With the popularity of Texas Holdem, more and more people have begun organizing home tournaments. Although home games are typically between friends and inexpensive to enter, as the total number of players increases so does the value of the prize pool. Also, with an increase in number of players comes an increase in the overall length of the tournament. Both of these can lead to arguments and frustration if not handled properly.
Before you start a home tournament, you need to put some thought into topics like the prize pool and blind structure. Having this information outlined ahead of time will work to reduce any controversy that may arise. If your home games generally range between 15 and 20 players, consider establishing a prize pool that account for each of these possibilities. If the game moves too slowly, don't be afraid to modify the blind structure accordingly before the next tournament. Keep in mind that modifying it during the tournament is generally a bad idea, unless everyone agrees. ...And, you will never get the short stacks to agree.

Whether developing new tournament rules or modifying your existing ones, I have identified a few items you may wish to consider. These rules may make your tournaments flow more smoothly and hopefully improve the overall enjoyment for the players.

• Play will begin at the predefined starting time. Players that do not arrive prior to the start of the game will be assigned a seat. Once play begins, the missing player's blinds will be posted and their hand folded until the arrive. If the player does not arrive within the first hour of play, their remaining money will be removed from the game.
  
  This rule ensures that the tournament does not drag on into the early morning hours. Starting 30 minutes late may not seem like a big deal at 7:00 PM, but you may feel differently at 2:00 AM.



• Players must keep their highest denomination chips visible and at the front of their chip stack at all times. Except when being viewed, a player's cards must remain on the table in front of their chip stack.
  
  How many times in your tournaments has a player acted out of turn because he did not know another player was in the hand? Without a rule like this one, players often place their cards behind their chips or hold them off the table. As for the chip stack rule, having the highest chips in the front provides players with the full information they need to assess their position in the tournament, or when considering an all in move. No player wants to go all in against a player they thought was short stacked only to find the big money chips were hidden in the back of the stack.



• Players may not make a bet or fold their cards prior to their turn. A player who acts out of turn shall be held to that action when it is their turn to act, unless intervening action changes the action the out-of-turn player is facing.
  
  In other words, if a player checks, folds, or bets out of turn, they must check, fold, or bet when the action comes to them. Unless of course another player changes the action before they have to act. In this case, they are free to make a fresh decision. Having this rule in place prevents someone from making an out of turn bet in an attempt to keep another player from betting. Then after the player checks and it's their turn to act, they suddenly change their mind and check as well.



• If a player's cards are accidentally mucked by the dealer, a player from another table (or a player out of the hand) can retrieve the mucked cards from the discard pile provided the player can identify the suits and values of both cards. If the suits and values of both cards cannot be identified, the cards will remained folded.
  
  Granted in a casino tournament your hand would be dead if it wasn't protected, but this is a home game and there are no professional dealers. If you play the game long enough, it's almost a sure thing that the dealer will eventually muck someone's unsuspecting hand.



• When only two players remain in the tournament, the dealer posts the "Small Blind" and has first action pre-flop. For all play after the flop, the dealer acts last.
  
  It never fails that people start asking the question "who is the small blind?" when the action is down to two players. Add this rule, and you won't have to answer it again.

In the next article, I'll continue the list by adding some information about dealing the cards and betting the hand.