Ranking of cards in hands
The cards are ranked ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, and deuce. The ace is the highest ranked card in high poker and is ranked lower than a deuce in low poker, and is ranked lower than a deuce when used in an ace-5 straight in either high or low poker.
(1) A high poker hand in a showdown consists of five cards, ranked according to the follow-ing from highest to lowest:
(a) Five aces–four aces of different suits and the joker;
(b) Five of a kind–four cards of the same rank and the joker;
(c) Straight flush–five cards of the same suit in sequence; an ace-high straight flush is a “royal flush”;
(d) Four of a kind–four cards of the same rank;
(e) Full house–three cards of the same rank and two cards of the same rank;
(f) Flush–five cards of the same suit;
(g) Straight–five cards in sequence;
(h) Three of a kind–three cards of the same rank;
(i) Two pair–two cards of the same rank and two cards of one other rank;
(j) One pair–two cards of the same rank; and
(k) High card–the highest ranking card in the hand.
(2) A low poker hand in a showdown consists of the best low qualifying hand. Straights and flushes do not impair the value of a hand for low.
(3) If expressly permitted by the rules of play of an approved poker game, a poker hand may consist of either fewer than five cards or more than five cards. The rank of poker hands containing other than five cards shall be specified by the rules of play of each game permitting such hand.
Use of joker
(1) At the discretion of the licensee, a joker may be used in poker as an ace, or as any card not already in the player’s hand to complete a straight flush, a flush, a straight or as the lowest card not already in the player’s hand.
(2) If permitted by the rules of play of an approved poker game, one or more jokers may be added to the deck, and may be used as described above, or may be used as wild cards, representing any card in the deck.
Tie hands
Tied hands are determined solely by the five cards that make the hand, and no other cards. Ties may not be broken by the value of the side cards, nor by suit. At a showdown, if two or more hands are tied, the pot is split between the tied hands.
Cards
(1) When a table is opened for play, the cards in a game of poker must be verified by the dealer as one complete standard deck of 52 cards. One or more jokers may be added in certain games. The design on the backs of the cards in the deck must be identical, and no card may contain any marking, symbol, or design that enables a player to know the identity of any element printed on the face of the card. The backs of the cards may contain a logo. The backs of the cards in the deck must be designed to eliminate the ability of any person to place concealed markings on them. No retail licensee may use cards that are taped, cut, shaved, marked, defaced, bent, crimped, or deformed.
(2) If permitted by the rules of play in an approved poker game, digital or electronic representations of cards may be used.
Retail licensee to provide dealer
The retail licensee must provide the dealer. The dealer may not make a bet or otherwise wager on a poker game.
Shuffle and cut of the cards
(1) Before play, the dealer must, in front of the players, shuffle the cards so that they are randomly intermixed. An approved mechanical shuffling device may be used to shuffle the cards. Following the shuffle, the dealer must cut the cards. The dealer must place a cutting card on the bottom of the deck to conceal the last card.
(2) If there are not enough cards left in the deck for each player, the dealer is to deal all the cards except the last card. The dealer is to then scramble the last card and the four burn cards, cut the deck, burn a card, and deliver the remaining down cards, using the last card if necessary. The dealer may not shuffle in any cards which have been folded by the players. If there are five players remaining without a card, the dealer will not burn so that each player may receive a fresh card. If the dealer determines that by using this procedure, there will still not be enough cards for all the players, the dealer is not to give any of the players a down card. Instead, the dealer is to announce to the table that there are not enough cards to go around and a community card will be used. The dealer will then burn a card and turn a card up in the center of the table. The card plays in everyone’s hand. The player who falls high on board, using the community card, initiates the action.
Ante
An ante may be used in the game at the discretion of the retail licensee. The player must ante for each hand by placing chips equaling the ante in front of the player on the table before the first card of the game is dealt. The dealer must sweep the antes and place them in the pot. Once the first card is dealt to any player, the ante may not be altered, except that if a player’s hand is declared dead for reasons other than the player’s fault, the ante may be returned to such player.
The deal
(1) Cards may be dealt out of the hand by the dealer. A button may be moved around the table, clockwise, so that the player who has the button receives the advantage of playing and betting last. The dealer must protect the deck to avoid exposure of the cards.
(2) The retail licensee must have two separate decks of cards available at each table, except that the second deck of cards used in house banked games may be maintained at the pit podium. The color of the backs of the cards of the two decks must be of a different predominant color. A new deck must be used for at least one complete cycle of play around the table, or for seven hands of play in house banked games, unless the deck is found to be defective. If a mechanical shuffling device is used, the deck may be changed following each hand. (3) If appropriate to the play of an approved poker game, a mechanical shuffling device may be used to dispense each player’s cards, and/or the dealer’s cards, and/or the community cards, as a group, to the dealer. The dealer shall then deal an intact group of cards from the shuffling device to each player, and/or to the dealer, and/or to the community card area, as specified by the rules of the game.
(4) If appropriate to the play of an approved poker game, an approved electronic shuffling device may be used to deal each player’s cards, and/or the dealer’s cards, and/or the community cards. The cards are dealt and displayed as specified by the rules of the game. |
