Tournament Rules

Unregistration: Most tournaments allow unregistration until a time specified in the tournament lobby of each tournament, which may vary from event to event. Players who have won their seats through a satellite may unregister if the event allows it; however, they will receive tournament money (T-Money) or an entry ticket in exchange for their seat. T-Money can be used to buy in to our other tournaments. See here for more information.

Some satellites will end after the start of the target tournament, but during late registration. In such cases, the satellite winners will be seated directly into the target event at the conclusion of the satellite.

Please note: Registration and unregistration times may vary, and not all tournaments allow unregistration. Check the Tournament Lobby for the exact registration details for each tournament. We reserve the right to alter registration and unregistration times without prior notice.

Players who self-exclude during a Multi-Day Tournament will still be able to complete any tournaments already in progress in which they are playing. This also means that players who request to be self-excluded from playing on our platform after qualifying for Day 2 of a Multi-Day Tournament will still be able to play in that tournament on any subsequent day of that tournament, even after their period of self-exclusion begins. Players who choose not to play on subsequent days will receive no compensation.

Players who request to be self-excluded during a Phased Tournament will not be able to complete the next phase of the tournament. Please consider whether you will be able to play the tournament in its entirety before entering the first phase.

The break schedule for a tournament can be found in the ‘Tournament Information’ section of the ‘Structure’ tab in the Tournament lobby. Break length and timing may vary from one event to the next. We offer two varieties of breaks:

1. Tournaments with synchronized breaks will go on break at 55 minutes past the hour. For example, a tournament which begins at 07:25 will go on break at 07:55, 08:55, 09:55 and every hour thereafter until the tournament ends. There can also be tournaments where the synchronized break only takes place every two hours. For example, a tournament like this, starting at 08:35, could go on break at 08:55, 10:55, and every other hour thereafter.
   In rebuy tournaments of this type where add-ons are permitted, there will be an additional short break (usually three minutes) at the conclusion of the rebuy period, to allow for add-ons to be made.
2. Other tournaments will go on break at regular intervals throughout play. For example, a tournament beginning at 07:25 may go on break after every hour’s play, in which case the first break would begin at 08:25.

In all cases, the tournament will wait for hands at all tables to complete before the break period begins. This means that at some tables, the break will last slightly longer than at other tables.

Note that not all tournaments offer breaks (for example, Hyper-Turbo and some Heads-Up or Shootout-style events).

By participating in a tournament, a player accepts the risk of Internet disconnection, due to problems with the connection between their device and the servers, lag or freeze, or some other problem with the player's device or connection.

1. We do not accept any responsibility for a player disconnection except in the case of a server crash.
2. While each user is responsible for their own Internet connection, we try to protect players who are disconnected during the final stages of a real money tournament, by allowing disconnect extra time (DET).
3. If a player times out during a hand, whether connected or disconnected, his or her hand will be folded if facing action or may be checked if facing no action.
4. If a player is not connected before a hand starts, he or she will be dealt cards, and a blind and/or ante will be posted. There is no rule against a single player choosing to sit out; the player doing so will continue to have blinds and antes posted and cards dealt. Two or more players may not make any agreement to sit out simultaneously, whether at the same table or different tables.
5. In Shootout and Heads-Up events, if all players at a table are disconnected and/or sitting out for a large number of hands (typically 250 hands or more in real money tournaments), the match will end and the player with the most chips will advance to the next round.

For regular multi-table tournaments, the DET is available only at the final table. The DET is as follows:

• First action: between 60 and 240 seconds
• Second action: between 30 and 120 seconds (half of the first action time)
• Third action: between 15 and 60 seconds (half of the second action time)
• Fourth (and subsequent) actions: No extra time added, but as the player is 'sitting-in', they will get the regular time to act before being folded.

For Sit & Go tournaments with fewer than 45 players, the DET is available when the tournament is down to the number of players that will be paid plus one. The DET is as follows:

• First action: 120 seconds
• Second action: 60 seconds
• Third (and subsequent) actions: No extra time added, but as the player is 'sitting-in', they will get the regular time to act before being folded.

