Legal | WSOP.COM HOUSE RULES
In order to promote integrity, fairness, and security, these House Rules
will govern game play on the WSOP.com website and mobile application
(“WSOP.com”), and all players will be required to adhere to the provisions
contained herein. Players must at all times comply with the WSOP.com Terms
of Service found here. In the event of any conflict between these House
Rules and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service shall take precedence.
Age Limit and Physical Location Eligibility
In order to play for real money on WSOP.com, players must be at least 21
years of age, and physically located in the State of Michigan. Players may
be required to upload verification documents to confirm their eligibility.
Wagering Limits
Cash games
The wagering limits for each cash game table, including the size of the
blinds (forced initial bets), appear in the WSOP.com poker client lobby.
When players join a cash game, they may sit down with any amount that is
between the minimum and maximum buy-in designated for that table, with the
funds being deducted from their cashier balance. Players may leave cash
game tables at any time, with their remaining funds being transferred back
to their cashier balance. In Fixed Limit games, players
may only bet designated amounts in each betting round. In No Limit games, players can bet as many of their chips as
they wish during any betting round. In Pot Limit games,
player may bet any amount up to the size of the current pot. During game
play, players may only wager the chips they have in front of them at the
beginning of a hand. For example, if a player starts a hand with $15 in
chips, while each of his opponents have $100, the player may only wager up
to the $15 with which he began the hand. Accordingly, he is only eligible
to win $15 from each of his opponents during the hand.
Tournaments
In tournament poker, players pay a designated entry fee and receive
tournament chips, which have no cash value and cannot be removed from play.
The structure of each tournament – including the maximum number of
entrants, the rate of blind escalation, and the payout structure – is shown
in the tournament lobby. The tournament ends when one player has
accumulated all of the chips in play. When a player loses all of his chips,
he is knocked out of the tournament (unless the structure of the tournament
allows eliminated players to re-enter or rebuy.) If two or more players are
eliminated in the same hand, the player(s) who began the hand with fewer
chips will be deemed to have been eliminated first, for the purpose of
calculating payouts.
Fees: Rake and Tournament Entry Fees
There are fees associated with participating in real-money poker games on
WSOP.com. The fee for participating in cash games is known
as the “rake”, and consists of a small percentage of each pot that is
retained by the house. The rake is determined by many factors including the
game stakes, the size of the pot, and the number of players who are dealt
into a hand. No rake is taken from a hand that ends during the first round
of betting (before the flop.) The rake schedule can be found here.
The fees for participating in tournaments on WSOP.com are fixed amounts
shown in the tournament lobby and buy-in screen of each tournament. The
total cost to enter a tournament is typically presented in the form of “$A
+ $B”, where $A is the entry fee that goes into the prize pool, and $B is
the fee that is retained by the house.
Tournament Play
In order to ensure that all players continuously participate in tournament
play and do not sit by while other players knock each other out of the
tournament; blinds and ante will be deducted from players who do not play
their hand which may result in a player being “blinded out”.
Split Pots
In the event of a tie between two or more players, the pot will be split
evenly among the winning players. In instances when the pot does not split
evenly, the odd chip amount will go to the winning player seated closest to
the dealer (clockwise). For example, if a pot of $50.25 is split between
two winning players, the player closest to the dealer will receive $25.13,
with the other player receiving $25.12.
Tournament Cancellation Policy
We reserve the right to cancel any tournament that is announced,
registering, or in a pending state.
Tournaments that are in progress that require cancellation due to a variety
of possible factors (server issues, widespread connection problems, power
outage, ISP network issues etc.) may be cancelled at the discretion of
WSOP.com, and a player who has been eliminated prior to the cancellation of
such tournament will not be refunded any amounts in relation to such
tournament.
Players who were not eliminated at time of cancellation will: (i) be
refunded any Buy-in, knock out fees, rebuys and add-ons which they have
purchased in relation to the cancelled tournament; and (ii) share equally
(regardless of a player's chip count) the higher of (a) the Buy-ins,
applicable knock out fees, rebuys and add-ons purchased by those who have
been eliminated prior to the cancellation of the tournament; or (b) the
guaranteed prize pool less the amounts distributed in (i).
Notwithstanding the paragraph above, in the event that a tournament is
cancelled while still in progress, WSOP.com reserves the right at its sole
discretion to refund players who were not eliminated from the tournament at
its time of cancellation using a formula based on: (i) a player's chip
count; (ii) the prize pool structure; and (iii) the prize pool actually
collected from players or the guaranteed prize pool.
For the avoidance of doubt, in the event that late registration is still
open after tournament has begun or the tournament has not materially
progressed and such tournament is cancelled, WSOP.com reserves the right
not to refund to players still in the tournament any shortfall between the
prize pool actually collected from players and the guaranteed prize pool.
In such circumstances, players who were not eliminated from the tournament
will be refunded within the next few days following the tournament's
cancellation.
