• POKER ROOM
• Poker Room
• Getting Started
• Special Features
• Poker Games
• Poker Strategy
• Poker Rules
  • Cardroom Rules
  • Ring Game Rules
  • Limit Structure
  • Table Rake
  • Prohibited Software
• Poker Hands
• Poker Terms
• Poker Room FAQ
• Software Help FAQ
• Security FAQ

Ring Game Rules

These rules apply to ring games at PokerStars. Additional rules that relate to tournaments only are available for viewing online here, and those that relate to the site as a whole are available for viewing online here.

Buying In

1. All games are played table stakes. Only funds that you have brought to the table before a hand begins can be wagered in that hand.
   
2. For Fixed Limit games, the minimum buy-in is ten times the small bet. For example, in a $1/$2 game, the minimum buy-in is $10. There is no maximum buy-in at Fixed Limit tables.
   
3. For No Limit and Pot Limit games, the minimum buy-in is usually twenty times the big blind. The maximum buy-in is usually one hundred times the big blind. For example, in a $1/$2 NL game, the minimum buy-in is $40 and the maximum is $200.
   
4. Minimum and maximum buy-ins may vary by table. Any such variations will be declared before you join a table.

Disconnects

5. If you are disconnected, and therefore unable to act on your hand, while having chips invested in the pot in a ring game, you may be given extra time to reconnect.  The exact amount of extra time given depends on the type of game and the size of the pot at the time of your disconnection.
   
   However, if you do not reconnect during this time, your hand will be folded, regardless of your investment in the pot or the strength of your hand. PokerStars will not accept any responsibility for losses caused by disconnections.

Server Issues

6. All transactions, including pots won and lost, are posted to your PokerStars account at the completion of each hand.  In the event of a server crash that for any reason causes a hand to be incompletely recorded in the PokerStars database, all of that hand's participants’ accounts will be restored to the way they were at the beginning of the hand.  Such a hand shall be declared a misdeal, with all associated blinds, antes and bets returned to the players.

Time Bank

7. In ring games, your time bank on each table will be 30 seconds.
   
8. Your time bank will increase by 10 seconds for every 50 hands into which you are dealt at that table.

Fast Tables

9. Games may be designated as ‘fast’ in the list of games in the PokerStars game client. These games are designed to run at a faster pace than a standard table, and have some important differences.
   1. At a fast table, your blinds will be posted automatically unless you choose to sit out.
      
   2. At a fast table, you will post on your first big blind by default. To join the game sooner, uncheck the ‘Wait for Big Blind’ option at the table.
      
   3. At a fast table, you receive less time to act in various situations:
      1. In Fixed Limit games, you have 15 seconds to act (instead of 25).
      2. In No Limit and Pot Limit games, you have 18 seconds to act (instead of 35).
      3. You have 1 second to choose whether to show or muck your hand (instead of 3).
      4. The pot is pushed to the winner more quickly.
      5. The showdown is completed in 2 seconds (instead of 4).

In case of disputes, PokerStars’ management decision will be final.