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World Series of Poker

WSOP 2005 Rules

Rio Suite Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
June 2, 2005 through July 15, 2005

Section I - General Rules:

As used herein, "Harrah's" means Rio Properties, Inc. and/or HHLV Management Company, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company.
Entry into the World Series of Poker (herein "WSOP" refers to all forty-five (45) events from June 2, 2005 through July 15, 2005, and its related satellites) is limited to players 21 years of age or older with valid proof of age.
One entry per person, per event, except for applicable rebuys, as set forth in event descriptions. No teams, substitutes, refunds, transfers or assisted play. The only exception to the no refund policy is upon written evidence in a form acceptable to Harrah's of (i) death of the entered person or an immediate family member or (ii) a hospital stay of the entered person ( Immediate Family is defined as: mother, father, spouse, children, sister, brother son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, step-parents, step-children, grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren and any relative or other person residing in the employee's place of residence). For the death of an immediate family member and/or hospital stay of the entered person the amount of the deposit already paid by the entered person shall be applied to the tournament to be held in 2006 and be held by Harrah's as a deposit only. For the death of the entered person, the amount of the deposit already paid shall be refunded to the entered person's estate upon proper legal documentation by the estate.
The WSOP is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including gaming, and all aspects of the WSOP are subject to the approval of appropriate regulatory authorities.
Harrah's may limit the number of entries into the WSOP.
Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Winners are responsible for any and all taxes, licenses, registrations and other fees.
Winners must show their valid picture identification (driver's license, state identification card, or military identification card) at registration and in order to collect prize. If participant is not a U.S. citizen, a current passport, consular identification or alien registration card is required.
WSOP tournament times are approximate. Harrah's reserves the right to change WSOP tournament times due to unforeseen or extenuating circumstances.
Harrah's may disqualify any person for any prize based upon fraud, dishonesty, violation of promotional rules or other misconduct whether or not related to the WSOP.
Harrah's may cancel, modify, relocate or reschedule the WSOP for any reason with prior notification to the appropriate gaming regulators.
Harrah's is not responsible for injuries or losses arising or resulting from participation in the WSOP and is not liable for any acts or omissions by employees, whether negligent or willful, in the conduct of the WSOP, and is not liable in the event of any equipment or software malfunction.
Employees of Harrah's and its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, owned, operated or managed properties, contractors hired for the operation of the WSOP or parent companies and immediate family members of such employees at management level or higher as determined by Harrah's are not eligible to play in any WSOP events, unless approved in advance by Harrah's. Immediate Family is defined as: mother, father, spouse, brother, sister, children, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, step-parents, step-children, grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren and any relative or other person residing in the employee's place of residence.
Individuals who are excluded from casino facilities, either through a government program or by their own request, are not eligible.
Each participant must certify eligibility.
By entering, each participant authorizes Harrah's to the unconditional use of his/her likeness and name and name of hometown for purposes of advertising and promotion without compensation, consideration, notice, review or consent where permitted.
By participating in the WSOP, entrants agree to the rules.
Prizes and entries are non-transferable.
Prize structures depend upon number of entrants and the type of event entered and are set forth on Exhibit A and Exhibit B attached hereto.
Participants must register prior to the start of each event at 3700 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89103.
Entrants will be assigned to a table and seat through a random computer selection.
If the participant is not present at the start of the tournament all forced antes and blinds bets will be removed from an absent player's stack accordingly. If player shows up and still has chips remaining [s]he may play his or her chips.
Non-value chips are used for tournament play.
All decisions regarding the interpretation of rules, eligibility, etc. for the WSOP lie solely with Harrah's, whose decisions are final.
Harrah's reserves the right to cancel, change or modify the WSOP at any time, for any reason, subject to all applicable regulatory approval, provided that such modification shall not, as of the date of such modification, materially alter or change any participant's prize already awarded.
Harrah's is not responsible for electronic transmission errors or delays resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, hardware, software, or telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable connections, fraud, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions, whether caused by Harrah's, users, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the promotion or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions which may limit, restrict, or prevent a participant's ability to participate in the tournament.
If for any reason the tournament is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes within or beyond the control of Harrah's which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this tournament, Harrah's reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the tournament.
Any attempt by any person to deliberately damage any program or to undermine the legitimate operation of this tournament may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Harrah's reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent of the law.
Entries will be retained for record keeping purposes in accordance with local legal requirements.
Tournament Rules and any and all changes in the rules and event descriptions for the WSOP June 2, 2005 through July 15, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be available at the tournament facilities.
No value tournament chips used for the tournament are the exclusive property of Harrah's and may not be removed from the tournament area.
Harrah's floor people are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as the top priority in the decision-making process. Unusual circumstances can, on occasion, dictate that the technical interpretation of the rules be balanced against the interest of fairness. The floor persons decision is final and non-appealable and shall not give rise to any claim for monetary damages, as each participant understands the very nature of poker is speculative and dependent on many factors, including but not limited to the cards dealt, the cards retained and the actions of other participants.

