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Asia Pacific Poker Tour - Terms & Conditions

In the following Terms & Conditions, items in Section A relate to the television production and  Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT)  Ltd. ("APPT") requirements, and apply to each event on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour ("Tour").Section B covers the Tour Tournament Rules and Regulations guidelines and may differ slightly from venue to venue.

Section A:

  1. Regulations relating to the wearing of branded logos by Players at any event on the Tour:
    1. Players will be allowed to wear company logos/branding on their shirts provided that the following restrictions are accepted:
      1. One breast pocket logo no larger than 7cm x 10cm.
      2. Two upper shirt sleeve logos no larger than 8cm x 3cm. (One on each sleeve.)
      3. No other branding on any part of the clothing, body or card protectors etc. will be allowed.
      4. Baseball caps will be allowed but no logos must be visible on them.
    2. Players can be sponsored by a company only before the tournament start. Any un-sponsored player, not wearing branded clothing or logos at the beginning of a Tour tournament, can only be sponsored by the headline sponsor (Pokerstars) ("Sponsor").
    3. No more than 10% of the overall entry field at any event on the Tour can wear the branding/logos of any single company with the exception of the Sponsor of that event. If more than 10% of the players from any single company are wearing the branding/logos of any single company, then the players themselves or a company representative must decide which players wear the branded clothing. If no decision is made, then APPT will high card the players to make a decision.
    4. No more than 2 players on the final table can wear the logos of any single company with the exception of the Sponsor of that event. If more than 2 players from any single company reach the final table then the players themselves or a company representative must decide which 2 players wear the branded clothing. If no decision is made, then APPT will high card the players to make a decision. Any player starting the final table with no logos must remain wearing no logos throughout the final.
    5. APPT and the Tournament Director will have absolute discretion to approve the clothing and apparel worn by the players during the event. They will also have the right to remove or conceal any logo, image or words on the players' clothing and apparel, which in the opinion of APPT or the Tournament Director contravenes the requirements of the commissioning broadcaster, APPT or any regulatory body.
  2. The preliminary rounds, and the final table, will be filmed for transmission by the APPT-appointed television crew and broadcast as a delayed television series.
  3. Players competing in any event on the Tour are required to permit their image to be shown on television internationally, without restriction and in all forms of media. Entry into each tournament is taken as that player giving their consent to participate in the TV coverage.

    Furthermore, all consents under the UK Performers Rights Protection Acts 1958 to 1972, or under similar legislation in other countries of the world in connection with the player's performance in any event forming part of the Tour, and the exploitation of the player's performance in any event on the Tour by any means and in all media including (but not by way of limitation) all forms of theatrical exhibition, television broadcast, internet, and video gram exploitation are hereby granted and assigned by the player to APPT.
  4. Any player playing in any event on the Tour acknowledges to APPT that the entire copyright throughout the world in any film and /or video or other recordings of themselves taken or made during any event on the Tour shall belong to APPT.
  5. Each player participating in any event in the Tour warrants to APPT that they are able to assign all such rights and give such acknowledgements.
  6. Any player in any event on the Tour agrees to carry out any reasonable request by APPT during the event to assist in publicising, televising or promoting the event.
  7. Any player playing in any event on the Tour agrees to disclose their hole cards to the hidden camera at the final table and any refusal to do so could lead to disqualification from the event with no prize money being awarded and no refunds given.
  8. Players must make themselves available to attend press conferences and/or television interviews at any reasonable time during any event on the Tour if requested by APPT or the Tournament Director.
  9. APPT reserves the right to add or amend any tournament rules, as it feels appropriate in its sole discretion. All players will be informed of such changes as and when they occur.
  10. A condition of entry into any tournament on the Tour will be the completion and signing of a release form detailing all the above and distributed at the individual events by 'APPT' and the event organisers.

Section B

In the first series of Asia Pacific Poker Tour ("APPT"), it is hoped that each venue will adhere to the following rules and regulations. However, due to local gaming body guidelines there may be minor differences between events, but our intention is to have a standardised set of rules applying to all poker tournaments within the tour schedule.

In the event of any disputes, the Tournament Director's decision at each venue on the 'APPT' is final.

Players are advised to familiarise themselves with any local rules and regulations before entering the tournaments held there.