Late Registration
The Late Registration feature permits a player to enter and start playing
in select poker tournaments after the first hand has been dealt and during
the late registration period set for such tournaments. This feature will
not be available once there are three players or less in an applicable
poker tournament, regardless of the late registration time period set for
the poker tournament.
Multi-Tabling
To keep the pace of play at an enjoyable level, players will be limited to
playing on a Personal Computer a maximum of ten (10) cash game tables at
any time and on their mobile device a maximum of four (4) cash games at any
time. There is no maximum on the number of tournaments in which a player
can play concurrently.
“Sit Out” Feature
The “Sit Out” feature is only intended for use in order to take short
breaks between extended periods of play during cash games. It is not
intended for use while no play is taking place at the table, or for waiting
on players to join or leave the table. WSOP.com reserves the right, at our
discretion, to take action against players using the "Sit Out" feature
excessively. Players who repeatedly abuse the "Sit Out" may have their
accounts terminated and WSOP.com may withhold any funds that are present in
such account.
Posting Policy
A player joining a poker table (with the exception of Seven Card Stud and
Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better) is required to pay an initial fee
(Post), equal to that table's Lower Limit Stake. The Post follows the same
rules as the
Blind Bets and allows the player to Sit-In at the table.
Players have the option to "Sitting Out" and waiting for the Big Blind
before beginning to play. Posting ensures fairness to all players, by
preventing players from entering a Poker game in a “Late Position” in order to avoid placing
Blind Bets.
Missed Blind Bets Policy
A player may choose to temporarily “Sit Out” from a table:
- If, while Sitting-out, the player misses their turn to place the Small Blind, when the player chooses to “Sit-In” again at the table, that player
will be required to Post. This Post consists of a "Live (active) Bet", equal to the Big Blind.
- If, while Sitting-out, the player misses their turn to place both the
Small Blind and the Big Blind, when the player chooses to “Sit-In”
again at the table that player will be required to Post. This Post
consists of a live bet, equal to the Big Blind, plus an additional "Dead (non-active) Bet", equal to the Small Blind, which is "donated" by the player directly
to the pot.
- If, while Sitting-out, the dealer button passes the player three times,
the player will be removed from the table.
Tie Hands Policy (for all poker variations except for Hi-Lo Poker)
In the event that two or more active players, participating in the poker
hand's Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is
determined by the High Card (i.e. a Pair of Aces beats a Pair of Kings).
Should the poker hands remain tied (i.e. a Pair of Kings vs. a Pair of
Kings), the highest ranking (valued) card, not held in common (the "Kicker"), determines the hand's winner.
In the event of exact ties in poker hand ranking, between two or more
active players, the table's Pot will be split evenly between those players. In the event of extra odd
chip(s) the first winning player to the left of the dealer, in a clockwise
fashion, will receive the odd chip(s).
Tie Hands Policy (for Hi-Lo Poker variations only)
In the event that two or more active players, participating in the poker
hand's Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is
determined by the High Card (i.e. a Pair
of Aces beats a pair of Kings) or Low Card (i.e. a 2 card beats a 3 card).
Should the Hi Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a Pair of Kings vs. a Pair of
Kings), or the Lo Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a 2 card vs. a 2 card), the
highest/lowest ranking (valued) card, not held in common (the "Kicker"),
determines the hand's winner.
In the event of exact ties in Poker hand ranking, between two or more
active players, the table's pot will be split evenly between those players.
In the event of extra odd chip(s) the first winning player to the left of
the dealer, in a clockwise fashion, will receive the odd chip(s).
Time Limits
To keep the pace of play at an enjoyable level, a time limit applies to
every player action. A warning will be given as
the player’s time runs down – if no action is taken before time expires,
his hand will be automatically folded, and he will forfeit any amount that
he has contributed to the pot. Certain tables may be designated as “turbo”
or “hyper-turbo” tables and will operate on shorter time limits to
accommodate players who enjoy a faster pace of play.
Time Bank
A “time bank” is an additional limited reservoir of time that can be
activated by the player for difficult decisions by clicking on the “Time
Bank” button. Players also have the option to have their time bank
automatically activated when their normal time to act expires via the game
settings. If a player has configured the time bank to be automatically
activated, it will only be used in hands where the player has voluntarily
invested money in the pot (this includes posting blinds out of turn).
Posting blinds when it is the player’s turn to post them will not be
considered a voluntary investment of money in the pot. Players who fail to
act before their time bank expires will have their hand automatically
folded.
All-In Players
A player who wagers all of his available chips is considered “all in.” An
all-in player is always eligible to win the “main pot”, which consists of
the amount wagered by the all-in player plus the amount of his contribution
that was matched by other players in a hand.
A “side pot” will be created for the players that continue to wager in the
hand after the all-in player is no longer able to make or match further
bets. Depending on the respective chip stacks of the players, a number of
side pots may be created in a single poker hand each time a subsequent
player is all-in.
