Legal | WSOP.COM HOUSE RULES

In order to promote integrity, fairness, and security, these House Rules will govern game play on the WSOP.com website and mobile application (“WSOP.com”), and all players will be required to adhere to the provisions contained herein. Players must at all times comply with the WSOP.com Terms of Service found here. In the event of any conflict between these House Rules and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service shall take precedence.

Age Limit and Physical Location Eligibility

In order to play for real money on WSOP.com, players must be at least 21 years of age, and physically located in the State of Pennsylvania. Players may be required to upload verification documents to confirm their eligibility.

Wagering Limits

Cash games

The wagering limits for each cash game table, including the size of the blinds (forced initial bets), appear in the WSOP.com poker client lobby. When players join a cash game, they may sit down with any amount that is between the minimum and maximum buy-in designated for that table, with the funds being deducted from their cashier balance. Players may leave cash game tables at any time, with their remaining funds being transferred back to their cashier balance. In Fixed Limit games, players may only bet designated amounts in each betting round. In No Limit games, players can bet as many of their chips as they wish during any betting round. In Pot Limit games, player may bet any amount up to the size of the current pot. During game play, players may only wager the chips they have in front of them at the beginning of a hand. For example, if a player starts a hand with $15 in chips, while each of his/her opponents have $100, the player may only wager up to the $15 with which he/she began the hand. Accordingly, he/she is only eligible to win $15 from each of his/her opponents during the hand.

Tournaments

In tournament poker, players pay a designated entry fee and receive tournament chips, which have no cash value and cannot be removed from play. The structure of each tournament – including the maximum number of entrants, the rate of blind escalation, and the payout structure – is shown in the tournament lobby. The tournament ends when one player has accumulated all of the chips in play. When a player loses all of his/her chips, he/she is knocked out of the tournament (unless the structure of the tournament allows eliminated players to re-enter.) If two or more players are eliminated in the same hand, the player(s) who began the hand with fewer chips will be deemed to have been eliminated first, for the purpose of calculating payouts.

Fees: Rake and Tournament Entry Fees

There are fees associated with participating in real-money poker games on WSOP.com. The fee for participating in cash games is known as the “rake”, and consists of a small percentage of each pot that is retained by the house. The rake is determined by many factors including the game stakes, the size of the pot, and the number of players who are dealt into a hand. No rake is taken from a hand that ends during the first round of betting (before the flop.) The rake schedule can be found here.

The fees for participating in tournaments on WSOP.com are fixed amounts shown in the tournament lobby and buy-in screen of each tournament. The total cost to enter a tournament is typically presented in the form of “$A + $B”, where $A is the entry fee that goes into the prize pool, and $B is the fee that is retained by the house.

Tournament Play

In order to ensure that all players continuously participate in tournament play and do not sit by while other players knock each other out of the tournament, blinds and ante will be deducted from players who do not play their hand which may result in a player being “blinded out”.

Split Pots

In the event of a tie between two or more players, the pot will be split evenly among the winning players. In instances when the pot does not split evenly, the odd chip amount will go to the winning player seated closest to the dealer (clockwise). For example, if a pot of $50.25 is split between two winning players, the player closest to the dealer will receive $25.13, with the other player receiving $25.12.

Tournament Cancellation Policy

We reserve the right to cancel any tournament that is announced, registering, or in a pending state.

We reserve the right to cancel tournaments factors (for example as a result of server issues, widespread connection problems, power outage, ISP network issues etc.) In such event, a player who has been eliminated prior to the cancellation of such tournament will not be refunded any amounts in relation to such tournament.

Players who were not eliminated at time of cancellation will: (i) be refunded any Buy-in, knock out fees, rebuys and add-ons which they have purchased in relation to the cancelled tournament; and (ii) share equally (regardless of a player's chip count) the higher of (a) the Buy-ins, applicable knock out fees, rebuys and add-ons purchased by those who have been eliminated prior to the cancellation of the tournament; or (b) the guaranteed prize pool less the amounts distributed in (i).

