Poker Etiquette

Colorado Springs Poker League is a friendly and safe place for good human beings to congregate and enjoy a night of decent poker.  We are not a group of people who will tolerate inappropriate or disrespectful behavior.  So, if you are looking for a place to get drunk and act like a jackass, there are plenty of free poker games at the local bars around the city.

However, if you are looking for a great group of like-minded people who all enjoy getting to know each other, playing No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments, and building friendships, you have found a great poker league.  If you are responsible enough to conduct yourself in a respectful manner, alcohol is welcomed at our tournament tables unless the host of that particular event requests otherwise.

We understand that there are certainly different skill levels who come to our tournament tables, and you will need to respect that as well.  Just because someone got “lucky” or didn’t play a hand the way that you think he/she “should” have, that doesn’t justify inappropriate, immature, or disrespectful behavior on your part.  If your behavior is deemed inappropriate in any manner, the host of the game or one of the league administrators has the power to politely ask you to leave the game.

If you are asked to leave the game because of inappropriate behavior (including being perceived to be under the influence of drugs/alcohol), there will not be any “refund” of your tournament entry fee and you might not be allowed to participate in future league events.

Buy-In/League Dues

In order to join our No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament league, you only need to be invited and then show up to play! When you participate in your first event, you are automatically a standard member of the league and will begin to accrue points and official Power Ranking toward the “Main Event.”

There aren’t any extra league dues to join.  The buy-in per tournament is $40 per entrant.  Every player who participates in one of our league-sanctioned events has the opportunity to accrue a personal Power Rank throughout the season.  Every player will accrue at least one point for every tournament that he/she enters (this is the worst-case scenario, as points are awarded on a “Reverse Finish” basis).

Here is how the $40 Tournament Buy-In is broken down:

$30 is put into the pot for that event.  This pot will be paid out to the winners of the event based on our league payout guidelines.

$1 goes to the “Bad Beat.”  The Bad Beat is defined as a hand where one person has a full-house or better, and is beaten.  HOWEVER, BOTH HOLE CARDS FROM BOTH PLAYERS (THE WINNING HAND AND THE LOSING HAND) HAVE TO PLAY.  The Bad Beat is progressive, meaning that if nobody suffers a bad beat from the current tournament, then everybody’s $1 from that night is carried over to the next tournament.  This carryover can continue for weeks upon end, meaning that the Bad Beat Pot can grow to become quite substantial.  It’s imperative that you understand the rules of the “Bad Beat,” so please be sure to ask if you have any questions.

$1 goes toward the “Bounty.”  The Bounty is the person who won the previous tournament.  If you are the person who takes out the “Bounty,” you win everybody’s $1 from that tournament.  For example, if George wins tournament #1, and Nancy knocks-out George in tournament #2, then Nancy would win $1 from everybody playing in tournament #2 that night.  If George were to win tournament #2 as well, then he keeps the “Bounty” winnings from tournament #2 and is still the “Bounty” during the next league-sanctioned tournament.

$1 goes toward the “Player of the Year.”  The Player of the Year is the person who finishes the regular season with the highest Power Rank in the league (not including the Main Event tournament).  In order to qualify for the Player of the Year award, you must have played in at least 50% of the regularly-held league tournaments throughout the season.

$7 goes toward the Main Event Pot.  The remaining $7 from every player’s $40 buy-in goes toward the Main Event Pot.  These are the funds that will accrue throughout the season to build the payout for the Final Table Tournament (Main Event).

Blinds Structure

Every participant in a league-sanctioned tournament will start the game with $4000.00 in chip value.  (Each player may or may not have the chance to earn a “Bonus Chip(s)” by arriving to the game by a certain time). The blinds (small blind/big blind/big blind ante) will increase in 20-minute increments, as depicted in the following table:

Power-Ranking System

Our league awards an overall ranking system that takes 4 variables into account.  Each of these four variables is NOT equally weighted.  The four variables are:

1) Points% (individual points earned divided by total points awarded throughout season)

2) Win% (individual wins divided by total number of individual games played)

3) Winnings% (individual winnings in dollars divided by total winnings paid out  in dollars)

4) In the Money% (individual cashes divided by total number of individual games played)

Points% (45% of Overall PR Score)

Points % is calculated by taking the total number of points that you have accumulated throughout the season divided by the total number of points awarded for all players in the league throughout the season.  This will tell you what percentage of the overall points you have personally earned.  Points are accumulated on a “Reverse Finish” basis throughout the entire season.  Every player who participates in a league-sanctioned tournament is eligible to accrue points.  The maximum number of points to award to any single player during any given sanctioned tournament is equal to the total number of players for that particular tournament.  For example, if 10 players play in the first tournament, the winner of that game will be awarded 10 points, second place will receive 9 points, third place will get 8 points, and so on until the last place (first one knocked-out of the tournament), who will receive 1 point for playing.

