Thoughts on 2010 WSOP Rules
As posted in the news section of this site, the rules for the 2010 WSOP have been released. I figured I would take a few minutes to highlight some of the changes and give my opinion on said changes.
Rule 37B is one rule I particularly like as it addresses civility in the poker. Not only does it cover abuse by players towards each other and staff, but it now covers offensive body odor. Part of the rule states, ” Any individual who encounters behavior that is not civil or courteous — or is abusive in any way — is encouraged to immediately contact a Tournament official. This shall include, but is not limited to, any player whose personal hygiene has become disruptive to the other players seated at their table.”
This is a great rule. Every year there is some idiot that decides that he has the right to not bathe because it is apparently lucky. This will help to squash that problem.
Next, rule 55 modifies the cell phone rule. Basically, your phone must be off while you are at the table. However, you may text or email when you are not in a hand (defined by hand being in the muck). If you are caught texting or emailing someone at the table, you are disqualified. This is a result of the twitter craze. I like this rule as well as twittering is very popular and it would be silly to keep people from doing something that has helped to further both players and poker in general.
Also, I like the fact that texting and emailing between players at the same table is getting recognized as a problem. In 2008, there was a situation that was not reported during one of the opening Day 1′s where myself and another reporter saw two players apparently texting each other at the table. I will not reveal any names due to two reasons. 1. We didn’t see the actual messages but there was a lot of eye contact etc after sending and receiving texts. 2. The messages were sent while the players were not in a hand. Both players are well recognized faces, but at the time, there was no rule in place regarding texting. Now there is.
Rule 73 has been modified to define what “in your seat” means. “At your seat” is defined as being within reach or touch of your chair. This is a fair rule.
Rule 78 has been expanded to explain what dealer errors result in a misdeal. Also, the term substantial action has been clarified. Substantial action is considered: three folds, three checks, two or more calls, a fold and a call, or a bet and or a raise or a call and or a fold. While menial, I like the fact this is now defined clearly.
Rule 82 also clarifies how a raise action should be conducted in pot-limit and No-Limit games. “In no-limit or pot-limit, a raise must be made by a.) Placing the full amount in the pot in one or more continuous motion(s) without going back toward the player’s stack or b.) Verbally declaring the full amount prior to the initial placement of chips into the pot or c.) Verbally declaring “raise” prior to the placement of the amount to call into the pot and then completing the action with one additional motion back to the player’s
stack.” Again, this is simplistic, but I am glad to see it included to avoid any angle shooting like we saw in the Main Event a couple years ago.
The WSOP is always making tweaks to the WSOP experience in the hopes to make the experience better for everyone. I think that many of these changes will be beneficial. Hopefully they will enforce their rules consistently to all players and not give certain players (Hellmuth) a pass on the rules.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