Notwithstanding the paragraph above, in the event that a tournament is cancelled while still in progress, WSOP.com reserves the right at its sole discretion to refund players who were not eliminated from the tournament at its time of cancellation using a formula based on: (i) a player's chip count; (ii) the prize pool structure; and (iii) the prize pool actually collected from players or the guaranteed prize pool.

For the avoidance of doubt, in the event that late registration is still open after tournament has begun or the tournament has not materially progressed and such tournament is cancelled, WSOP.com reserves the right not to refund to players still in the tournament any shortfall between the prize pool actually collected from players and the guaranteed prize pool.

In such circumstances, players who were not eliminated from the tournament will be refunded within the next couple of days following the tournament's cancellation.

Late Registration

The Late Registration feature permits a player to enter and start playing in select poker tournaments after the first hand has been dealt and during the late registration period set for such tournaments. This feature will not be available once there are three players or less in an applicable poker tournament, regardless of the late registration time period set for the poker tournament.

In selected poker tournaments where the Late Registration feature is enabled and where players are permitted to buy back in if they are eliminated, a player who has been eliminated from such tournament will be able to re-enter the tournament if he/she pays the buy-in during the period the Late Registration feature is available for players to use.

Multi-Tabling

When playing on a Personal Computer, a player will be limited to playing a maximum of ten (10) cash game tables at any time. There is no limit on the number of tournaments in which a player can play concurrently.

When playing on a mobile device, a player will be limited to playing at four (4) tables (cash games and/or tournaments).

Please note that a player will only be able to occupy one seat on any table (cash game or tournament).

Playing on multi tables is subject to your Personal Computer's and mobile device's capabilities. In addition, playing on multi tables may affect your Personal Computer and mobile device’s performance.

“Sit Out” Feature

The “Sit Out” feature is only intended for use in order to take short breaks between extended periods of play during cash games. It is not intended for use while no play is taking place at the table, or for waiting on players to join or leave the table. WSOP.com reserves the right, at our discretion, to take action against players using the "Sit Out" feature excessively. Players who repeatedly abuse the "Sit Out" may have their accounts terminated and WSOP.com may withhold any funds that are present in such account.

Posting Policy

A player joining a poker table (with the exception of Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better) is required to pay an initial fee (Post), equal to that table's Lower Limit Stake. The Post follows the same rules as the Blind Bets and allows the player to Sit-In at the table.

Players have the option to "Sitting Out" and waiting for the Big Blind before beginning to play. Posting ensures fairness to all players, by preventing players from entering a Poker game in a “Late Position” in order to avoid placing Blind Bets.

Missed Blind Bets Policy

A player may choose to temporarily “Sit Out” from a table:

1. If, while Sitting-out, the player misses their turn to place the Small Blind, when the player chooses to “Sit-In” again at the table, that player will be required to Post. This Post consists of a "Live (active) Bet", equal to the Big Blind.
2. If, while Sitting-out, the player misses their turn to place both the Small Blind and the Big Blind, when the player chooses to “Sit-In” again at the table that player will be required to Post. This Post consists of a live bet, equal to the Big Blind, plus an additional "Dead (non-active) Bet", equal to the Small Blind, which is "donated" by the player directly to the pot.
3. If, while Sitting-out, the dealer button passes the player three times, the player will be removed from the table.

Tie Hands Policy (for all poker variations except for Hi-Lo Poker)

In the event that two or more active players, participating in the poker hand's Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is determined by the High Card (i.e. a Pair of Aces beats a Pair of Kings).

Should the poker hands remain tied (i.e. a Pair of Kings vs. a Pair of Kings), the highest ranking (valued) card, not held in common (the "Kicker"), determines the hand's winner.

In the event of exact ties in poker hand ranking, between two or more active players, the table's Pot will be split evenly between those players. In the event of extra odd chip(s) the first winning player to the left of the dealer, in a clockwise fashion, will receive the odd chip(s).

Tie Hands Policy (for Hi-Lo Poker variations only)

In the event that two or more active players, participating in the poker hand's Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is determined by the High Card (i.e. a Pair of Aces beats a pair of Kings) or Low Card (i.e. a 2 card beats a 3 card).

