RULE 10      RULES FOR POKER
47.1-1002     Definitions for Poker.
The following definitions apply to all the rules of poker and to all games of poker conducted by licensees:
(1)  	“Ante” means a predetermined contribution to the pot before the first card of the game is dealt;
(2)  	“Bet” means a player’s wager to the pot on any betting round; no initial or subsequent bet may exceed $5.00;
(3)  	“Betting round” means a complete cycle in a hand of poker in which all players have called or folded;
(4)  	“Blind bet” or “blind” means a bet made before the first card of the game is dealt;
(4.25)  	“Blind position” means the player to the left of the button;
(4.5)  	“Bet or Fold” means the requirement that a player place a wager (i.e., bet) or fold his hand;
(5)  	“Button” means an object which is moved clockwise around the table to denote an imaginary dealer;
(6)  	“Buy-in” means a purchase of chips by a player prior to or during play. In tournament play all buy-ins are used to fund the prize pool and are paid back in their entirety to the players during the tournament;
(7)  	“Call” means a bet made equal to the immediately preceding bet;
(8)  	“Check” means to waive the right to initiate the betting in a round, but to retain the right to call or raise;
(9)  	“Check and raise” means a raise after a player first checked in a round;
(10)  	“Chips,” in addition to the definition set forth in section 47.1-106 (6) of Rule 1, General Rules and Regulations, means tokens, 25-cent coins, or 50-cent coins;
(11)  	“Community cards” means cards dealt or turned face upward which can be used by all players with a live hand to make their best hand;
(12)  	“Deal” means the distribution of playing cards among the players;
(13)  	“Defective Deck” means a deck that is found to have other than the proper cards or number of cards for the game being played
(14)  	“Draw” means in draw poker, the taking of additional cards by a player;
(14.5) 	“Entry fee” means any amount collected for a tournament by the licensee not applied to the prize pool. This amount is reported as adjusted gross proceeds on the licensee’s gaming tax return in the month the fee was collected;
 (15)  	“Flop” means the first three community cards dealt or turned face up at one time;
(16)  	“Fold” means to discard a hand, forfeiting claim to the pot;
(17)  	“Hand” means one game in a series, one deal, the cards held by a player, or the best cards a player is holding;
(18)  	“Jackpot award” means a special money award, in addition to the money in the pot, paid following the occurrence of a specific pre-defined situation to qualifying individuals playing a player banked poker game, as specified by the posted jackpot rules; (47.1-1002(18) amended, perm. 11/30/96)
(19)  	“Jackpot rake” means the amount, not to exceed $2.00, which may be taken from the pot at a player banked poker game by the retail licensee expressly to build a jackpot award. The jackpot rake may be taken in addition to the standard rake; (47.1-1002(19) amended, perm. 11/30/96)
(20)  	“Misdeal” means to deal a hand of poker incorrectly;
(21)  	“Money on the piece” means a procedure by which a poker player may use currency visible on a poker table before a hand begins in the betting action when the player runs out of chips in the middle of a hand. The bill represents all bets, calling or raising, and is marked with chips from the action pot;
(22)  	“Muck” means discards, burn cards and cards from the unused stub;
(23)  	“Open” or “to open” means to make the first bet in a hand;
(24)  	“Opener” means the player who makes the first bet in any betting round;
(24.5)	“Poker tournament” means an event or series of events that culminates with an overall winner;
(25)  	“Pot” means the total amount anted and bet by players during a game which is awarded to the winning player or players;
(26)  	“Progressive pool” means a special money award, in addition to the money in the pot, contributed by players in a game for the benefit of such players and distributed according to criteria described in the rules of the game. (47.1-1002(26.5) added perm. 9/30/99)
(27)  	“Raise” means a bet in an amount greater than the immediately preceding bet in that betting round. The amount of a raise may not exceed $5.00 more than the immediately preceding bet;
(28)  	“Rake” means the amount taken from the pot by the retail licensee, which amount shall not exceed the lesser of ten (10) percent of the pot or $ 5.00;  (47.1-1002(24) temp. 9/30/91, perm. 12/30/91, amended perm. 09/30/99)
(29)  	“Round” means a cycle of bets made by the players following the deal of the cards;
(30)  	“Qualifier” means the requirement to qualify for award of the pot, or for any portion of the pot in any game;
(31)  	“Showdown” means the revealing of each player’s hand after the last bet to determine the winner(s) of the pot;
(31.5)  	“Shuffling device” means an electro-mechanical device which shuffles the cards; (47.1-1002 (31.5) added perm. 05/30/01)
(32)  	“Stake” means the funds with which a player enters the game;
(33)  	“Straddle” means an optional blind raise, of not more than $5.00, made by the player directly after the last blind position;
(34)  	“Substantial action” means two players putting money in the pot, or three players acting by making a statement or physical gesture of intent to fold or put money in the pot by a bet, call, or raise. A player posting a blind or straddle is not considered to have taken action at that point. The term “substantial action” shall have no applicability to house banked poker games; (47.1-1002 (28)-(34) perm. 03/31/96); 47.1-1002 (34) amended 10/30/97; 47.1-1002 amended 12/30/04)
47.1-1050  Poker tournaments.
(1)  	Poker tournaments may be conducted by retail licensees as a single event or a series of events culminating with an overall winner. At such tournament, any of the poker games authorized by regulation 47.1-1003 may be played. A tournament must conclude no later than four months following the first day of tournament play.