Section II - Poker Rules - As Developed by the Tournament Directors' Association:

Chip race rule: When it is time to color-up chips, they will be raced off with a maximum of one chip going to any player. The chip race will always start in the No.1 seat. A player cannot be raced out of a tournament. In the event that a player has only one chip left, the regular race procedure will take place. If that player loses the race, [s]he will be given one chip of the smallest denomination still in play
Odd chips: The odd chip(s) will go to the high hand. In flop games, when there are two (2) or more high hands or two (2) or more low hands, the odd chip(s) will go to the left of the button. In stud-type games, the odd chip will go to the high card by suit. There will be an exception to this rule: An attempt will be made in identical hand situations to split the pot as evenly as possible: Example - a wheel in Omaha/8.
Side pots: Each side pot will be split as a separate pot. They will not be mixed together before they are split.
Calling for the clock procedures: Once a reasonable amount of time has passed and a clock is called for, a player will be given one (1) minute to make a decision. If action has not been taken by the time the minute is over, there will be a ten (10) second countdown. If a player has not acted on his hand by the time the countdown is over, the hand will be dead.
Dead Button: Tournament play will use a dead button.
Penalties: A penalty MAY be invoked if a player exposes any card with action pending, if a card(s) goes off the table, if soft-play occurs, or similar incidents take place. Penalties WILL be invoked in cases of abuse, disruptive behavior, or similar incidents. All penalties will be issued in Harrah's sole discretion.
A player must be at the table by the time all players have complete hands in order to have his or her hand live. Players must be at the table to call time. In flop games, the big blind's hand will be dead if [s]he is not there to act on it before the flop. In stud-type games, the forced low hand will be immediately dead if the player is not there to act on his or her hand at the time [s]he is required to put money in the pot (the minimum bring-in will be posted and the hand will be killed).
All cards will be turned face up once a player is all in and all action is complete.
If a player puts in a raise of fifty percent (50%) or more of the previous bet, [s]he will be required to make a full raise. The raise will be exactly the minimum raise allowed.
In limit games, an oversized chip will be constituted to be a call if the player does not announce a raise. In no-limit, an oversized chip before the flop is a call; after the flop, an oversized chip by the initial bettor put in the pot will constitute the size of the bet. In pot-limit and no-limit, if a player states raise and throws in an oversized chip, the raise will be the maximum amount allowable up to the size of that chip.
The one-player-to-a-hand rule will be enforced.
Tournament and satellite seats will be randomly assigned.
The English-only rule will be enforced in the United States during the play of hands.
A player who wants to use a cellular phone must step away from the table. Headphones will not be permitted once a player reaches the money per prize structures.
There will be no foreign objects on the table except for a maximum of one card cap.
Deck changes will be on the dealer push or limit changes or as prescribed by Harrah's. Players may not ask for deck changes.
When time has elapsed in a round and a new round is announced, the new limits apply to the next hand. A hand has begun with the first riffle.
If a player announces the intent to rebuy before the first card is dealt, that player is playing behind and is obligated to make the rebuy. If a player runs out of chips during the rebuy portion of a rebuy event, he must rebuy or declare to rebuy before the start of the next deal.
Players must keep their highest denomination chips visible at all times.
Verbal declarations as to the content of a player's hand are not binding; however at Harrah's discretion, any player deliberately miscalling his hand may be penalized.
No rabbit hunting is allowed.
A player who intentionally dodges his or her blind(s) when moving from a broken table will forfeit the blind(s) and/or incur a penalty. The money will be put into the next pot and will be considered dead money.
All chips must be visibly displayed at all times. Players may not have tournament chips in their pockets at any time. A player who has chips in his or her pocket will forfeit the chips. The forfeited chips will be taken out of play from the tournament.
Moving players: In flop games, players will be moved from the big blind to the worst position.
In limit events, there will be a limit to raises, even when heads-up. (The limit will be the Harrah's house limit.) Once the tournament becomes heads-up, the rule does not apply.
In stud-type games, if any of the players' two down cards are exposed due to a Harrah's dealer error, it is a misdeal.
If a Harrah's dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to his or her money back. An exception would be if a player raised and his or her raise had not been called yet, [s]he would be entitled to receive his or her raise back.
Harrah's dealers cannot kill a winning hand that was turned face up and was obviously the winning hand.
Player's verbal declarations in turn are binding. Action out of turn may be binding.
Harrah's reserves the right to cancel or alter any event at its sole discretion in the best interest of the casino or its players.
Players going from a broken table to fill in seats assume the rights and responsibilities of the position. They can get the big blind, the small blind, or the button. The only place they cannot get a hand is between the small blind and the button. A player moved to balance tables will take the worst position. A dead button situation may occur.
Penalties available for use by the Harrah's Tournament Director are verbal warnings - 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes away from the table - and may be used with discretion. These may be utilized by Harrah's up to and including disqualification. A player who is disqualified shall have his or her chips removed from play.
Players are obligated to protect the other players in the tournament at all times. Discussing cards discarded or hand possibilities is not allowed.
A player who exposes his or her cards during the play may incur a penalty, but will not have his or her hand killed.
In no Limit or Pot Limit, when raising, a player must either put the amount of the raise out in one motion or state the raise amount. By stating the word raise, a player protects his or her right to raise, but the raise must be made in one additional motion unless [s]he states the amount.
Verbally disclosing the contents of your hand or advising a player how to play a hand may result in a penalty, in Harrah's discretion.
In no-limit, less than a full raise does not reopen the betting to a player who already has acted.
Tables will be broken in a posted order/manner and available to all players, however; due to certain circumstances, Harrah's reserves the right to alter that order.