Should the Hi Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a Pair of Kings vs. a Pair of Kings), or the Lo Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a 2 card vs. a 2 card), the highest/lowest ranking (valued) card, not held in common (the "Kicker"), determines the hand's winner.

In the event of exact ties in Poker hand ranking, between two or more active players, the table's pot will be split evenly between those players. In the event of extra odd chip(s) the first winning player to the left of the dealer, in a clockwise fashion, will receive the odd chip(s).

Log Out Features

If no keyboard key or touch screen is pressed by the player or the mouse is not moved or clicked by the player for a period of 15 minutes, the WSOP.com client will attempt to log-out such player and prompt such player to enter their username and password. In such case, a warning pop-up with a 60 seconds countdown will be displayed after 14 minutes to allow the player to click the “I’m Back” button and avoid being logged out by the WSOP.com client.

A player may also manually log out the WSOP.com client by accessing the ‘Log Out’ option which can be found under the menu in the WSOP.com client. If a player manually logs out of the WSOP.com client this will close all of the player's active tables and such player will automatically sit out any table game and will not be able to play whilst the WSOP.com client is manually logged out.

Time Limits

To keep the pace of play at an enjoyable level, a time limit applies to every player action.A warning will be given as the player’s time runs down – if no action is taken before time expires, his/her hand will be automatically folded, and he/she will forfeit any amount that he/she has contributed to the pot. Certain tables may be designated as “turbo” or “hyper-turbo” tables and will operate on shorter time limits to accommodate players who enjoy a faster pace of play.

Time Bank

A “time bank” is an additional limited reservoir of time that can be activated by the player for difficult decisions by clicking on the “Time Bank” button. Players also have the option to have their time bank automatically activated when their normal time to act expires via the game settings. If a player has configured the time bank to be automatically activated, it will only be used in hands where the player has voluntarily invested money in the pot (this includes posting blinds out of turn). Posting blinds when it is the player’s turn to post them will not be considered a voluntary investment of money in the pot. Players who fail to act before their time bank expires will have their hand automatically folded.

All-In Players

A player who wagers all of his/her available chips is considered “all in.” An all-in player is always eligible to win the “main pot”, which consists of the amount wagered by the all-in player plus the amount of his/her contribution that was matched by other players in a hand.

A “side pot” will be created for the players that continue to wager in the hand after the all-in player is no longer able to make or match further bets. Depending on the respective chip stacks of the players, a number of side pots may be created in a single poker hand each time a subsequent player is all-in.

For example, assume there are three players: A, B, and C, who have $100, $120, and $200, respectively, at the beginning of the hand. Player A makes an all-in bet for $100, Player B moves all-in as well for $120, and Player C calls. The “main pot” will be $300 (consisting of $100 from each player), and will be contested between all 3 players. A “side pot” of $40 ($20 from Player B and $20 from Player C) will also be formed, but will only be contested between Players B and C, because Player A was all-in for $100 and did not contribute to the side pot. In other words, even if Player A has the best hand among the three of them, only players B and C are eligible to win the $40 side pot. If Player B or C has the best hand among the three players, he/she would win both the main pot and the side pot (because, unlike Player A, he/she had contributed to each).

Player Disconnection Policy

If a player is disconnected due to a reason specific to that player for example, server issues affecting only that player or some of the players, disconnection resulting from the player’s hardware or telecommunication services used by the player, if the location verification service we employ identifies the player as being located outside of the State of Pennsylvania or a player can't or does not log in when the tournament starts, the server may automatically attempt to reestablish connection to the player.

If the connection cannot be reestablished in a suitable amount of time, for cash games:

(i) if the player has not made a bet when it is such player’s turn to act, he/she will automatically check;

(ii) if another player has made a bet, and a call is required when it is the player’s turn to act, his/her hand will be automatically folded. A player’s hand will not be treated as ‘all-in’ due to a player connection problem. Before any automatic action is taken, the player’s time bank (if any) will be activated.

If the connection cannot be reestablished in a suitable amount of time, then for tournaments which are in progress, the player will continue to play the blinds and such blinds will be deducted from the player until the player is “blinded out.” In the event that server resumes connection before the player is “blinded out”, the player will automatically be reconnected to the tournament and can continue to play in such tournament.

