ONLINE POKER TOURNAMENT RULES - GENERAL

Internet Disconnection

Online poker sites have a general rule that by agreeing to play in a tournament, players accept that there is a risk that they could get disconnected while playing. Poker sites are aware that being disconnected can happen for a variety of reasons and that it is not uncommon for a player to become temporarily disconnected, so they automatically fold a player”s hand if faced with a bet, or they check it for them if nobody”s bet yet in case they can re-establish their connection before the hand ends. At the final table of money games, PokerStars.com grants additional time to connect, called “Disconnect Extra Time.”

If a player is disconnected before a hand starts, their blinds and/or antes are automatically posted for them and their hand is checked if nobody bets yet, or it”s folded to any bet.

Chat Box

No player - whether they”re in a hand or not - may comment in the chat box on the hand being played until the hand is over. People who discuss live hands may be given a penalty.

Collusion

Collusion in poker is a type of cheating where two or more players play as a team to the detriment of the other player(s). Players are not allowed to use the chat box to coordinate collusion, nor can they set it up over the phone. Poker sites monitor IP addresses, and if they see two or more accounts on the same table with the same IP address, it will alert their security team and the players could get eliminated from the tournament and possibly banned from the site.

One Player per Account per Tournament

With a few exceptions, the player who begins the tournament is the same player who must finish the tournament and they”re not allowed to have another person play their hand at any time during the game. PokerStars.com takes this very seriously and will penalize players who do this by either warning them, disqualifying them from the tournament, and possibly taking back their prize money, and in some cases, banning them outright from ever playing at the site again.

They do allow another person to play for you in case of an unforeseen and serious event that was beyond your control, such as your Internet service provider suffered a failure, a medical emergency, or a power outage. In those cases, you can call a friend and have them sign into your account and finish the tournament for you.

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