For Heads-Up tournaments, the DET is available throughout the tournament. The DET is as follows:

• First action: 120 seconds
• Second action: 60 seconds
• Third (and subsequent) actions: No extra time added, but as the player is 'sitting-in', they will get the regular time to act before being folded.

For all actions above, the player will remain in 'sitting-in' state after being folded, and will therefore be given the indicated amount of time when an action returns to them.

Note that for all tournaments, the DET is reset each time the user reconnects. So, if a player is at the final table of a multi-table event, disconnects, and is down to 30 seconds per action, then reconnects, if they disconnect again they'll start with 240 seconds for their next action.

During any time that the system is waiting on a disconnected player, the tournament clock (that raises blind levels) is stopped.

Please note: The rules described above may vary between tournaments. DET may not be provided for each tournament; we reserve the right to change these rules without prior notification.

With some exceptions (described below), a player may play on only one account during a tournament and may not ‘hand off’ his seat in mid-event to a different player. Violation of this rule may result in penalties including a warning, disqualification from the tournament (with partial or full forfeiture of winnings), and barring from our platform.

The examples of permissible exceptions that we give below are intended to describe examples of unplanned but serious events which are beyond your control.

Examples of things which are not beyond your control and are therefore prohibited include:

1. Going to bed and letting someone else finish the tournament.
2. Entering a tournament then embarking on a pre-planned trip, while asking a friend to play your account while you change location.
3. Deciding to finish a tournament at a friend's house, then asking your friend to take over your account while you make the trip to their house.
4. You and a friend are playing in the same tournament. You agree that if he busts out before you do, he will take over playing your account.
5. Your partner is out of town for the weekend but gives you their password. You log into both their account and yours and play both accounts in the same tournament.
6. You have progressed to the final few tables of a tournament and somebody offers you cash equity for your seat. You allow the other player to sign into your account, or you continue to finish the tournament following the explicit instructions given by them.

Examples of things which are beyond your control and are therefore allowed, subject to us being able to corroborate with evidence, include:

1. A thunderstorm takes the power down in your surrounding area, so you call a friend to take over your account while you make alternative arrangements.
2. Your child is taken ill and you have to attend hospital, so you call a friend to take over your account.
3. You are playing in a tournament and lose Internet access in your home due to a failure of your ISP. You call a friend and they take over while you make alternative arrangements.

Deal making is allowed in tournaments, unless otherwise specified in the tournament lobby.

1. If all remaining players in a tournament agree to split the prize money according to a formula of their choosing, we will accept this agreement and alter the originally published tourney payouts to reflect the numbers agreed to in the deal.
2. If all players remaining wish to make a deal, they should check the ‘Discuss A Deal’ box in the ‘Info’ tab of the Chat Box on the table. When all remaining players have checked this box, the table will automatically pause at the end of the current hand, and our customer support team will be notified. A staff member will come to the table to ensure a smoothly arranged deal. We cannot guarantee that a staff member will arrive immediately, although every effort will be made to avoid delays.
3. Deal making is not available in all tournaments, but when deal making is available the ‘Discuss A Deal’ checkbox will be available in the ‘Info’ tab at the final table.
4. We will not participate in the deal-making process, but we will serve as a facilitator to ensure that everyone is in complete agreement before executing the transfers per the above conditions.
5. We reserve the right to require that any deal leaves some money ‘on the table’ as the first-place prize. This money required to be left in play will usually not be more than 5% of the total tournament prize pool and ensures the integrity of the tournament's finish. The amount of money required to be left in play, if any, will usually be specified in the tournament lobby message.
6. Players may agree to leave more money ‘on the table’ for first place or for other finishes.
7. It is the players' responsibility to determine total agreement. In the absence of oversight at the table by our support personnel, chat records alone will not necessarily validate an agreement. However, we may enforce a deal if it was clearly agreed to by all parties.
8. Only players at the final table may deal for the money, and all deals must include all remaining players.
9. Deals will only be enforced for real money tournaments.
10. Players may discuss any deal they wish. If the players request it, our staff will provide ICM, Chip Count or Even Split numbers to the players as possible deals.
    • ICM is the ‘Independent Chip Model’, a method of calculating each player’s equity in the remaining prize pool, based on the chip counts, the remaining payouts (less any money ‘on the table’), and the likelihood of each player winning each remaining prize in the tournament. This is the default method which will be offered to players.
    • Chip Count is a distribution of remaining prizes (less any money ‘on the table’) based solely on chip counts.
    • An Even Split divides the remaining prizes (less any money ‘on the table’) to all players.

