One of the challenges for players heading to new poker locations is adapting to the local terms and conditions of a poker room. It’s important that all players make themselves aware of local rules before they sit down to play to avoid getting caught in a troublesome situation. We already endured some rather controversial moments at the ANZPT in Perth where local rules caught a few players off guard, and it seems the same is happening here in Sydney.
The phone rule here is one posing plenty of confusion. Many players are used to having their smart phones as a music device but that’s not permitted here in Sydney, and it appears that rule has been enforced on some players today. iPod sales will be sky-rocketing in Sydney tomorrow.
The other interesting rule here in Sydney is to do with players being in their seats when cards are dealt. There has been much talk in the poker world over the past year or so about moving from the “last card off the deck” rule to the “first card off the deck” rule – that is, a player must be in their seats when the first card is dealt in order for their hand to be live.
Well, here in Sydney, that rule sits at the other end of the spectrum if you’re the big blind. While everyone else must be in their seat when the last card is dealt, the big blind is actually allowed to wait until it is their turn to act before they must be seated. So theoretically, the big blind could stand from their seat and circle the entire table as each player acts on their hand before they sit down to play their own cards. Obviously that example is a little extreme, but it would be nice to see this rule brought a little closer in line with world trends to avoid any potential exploitation.
One player more familiar than most with rules and regulations is Mel Judah. He’s fresh off the plane from acting in the role of Tournament Director at a recent event, yet he was recently involved in a bit of a heated discussion with floor staff at his table.
As we tried to piece the conversation together, it sounded like the dealer had prompted a player to turn over his cards, rather than muck, at showdown and the player then revealed the winning hand. Judah wasn’t pleased that the dealer had prompted the action.
Judah is still going strong with an average chip stack as we’re almost down to our final 100 players from today’s ANZPT Sydney Day 1A flight. At the top of the counts, it’s Alex Lee, Jason Pritchard, Jazz Mathers and Dave Allan who are all in good shape to reach Day 2.
Heath “TassieDevil” Chick is a Freelance Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.
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