Why write them down
Casino poker has a rulebook and a dealer to enforce it. A home game has whoever is holding the deck. Written rules settle disputes before they start, make new players comfortable, and keep the game the same from one night to the next. One page is enough. Share it with the invite and keep a copy on the table.
The game and the money
- Game: usually No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournaments. If you mix in other games, say which and when.
- Buy-in and starting stack: how much, for how many chips. Cash is paid before you're dealt in. No IOUs.
- Rebuys: how many per player, until which level, and whether you must be busted (or below your starting stack) to rebuy.
- Add-on: the price, the chips, and when (usually the first break).
- Late arrivals: until which level a latecomer can still buy in, and whether they get a full stack.
- Blinds: level length and the structure. Print it or put it on a clock.
- Payouts and points: how many places are paid, the split, and how league points work. See payout structures and points systems.
Betting
- Act in turn. Acting out of turn may be held to that action if nothing changes before your turn.
- Verbal action is binding. Say “call” or “raise to 600” and that's your action.
- No string bets. Chips go in in one motion, or announce the amount first.
- Minimum raise: at least the size of the previous bet or raise in the same round.
- One chip is a call. A single oversized chip with no word is a call, not a raise.
- One player to a hand. No advice from anyone not in the hand, including players who have folded.
Showdown
- Cards speak. A hand is what it is, whatever its owner says. Table both cards to win the pot.
- Last aggressor shows first. If nobody bet on the river, the first player left of the button shows first.
- All-in hands are turned face up once all betting is over.
- Show one, show all. Show your cards to one player and anyone can ask to see them.
- Split pots: the odd chip goes to the first winning player left of the button.
New players: keep a hand-rankings card on the table.
Dealing and misdeals
- The button moves one seat left each hand. Decide whether players deal for themselves in turn or one person deals all night.
- Burn a card before the flop, the turn and the river.
- Misdeal if either of the first two cards is exposed, a player gets the wrong number of cards, or the deal started in the wrong seat. Reshuffle and redeal.
- A card exposed later is shown to everyone and becomes the burn card.
Chips
- Chips stay on the table and in view, with the biggest chips easy to see.
- No chips leave the table, and nobody trades or lends chips.
- Say which color is worth what, and when the smallest chips come out.
For chip values and stacks, see how many chips per player.
Absent and late players
- Away from the table: you're still dealt in and post your blinds. If you aren't back by the end of the deal, your hand is folded.
- Late for the start: your stack is dealt in from the first hand and blinded until you arrive, or you buy in late with a fresh stack. Pick one.
- Leaving early: your chips are blinded away; nobody takes them over.
Conduct
- Phones off the table while you're in a hand.
- No slow-rolling: with the best hand at showdown, show it.
- Don't splash the pot; put bets in front of you.
- Food and drinks off the felt.
Disputes
Name one person, usually the host, to settle anything the rules don't cover, and agree that their decision is final. Settle it on the spot, play on, and if it keeps coming up, add a line to the rules for next time.
A free house rules template
The house rules template turns everything above into a one-page sheet. Fill in your buy-in, rebuys, blinds and payouts, untick any rule you don't use, and print it or save it as a PDF.