A TDA Poker Rule I don’t Adhere to!!

As a Tournament Director for worldwide poker events, it’s my job to see that all things that occur during the event are fair to everyone. As a member of the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) I usually adhere to the rules set forth in our meetings, after all I’m part of the meetings and usually have a voice during the affair.

That being said I also have issues with some of the rules, one of which I’ll address here. Let’s start with the “In the seat “rule.

This rule started way back when and for a reason somewhat different then what it is today, although the initial reason still remains partly true. In the early days before the rule existed when a player was returning from a smoke break or a bathroom break they’d enter the tournament room yelling ‘Don’t kill my hand, I’m here”. Well not only were they NOT there, they ended up yelling at the dealer because the dealer (concentrating on dealing his game) didn’t recognize the players voice coming from the door and with 25 tables going who could blame him. So the First of 3 variations of the ‘rule” was set.

Variation #1 was “If you weren’t in your seat when it was your turn to ACT, you hand was dead”. At that point the dealer would reach over, take your hand and there was no more argument. This in effect stopped the guy who was yelling from the door. It also did other things, like players acting faster to make sure the players hand was dead, or the other extreme when a player’s friend was at the table, action was slowed down giving his friend a chance to return in time to play his hand. Either way it created the wrong message and more it created a way for cheaters to take a shot. This is where I stepped in and spoke to the TDA about a change.

I talked about the fact that if we kill a hand when the last card hits the button or when 3^rd street hits the 8 seat in stud, we end all arguments and bypass the opportunity for anyone to see another players hand and still have time to act. This was agreed upon by the TDA and we had version number 2

So as flies in the ointment tend to fly, some of the poker tournament staffs took the rule literally which in most cases that’s good, but not in this one. When a player stood up to tip a waitress or to turn around their chair for a massage or to readjust their seat, their hand was being killed by the dealer and agreed upon by the floor staff. This was not and is not the purpose of the rule. I applaud those of you trying to protect the rules, but a little common sense is needed. In the next meeting of the TDA version number 3 was born.

In version number 3 you need only to be “by your chair when the last card hits the button or when 3^rd street hits the 8 seat in stud. So now you can stand near your chair and though I argued that this is a rule that goes backward it was adopted by the TDA.

So as with many TDA casinos this is a rule I don’t adhere to. I’m still using version number 2 and I announce it as such prior to every event that I run. Further, I advise my dealing staff not to kill a hand when a poker player merely stands up to tip a waitress or says hi to a friend without leaving the table to do so.

I hope that clears things up on the “Last card to hit the button Rule”