For example, assume there are three players: A, B, and C, who have $100,
$120, and $200, respectively, at the beginning of the hand. Player A makes
an all-in bet for $100, Player B moves all-in as well for $120, and Player
C calls. The “main pot” will be $300 (consisting of $100 from each player),
and will be contested between all 3 players. A “side pot” of $40 ($20 from
Player B and $20 from Player C) will also be formed, but will only be
contested between Players B and C, because Player A was all-in for $100 and
did not contribute to the side pot. In other words, even if Player A has
the best hand among the three of them, only players B and C are eligible to
win the $40 side pot. If Player B or C has the best hand among the three
players, he would win both the main pot and the side pot (because, unlike
Player A, he had contributed to each).
Player Disconnection Policy
If a player is disconnected due to a reason specific to that player for
example, server issues affecting only that player or some of the players,
disconnection resulting from the player’s hardware or telecommunication
services used by the player, if the location verification service we employ
identifies the player as being located outside of the State of Michigan or
a player can't or does not log in when the tournament starts, the server
may automatically attempt to reestablish connection to the player.
If the connection cannot be reestablished in a suitable amount of time, for
ring games:
(i) if the player has not made a bet when it is such player’s turn
to act, he will automatically check;
(ii) if another player has made a bet, and a call is
required when it is the player’s turn to act, his hand will be
automatically folded. A player’s hand will not be treated as
‘all-in’ due to a player connection problem. Before any automatic action is
taken, the player’s time bank (if any) will be activated.
If the connection cannot be reestablished in a suitable amount of time,
then for tournaments which are in progress, the player will continue to
play the blinds and such blinds will be deducted from the player until the
player is “blinded out.” In the event that server resumes connection before
the player is “blinded out”, the player will automatically be reconnected
to the tournament and can continue to play in such tournament.
Server Outage Policy
In the unlikely scenario that a WSOP.com server experiences an unexpected
outage and such outage affects all players playing a ring game or
tournament:
· Cash games will roll back to their status before the hand then in
progress (interrupted due to the outage) as though it was never dealt;
· Players who are disconnected in the middle of a cash game will be
automatically refunded the funds they contributed to the pot in the
interrupted hand, and their balance at the table will be returned to their
Cashier balance;
Tournaments that are in progress will be cancelled at the discretion of
WSOP.com and the prize pool will be divided evenly among all the players
that are still in the tournament. Players who busted from the tournament
prior to the connectivity issue would remain unaffected, and be ineligible
for any prize.
Auto
-Muck Losing Hand
If a player is participating in a showdown, and his hand is ranked lower
than an already revealed hand, the player can opt to not show his losing
hand to the other participants at the table. To enable this feature, the
player must check the “Auto-Muck Losing Hand” box. In a multi-way pot at
showdown, any player’s hand that wins any portion of the pot will
automatically be revealed to the other participants at the table. If a
player wins a hand by virtue of everyone else folding, he will have the
option to choose "Show Hand" or "Muck."
Collusion
Collusion occurs when two or more players at a poker table attempt to gain
an unfair advantage by sharing knowledge of their cards or other
information. Collusion is prohibited and we use a variety of methods to
detect play that appears questionable or suspicious. More information can
be found in WSOP.com’s Terms of Service found here.
Fair Play
WSOP.com reserves the right to terminate the account of any player it deems
to be violating these House Rules, the Terms of Service, Michigan gaming
regulations, or any State or Federal law, and to take any action, as
specified in the Terms of Service and as permitted by law or regulation, to
address incidents requiring intervention.
Rat-Holing
WSOP.com considers it unethical for a player to leave a cash game table,
only to return to the table shortly thereafter with less than the amount he
had left with (known as “rat-holing”). If a player attempts to join a table
that he vacated less than 30 minutes prior, he will be required to bring to
the table an amount equal to or greater than what he left with.
Table Etiquette
Slow Play
Maintaining a reasonable pace of play is the responsibility of all players.
Players should aim to play at the same pace as other players at the table.
In-turn Checkboxes
Players can expedite game play by using the in-turn checkboxes to choose
their action (e.g. check, fold, etc) before it is their turn to act. The
selected action will be automatically taken when it is the player’s turn.
BLAST Tournament
Players participating in a BLAST Tournament must not discuss or reach any
type of agreement with regards to the distribution of the prize pool
between themselves.
If the prize pool displayed for a BLAST Tournament differs in the
tournament lobby, within the tournament table and the amount presented
following the prize pool draw, the prize pool displayed in the tournament
table shall govern.
Following the hand in which the countdown clock reaches zero, all
subsequent hand(s) will be played “all-in” by the players until there is a
single winner.
Prize Award Policy
Players will not receive fractions of a cent. In all instances where a
player's winnings include a fraction of a cent, WSOP.com will round down
such player's winnings to the nearest cent. So, for example if you win
$4.096, you will receive $4.09.