In the last article, we began discussing some of the rules that can keep your home Texas Holdem poker tourneys running smoothly. By eliminating arguments and controversy, everyone at the game will have a better time and be anxious for the next event.
Here are some additional rules to consider about dealing the cards and betting the hand:

• An all-in wager of less than half a bet does not reopen the betting for any player who has already acted and is in the pot for all previous bets. A player facing this bet may only call or fold. An all-in wager of half a bet or more is treated as a full bet and a player may fold, call or make a full reraise.
  
  Let's assume the previous bet was $200 and a player goes all-in for $202. This $2 raise would not give players who previously called the $200 the ability to reraise. However if the all-in player had $302 remaining, the other players can call or reraise when it's their turn to act since the raise was more than half of the previous bet.



• Bets should be placed in front of the player and NOT thrown into the pot until the betting round is completed. Also, players should keep their bets/raises neatly stacked so that the amount can be easily verified.
  
  This rule permits all players to easily verify the current bet status. If players toss their bets into the pot, it can become very difficult to verify the actual amount of a bet. Once a round of betting is completed, the bets can be pushed into the pot at the center of the table.



• String bets are not allowed.
  
  A string bet is a bet that initially looks like a call, but turns out to be a raise. It can cause other players to react and give away information which may provide an unfair advantage to the bettor and other players. Once the player's hand has put some chips out, the player may not go back to his stack to get more chips to increase the size of the bet. An easy way to address this is having the player declare "call" or "raise" before they bet. When this happens a string bet would not apply.



• "Cards speak," which means the cards read for themselves and override any oral hand declaration.
  
  You may be tempted to have the players call their own hands, but "Cards Speak" is the method used in casino tournament play. However, players are still responsible for holding onto their cards until the winner is finally declared. Throwing one's cards face down into or towards the muck, even at showdown, means the player has folded their hand.



• If a card is dealt face-up or exposed by the dealer during the pre-flop deal, it will be considered a misdeal and the hand will be redealt.
  
  As an alternative to the redeal, the player with the exposed card could be dealt another card after everyone else has received 2 cards. This is the method employed in the casino, but keep in mind that they have professional dealers. Either way works well, just make sure the method you choose is defined in your rules.



• If at any time the dealer neglects to burn a card, there will be no burn card for that round and the card dealt stands.
  
  Here again, there are a variety of ways the situation can be handled. Just be sure to pick the one you like the best and add it to your rules.



• If the flop has too many cards, it will be taken back and reshuffled. The burn card will remain burned and no new burn card will be used.
  
  When this occurs, make sure that everyone in the hand has had time to see the exposed cards before they are reshuffled. This prevents any player from having an unfair advantage as the hand continues.

The key to having a good set of rules for your home poker tournaments is to continually update them as new situations occur. This way, your rules are always up-to-date and address any situation you may encounter. Keep it fun, and the players will keep coming back.