(2)  	A tournament which will produce adjusted gross proceeds may be conducted by only one licensee; no two or more licensees may jointly conduct such a single tournament.
(a)  	Two or more licensees may jointly conduct a tournament in which all monies collected will be returned to the participants as prizes and will not result in taxable adjusted gross proceeds.
(b)  	If one tournament is conducted by two or more licensees, one of the licensees shall be designated as being responsible for the tournament, and shall alone have the duty to ensure proper payment of prizes and for the proper award of all prizes at the tournament’s conclusion. This licensee shall also be responsible for completion and maintenance of all tournament accounting records which pertain the tournament as a whole.
(c)  	Licensees participating in a tournament shall ensure that no player is entered in the tournament more than once at any given time during the tournament. However, if permitted by the tournament rules, after a player has been eliminated from the tournament, the player may be allowed to re-enter the tournament as a new and separate entry. Any player found to have two or more concurrent, active entries in a tournament shall be disqualified from tournament play and shall not be eligible to receive any tournament prize. (47.1-1050 temp. 5/13/93, perm. 6/30/93) (47.1-1050 perm. 3/31/96)(47.1-1050 temp. 4/19/96 perm. September 30, 1996; amended 12/30/04)
47.1-1052  Calculation of adjusted gross proceeds of tournament play.
No table rake shall be made during tournament play. Entry fees are considered adjusted gross proceeds and shall be reported as such on the gaming tax return in the month in which the entry fee(s) are collected. If the entry fee is a non-cash item such as a toy, food card, canned good, etc., the licensee must establish a pre-determined cash value (equivalent to the cash entry fee) of the item and record this value as the entry fee on the required tournament form. Complimentary entry fees paid by the licensee shall also be considered adjusted gross proceeds. If an entry fee is collected for the tournament, the licensee must complete a tournament form listing each entrant and the dollar value of the entry fee for each entrant, regardless of how the entry fee was collected or paid. Each entrant listed on the tournament form must have an associated entry fee. Free tournaments where no entry fee is collected for any entrant results in zero adjusted gross proceeds. The licensee may not declare a loss against adjusted gross proceeds for tournaments.
47.1-1056  Entry fee, player buy-in and prize vouchers.
Neither the amount of the tournament entry fee nor the amount of all allowable player buy-ins may exceed five hundred dollars per entry. If both an entry fee and buy-ins are used, then the combined amount of both the entry fee and all allowable buy-ins shall not exceed five hundred dollars per entry. 
All buy-ins for the tournament are combined to create the tournament prize pool. The licensee may create a prize pool for each event provided that any funds not awarded from that prize pool are carried forward to and awarded in future events of the tournament. 
All buy-ins collected must be paid out to the winners of the tournament or events by the conclusion of the tournament. The licensee may not retain any amount collected as buy-ins. The licensee is allowed to offer complimentary buy-ins provided the dollar value is added to the prize pool. If the buy-in is a non-cash item such as a toy, food card, canned good, etc., the licensee must establish a pre-determined cash value (equivalent to the cash buy-in for the event) of the items and record the value as the buy-in on the required tournament form. 
Licensees may offer at the end of an event a prize voucher that can be used to enter future events within the same tournament. If the prize voucher is used as an entry fee and buy-in at the future event in which an entry fee and buy-in are offered, the entry fee value of the voucher and the buy-in value of the voucher shall be documented on the required tournament form. The prize voucher shall be considered a prize payout and shall be documented on the prize payout form required by the division. 
If the prize voucher is used to guarantee a spot in a future event in which no entry fee and buy-in are offered, the prize voucher shall be considered a buy-in and applied to the prize pool. In this situation, the prize voucher is not considered a prize payout.
Prize vouchers may only be redeemed by the patron that won the voucher in a previous event.
47.1-1058  Conduct of tournament.
The following rules shall apply to all poker tournament play and must be included in the printed rules for each tournament:
(1)  	All players shall receive an equal number of tournament chips for their entry fee and/or initial buy-in at the start of each tournament event. If the tournament rules allow additional chips to be purchased before the start of the event or during the event, each player shall have the same opportunity to purchase additional chips.
 (2)  	A player’s initial table and seat assignments shall be drawn randomly by means of either an electronic or manual selection process. As tables are combined following player elimination, the new seating assignments for remaining players shall also be drawn randomly by means of either an electronic or manual selection process.
(3)  	Players are eliminated from tournament events when they lose all their chips and either do not have the option to, or choose not to, purchase additional chips.
(4)  	At the option of the retail licensee, the tournament rules may permit remaining players to unanimously agree among themselves to split the prize(s) between or among themselves without the necessity of continuing tournament play to finality.
(a)  	No agreement concerning division of prizes shall be made, or be permitted to be made, with respect to non-cash prizes.
(b)  	The retail licensee’s tournament director shall not encourage the final players to end tournament play early, and shall ensure that every qualifying player understands that all agreements concerning an early end to the tournament and concerning the division of the prize fund must be both voluntary and unanimous. If the tournament director feels that any player is being coerced or improperly pressured into an agreement with the other players, the tournament director shall not permit an early end to the tournament.
(c)  	Upon being satisfied that any agreement concerning division of prizes is voluntary and unanimous among the qualified players, the tournament director shall award the prizes in the manner agreed upon by the players, identifying each recipient with the prize actually awarded.