receive the same amount: (Prize5 + Prize6)/2.

During hand-for-hand play, two or more players eliminated during a single ‘synchronized‘ hand are treated as having been eliminated simultaneously, even if they are at different tables. So, you may notice another player eliminated during the same hand-for-hand phase yet not allocated with a finishing order place until all tables have completed that hand. Players eliminated during the same hand are then ranked according to who started that hand with the most chips.

Hand for hand is a multi-table situation that occurs during the latter stages of a poker tournament. During hand-for-hand play, each table must wait for all other tables to complete their hands before starting next hand. Hand for hand is necessary because as a poker tournament draws closer to the next tier of prize payouts, it becomes vital to have a precise and definitive ranking of players to pay eliminated players accurately.

There is no rule against sitting out and folding every hand. A player who is sitting out puts his opponents at a significant advantage. A player sitting out is folding every hand, forced to pay his blinds and antes, and can never build his stack.

On rare occasions, a player might blind off into a cash position, but players using this strategy are usually in a much worse position than those who play their best game.