Rulings, and all that jazz..

One of the worst rulings ever handed down in poker tournament history occurred this past weekend. A ruling so bad that it has flooded the poker world like a tsunami. The chances are my first sentence will have had you nodding your head, knowing the incident I mean. For those that don't know the story it can be found here.

At the moment, I only have the information from that article and the countless rumours and hearsay circulating to go by. However, this story has got me thinking, thinking about a number of things.

• Experience and knowledge of tournament staff
• Tournament chains of command
• Player knowledge

and finally the most important

• Poker etiquette

EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE of TOURNAMENT STAFF

I don't think it's too much to expect staff running a big tournament to be fluent in all rules that pertain to their league. They should also have an above average knowledge of the game they are running. This doesn't just mean experience in running the game, but also in playing the game. This will ensure that a tournament is run both efficiently and professionally.  I understand this is a big ask and the staff that can accomplish these things are easily a credit and an asset to their organistion.

TOURNAMENT CHAINS of COMMAND

I spent 13 years in the Army, if there is one thing I know about, that's "the Chain of Command". Every person in an organisation is a cog in a big machine. Everyone has their part to play, from the smallest cog, to the big wheel. The bigger cogs should be over seeing the smaller ones and directing when needed. The same goes in a poker tournament. Your floor staff should be capable of handling any issues or answering any questions, however if they cannot, then there needs to be someone above them who can. That person should also be overseeing their staff to make sure they are doing their job correctly. They should be able to spot problem before or as they occur.

PLAYER KNOWLEDGE

Whether I'm playing Monopoly or Marbles, I want to know the rules. Those rules tell me how I can win the game, which, at the end of the day is what we all want to do when playing a game. So I make it my duty to
learn the rules. In the case of poker, there are generally variations to rules, depending on where you're playing and who you're playing with, but the most commonly followed rules seems to be "Robert's Rules of Poker". I feel confident in saying if you have read those, you would have a sound knowledge of the game. Because the rules can get quite complex at times, I would encourage everybody, regardless of experience
to read the rules on a semi regular basis, once or twice a year, just to familiarise yourself with them. You may even find out something you didn't know!

POKER ETTIQUETTE

I approach every tournament with the same thought, "I'm going to win". This of course doesn't always happen, but I will do everything within my power (and within the rules) to achieve my plan. I will also attempt to do this in a polite friendly manner, hopefully encouraging others to have fun. After all, it is just a game and what's the point of playing if you can't have fun? As a result, I don't look too fondly on players that want to cheat, or angle shoot their way to victory. I will use all the tools at my disposal to conquer all the chips on the felt, or I will die trying. I will however, not resort to angle shooting or cheating. The one exception I have to that rule is if you constantly expose your cards to me. The first time you do it, I will let you know, "hey buddy, every time you do that I can see your cards", after that if you continue to do it, I'm gonna look. Poker is a game of information and if you're going to allow me to get that information because you are sloppy or lazy with your cards after I have previously warned you, then thank you very much!

If some of these things were followed over the weekend, we probably wouldn't have seen the ugly incident that happened take place at all. Other things you may want to consider for yourself in the future, especially at the pointy end of a tournament:

• If you ask for a count, get an exact count, ask the dealer or the TD to do this for you.
• If in doubt, announce "All In" and push your stack or a portion of it in to the betting area.
• It can be hard when you're at the money end and you can get nervous, but pay attention to what's happening and don't expose your cards until you are confident it's the right time to do so.
• And one thing I have learned the very hard way, always protect your cards. Card guards may seem like a money making venture for every poker outlet out there, but if you have your cards mucked by dealer not paying attention like I did, you'll soon discover that that $5 card guard is worth more than $5!

As for what happened on the weekend, I'm really not sure what can be done about it now, I just hope Jacky learns something from all of this and I hope you, the loyal poker player learns something from this. I'd
hate for an entire brand to be tarnished by this. If you play in the offending league, or have had thoughts about playing with them, don't let that stop you. Something like this can only make them stronger and make other leagues work just as hard to avoid it happening again.

So download your copy of "Robert's Rules" and go and play some cards!