Brass Owl Rules of Play

The Brass Owl is a home poker game. It’s a social game played at low stakes, and to ensure that it remains a fun game, we follow the rules strictly. All the standard rules of play apply, but we would like to focus on a few specific rules:

  1. Do not act out of turn.
  2. Act in a reasonable amount of time when it is your turn.
  3. Any player not involved in the current hand can call clock on a player who has not acted in a reasonable amount of time, provided such calls are not abused. After clock is called, the affected player has 60 seconds to act.
  4. Keep your cards and chips on the poker table and in plain view, with bigger denomination chips exposed.
  5. Except when necessary to assist the dealer, never touch another player’s cards or chips.
  6. Do not splash the pot with your bet. Keep your bet in front of your cards until the betting round is over and then push in.
  7. No string bets are allowed; any player can note a string bet, and the dealer will correct the action.
  8. A single chip larger than a prior bet in the same round that is thrown in without announcing a raise is a call.
  9. Verbal declarations are binding and, while not required, remove any doubt as to the bettor’s intentions.
  10. Until play on the hand is complete, do not comment on the hand if you are not still playing it, do not “read” the board possibilities aloud, whether in the hand or not, and do not comment on cards you have folded.
  11. Players may not agree to check a hand down when a third player is all-in.
  12. Cards mucked stay mucked, whether mucked in error or not.
  13. Players who are all-in must turn up their cards when no further action is possible.
  14. A player who is called in a showdown must show his cards.
  15. Show your winning hand quickly. Do not “slow roll.”
  16. The cards speak for themselves.
  17. Any neutral player may divide a split pot or subdivide an all-in pot.
  18. Cards are shuffled by the Big Blind, who should then pass them to the Little Blind, to be cut by the previous Button.
  19. Each player is required to play at the table and in the position he has drawn. Every effort will be made in cash games to rotate blinds on a regular schedule.
  20. No drinks or food on the Brass Owl table or on the felt of other tables.
  21. Buy-ins and rebuys must be made within the stated minimum and maximum ranges. A player may buy additional chips to bring his stack up to the maximum amount.
  22. All buy-ins and rebuys must be made through the designated cashier or under his direct instructions and supervision. No player should otherwise touch the bank’s chips or cash.