POKER COMPETITION RULES:

  1. Seating assignment will be determined by random draw and will not be transferable.
  2. A draw for the button will be held at the beginning of the tournament and also at the final table.
  3. Players will be allocated the exact same number of chips as all other players and this amount bears no relation to the buy-in of the event.
  4. All chips must be visibly displayed at all times. A player's highest denomination chips cannot be 'hidden' and must be visible at all times. Players may not hold or transport tournament chips in any manner that takes them out of view. A player who does so may forfeit the chips and will receive a penalty as per (31). The forfeited chips will be taken out of play from the tournament.
  5. There will be no foreign chips allowed on the table except for a maximum of one card cap.
  6. When it is time to colour-up chips, they will be raced off with a maximum of one chip going to any player. The chip race will always start in the No 1 seat. A player cannot be raced out of a tournament. In the event that a player has only one chip left, the regular race procedure will take place. If that player loses the race, he will be given one chip of the smallest denomination still in play.
  7. Betting will be in clockwise order and must be in turn.
  8. Verbal declarations in turn are binding. Action out of turn may be binding:
    1. If a player bets, raises or calls out of turn the bet stands.
    2. If the player who should have acted first chooses to bet more than the out-of-turn bet, the player who acted out of turn can either make up the difference to call, or take back his bet and fold, or re-raise.
    3. A player that checks out of turn forfeits all rights to bet or raise.
  9. If a player puts in a raise of 50% or more of the previous bet, he will be required to make a full raise. The raise will be exactly the minimum raise allowed.
  10. An oversized chip placed in the pot before the flop with no verbal declaration will be considered a call; after the flop an oversized chip put into the pot will constitute the size of the bet. If a player puts an oversized chip into the pot and states raise but does not state the amount, the raise will be the maximum allowable up to the size of that chip. To make a raise with a single oversized chip a verbal declaration must be made before the chip hits the table surface.
  11. When raising, a player must put the amount of the raise out in one motion or state the raise amount. By stating the word 'raise' a player protects his right to raise, but the raise must be made in one additional motion unless the player states the amount of the raise.
  12. Over-blinds (straddles) are not permitted in tournament play.
  13. Under-raises are only permitted if a player is going "all-in". Less than a full raise does not re-open the betting to a player who has already acted.
  14. Players must be at their seat when the dealer finishes the deal. If the player is not in their seat then the dealer will muck their hand immediately.
  15. All cards will be turned face up once a player is all-in and all action is complete.
  16. Tournament play will use a 'dead button'.
  17. When time has elapsed in a round and a new round is announced, the new limits apply to the next hand. A hand has begun with the first riffle.
  18. Players may not ask for deck changes.
  19. The one player to a hand rule will be enforced.
  20. No rabbit hunting is allowed (asking the dealer to reveal undealt cards if the hand has ended before all five community cards have been dealt).
  21. A player who intentionally dodges blinds when moving from a broken table will incur a penalty.
  22. A player may not use a cellular phone, text-messaging device, or other communication device at the table. Players are allowed to use electronic device iPods, MP3 and other music players until they have reached the money, so long as the electronic devices are not equipped with any type of communication device.
  23. Verbal declarations regarding your own hand are not binding and commenting on the possible contents of an opponent's hand is allowed for the purposes of the televised tournament. However this only applies to players involved in the hand and not to players who have already passed their hand.
  24. Players who are not in the hand may not discuss the hand in play until all action is completed. Discussing cards discarded is similarly not allowed.
  25. No player will be allowed to expose his or her cards during a hand.
  26. It is a player's responsibility to protect their own hands at all times. If a dealer kills an unprotected hand, the player will have no redress and will not be entitled to his money back. An exception would be if a player raised and his raise had not been called yet, he would be entitled to receive his raise back.
  27. Dealers cannot kill a winning hand that was turned face up and was obviously the winning hand.
  28. Floor people are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as top priority in the decision making process. Unusual circumstances can, on occasion, dictate decisions in the interest of fairness take priority over the technical rules. The floor person's decision is final.
  29. Management reserves the right to cancel or alter any event at its sole discretion in the best interest of the tournament or its players.
  30. In flop games when balancing tables, players will be moved from the big blind to the worst position (which is never the small blind). The table from which a player is moved will be as specified by a predetermined procedure. Play will halt on any table that is three or more players short.
  31. Penalties available for use by the tournament director are verbal warnings and one, two, three or four rounds away from the table and may be used with discretion. These may be utilized up to and including disqualification. A player who is disqualified shall have his chips removed from play. Grounds for receiving a penalty include, but are not limited to, exposing cards with action pending, violating the one hand to a player rule, soft play, abuse towards other players or staff; disruptive behaviour, deliberately miscalling a hand, chip dumping, leaving the table with action pending, advising or criticising play before the action is complete.
  32. Calling for the clock procedures: Once a reasonable amount of time has passed and a clock is called for, a player will be given one minute to make a decision. If action has not been taken by the time the minute is over, there will be a 10-second countdown. If a player has not acted on his hand by the time the countdown is over, the hand will be dead.
  33. Players going from a broken table to fill in seats assume the rights and responsibilities of the position. They can get the big blind, the small blind, or the button. The only place they cannot get a hand is between the small blind and button.
  34. Exposure of one of the first two cards dealt is a misdeal.
  35. At the end of the last round of betting, the player who made the last aggressive action in that betting round must show first. If there was no bet the player to the left of the button shows first and so on clockwise.
  36. In the event of any disputes arising during any tournament on the Tour, the Tournament Director's decision is final.
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