If there are 18 players in the second tournament, the winner of that game will receive 18 points, second place will be awarded 17 points, etc.

Win% (25% of Overall PR Score)

Win% is pretty straightforward…  Basically you are dividing the number of times you won a tournament into the total number of tournaments you have participated in.  If you play in 50 tournaments total, and win 5 of them, your Win% is going to be 10%.  This variable counts for 20% of your overall Power Rank.

Winnings% (20% of Overall PR Score)

Winnings% is referring to the total amount of money that you have won divided into the total amount of money paid out to all members throughout the season.  For example, if you have won a total of $500 and the league has paid out a total of $2,500, your Winnings% would be 5% ($500/$2,500).  Winnings% accounts for 15% of your overall Power Rank.

In the Money% (10% of Overall PR Score)

In the Money% is referring to the total number of times you cashed versus the total number of games you have played throughout the season.  If you played 50 tournaments, and cashed in 20 of them (placing high enough to win money for those tournaments), your In the Money% would be 40%.  This variable accounts for 10% of your overall Power Rank.

At the end of the season, the top 10 power-ranked competitors over the entire season will be invited to the Main Event Final Table.  In order for any player to qualify for the Main Event, he/she must have participated in at least 50% of the total games played throughout the regular season.  In the event that we have fewer than 10 “Qualified” participants for the Main Event, we will continue to play the Main Event with the number of players who are “Qualified.”

The player with the highest power-rank at the end of the season will automatically become the dealer at the Main Event, as well as have the privilege to choose his/her seat. The second-highest ranked player will be able to choose his/her seat second, and third has choice of seat next, and so-on.

For every dollar that is won and recorded by a player throughout the season, he/she will earn $1 in bonus chips to start with at the Main Event (assuming that player is playing in the Main Event). For example, if a player has been paid out $1,000 in winnings, he will automatically get an extra $1,000.00 in bonus chips to start the Main Event.

Season Events

Only league-sanctioned tournaments will count toward the accrual of season Power Rank and be subject to league rules and guidelines.  Each season will consist of a specified number of tournament events plus a Main Event at the end of the season.  On average, CSPL meets every other Saturday; there will be an opportunity for two tournaments (Early Game and Late Game) during each Saturday night that we meet.

If there aren’t enough players to warrant a league-sanctioned tournament (5), that tournament will be cancelled and no Power Rank or money will be awarded.  If an unforeseen schedule conflict arises, or during inclement weather, and a tournament needs to be cancelled, league administrators may, at their sole discretion, reschedule the missed events.

Minimum/Maximum Table Size

In order for a tournament to be sanctioned by the league, there has to be at least 5 players who buy-in and begin that particular tournament.  If there are fewer than five and players still want to play, a tournament/game can be held but it won’t be sanctioned by the league and therefore won’t count toward season Power Rank and/or payouts.  Currently, our maximum number of players for any given tournament is 30 (but subject to rise if need be).

Bonus Chips

At the discretion of the host for any given tournament, players who arrive and are INSIDE the designated tournament area at least 10 minutes prior to the official start-time of the tournament may receive an additional Bonus Chip to add to his/her stack.  The bonus chip will be worth $100-$500 in chip value.  This will be subject to whether the host of that particular tournament wants to offer the Bonus Chip.

Dealing and Cutting

Every player during a given tournament is expected to take his/her turn dealing.  At the beginning of each tournament every player will draw a card from a pile that is face-down on the table.  The person who draws the Ace will be the initial dealer for that particular tournament.  The person who deals the 2 will be the small blind for the first hand, and the person who deals the 3 will be the initial big blind for the first hand.  The rest of the players will fill in behind the big blind in numerical order based on which card was initially drawn by each player.

The dealer button moves clockwise around the table.  When it is your turn to deal, you must offer the player to your right (behind the dealer button) the opportunity to cut the cards prior to dealing.  If the player to your right is only a spectator and not a part of the game, find the first player to your right who is still in/participating and offer the cut.

Payouts

Payouts for each individual tournament will include $30 from each player’s $40 buy-in.  In addition, there is a “Bad Beat” and a “Bounty” up for grabs during each tournament as well. 

All Rules Are Subject to Final Interpretation and/or Change as Deemed by League Administrators