Server Outage Policy

In the unlikely scenario that a WSOP.com server experiences an unexpected outage and such outage affects all players playing a cash game or tournament:

· Cash games will roll back to their status before the hand then in progress (interrupted due to the outage) as though it was never dealt;

· Players who are disconnected in the middle of a cash game will be automatically refunded the funds they contributed to the pot in the interrupted hand, and their balance at the table will be returned to their Cashier balance;

We reserve the right to cancel any Tournament that is in progress. In the event that we cancel a tournament that is in progress, we will return the buy-in to players who are still in the tournament at such time of cancellation and the and the prize pool will be divided evenly among all the players that are still in the tournament at such time of cancellation.

Tournaments that are in progress will be cancelled and the prize pool will be divided evenly among all the players that are still in the tournament. Players who busted from the tournament prior to the connectivity issue would remain unaffected, and be ineligible for any prize.

Auto- Muck Losing Hand

If a player is participating in a showdown, and his/her hand is ranked lower than an already revealed hand, the player can opt to not show his/her losing hand to the other participants at the table. To enable this feature, the player must check the “Auto-Muck Losing Hand” box. In a multi-way pot at showdown, any player’s hand that wins any portion of the pot will automatically be revealed to the other participants at the table. If a player wins a hand by virtue of everyone else folding, he/she will have the option to choose "Show Hand" or "Muck."

Collusion

Collusion occurs when two or more players at a poker table attempt to gain an unfair advantage by sharing knowledge of their cards or other information. Collusion is prohibited and we use a variety of methods to detect play that appears questionable or suspicious. More information can be found in WSOP.com’s Terms of Service found here.

Fair Play

WSOP.com reserves the right to terminate the account of any player it deems to be violating these House Rules, the Terms of Service, Pennsylvania gaming regulations, or any State or Federal law, and to take any action, as specified in the Terms of Service and as permitted by law or regulation, to address incidents requiring intervention.

Restrictions on Playing in the Same Location as Another Player

A player must not play from the same Physical Location as another player in the same Multi Table tournament, Sit and Go tournament, or cash game. If you are found to be playing from the same Physical Location as another player in the same Multi Table tournament, Sit and Go tournament, or cash game, we reserve the right to terminate your account immediately and we will be under no obligation to refund you any funds that may be in your account.

"Physical Location" is defined as a player being within 30 feet of another person.

Exceptions to a player playing in the same Physical Location are at Caesars Entertainment owned properties poker rooms or designated WSOP tournament areas.

Restrictions on Sharing Devices

If you play using the same device as another player in the same Multi Table tournament, Sit and Go tournament, or cash game, we reserve the right to terminate your account immediately and we will be under no obligation to refund you any funds that may be in your account.

Rat-Holing

WSOP.com considers it unethical for a player to leave a cash game table, only to return to the table shortly thereafter with less than the amount he/she had left with (known as “rat-holing”). If a player attempts to join a table that he/she vacated less than 30 minutes prior, he/she will be required to bring to the table an amount equal to or greater than what he/she left with.

Table Etiquette

Slow Play

Maintaining a reasonable pace of play is the responsibility of all players. Players should aim to play at the same pace as other players at the table.

In-turn Checkboxes

Players can expedite game play by using the in-turn checkboxes to choose their action (e.g. check, fold, etc) before it is their turn to act. The selected action will be automatically taken when it is the player’s turn.

BLAST Tournament

Players participating in a BLAST Tournament must not discuss or reach any type of agreement with regards to the distribution of the prize pool between themselves.

If the prize pool displayed for a BLAST Tournament differs in the tournament lobby, within the tournament table and the amount presented following the prize pool draw, the prize pool displayed in the tournament table shall govern.

Prize Award Policy

Players will not receive fractions of a cent. In all instances where a player's winnings include a fraction of a cent, WSOP.com will round down such player's winnings to the nearest cent. So, for example if you win $4.096, you will receive $4.09.

Last updated: Dec 20, 2023