    All deal numbers provided by our staff are not final until clearly agreed to by all players in the Chat Box. Players may discuss variations on those numbers if they want; our staff will then repeat the agreed deal in the Chat Box and ask the remaining players to all confirm their agreement.

11. Players are obligated to play out their Heads-Up matches in a normal way, regardless of the identity of their opponent. Any 'flipping', chip dumping, or other activity classified as ‘abnormal’ game play is prohibited. Violation of this rule may result in penalties up to and including barring from our platform with forfeiture of funds. This rule does not apply to the final match of a scheduled Heads-Up tournament.

Dealing for Tournament Leader Board or Sit & Go Leader Board points is not allowed. Doing so may result in the revocation of all awarded Leader Board points for the deal-making players in the tournament.

In some specially designated tournaments, a cash ‘bounty’ will be placed on some or all of the tournament participants. A player who eliminates such an opponent wins the cash bounty.

There are three types of bounty tournaments:

Knockout: A bounty is placed on every player. You win a cash prize for each player you eliminate. There are also Progressive Knockouts, where your bonus increases as you eliminate players.

Team Pro Bounty: A bounty is placed on every member of Team PokerStars who enters the tournament.

Fixed Bounty: A bounty is placed on a specific player in the tournament.

The bounty is awarded to the player who wins the ‘relevant pot’ for the hand in question, which may be the main pot or one of several side pots. ‘Relevant pot’ means the pot in which the bounty player was all-in for their final chips.

For example:

Daniel (100 chips), Barry (200 chips), Vanessa (400 chips), and Jake (1000 chips), are playing a hand in a No-Limit tournament.

Daniel moves all-in, and Barry, Vanessa and Jake call. The pot which Daniel is eligible for is known as the ‘main pot’. Betting continues ‘on the side’, in side pot 1.

Barry moves all-in, and Vanessa and Jake call. Betting continues between Vanessa and Jake in side pot 2.

Vanessa moves all-in, and Jake calls.

Barry shows the best hand. He wins side pot 1 and the main pot, eliminating Daniel. He receives the bounty for Daniel.

Jake shows the next best hand, and wins side pot 2, eliminating Vanessa. Jake wins the bounty for Vanessa.

Note that although Barry had the best hand overall, he didn’t have as many chips as Vanessa and therefore could not eliminate her. Jake however did have enough chips, and therefore wins Vanessa’s bounty.

If a bounty player wins the tournament:

1. In a knockout tournament, the player is awarded their own bounty.
2. In a Team Pro or fixed bounty tournament in which the Team Pro or fixed bounty player wins, the bounty is not awarded.

Roll Forward (Players are in the Money): When a tournament is cancelled, and players have already reached the money, we refund each remaining player his tournament fee (and knockout bounty if appropriate), and then divide up the prize pool based on the following formula: each player receives the minimum prize not yet awarded at the time of cancellation, and the remainder of the award pool distributed is distributed proportionally according to the chip count.

Heads-up Sit & Go tournaments (HU S&Gs) are handled differently because of their special nature. For example, if one player stays connected while the other player does not, the first player can effectively win the tournament while the second player is disconnected. For that reason, we reserve the right to do a chip count distribution of any HU S&G that we believe was substantially affected by our site's downtime.