The Tournament Directors Association 2024 Summit, led by Matt Savage (with the mic), addressed dozens of poker issues over two days and codified new standards at the live game tables. (Image: YouTube/SavageTournaments)

The Tournament Directors Association – the body that administers rules accepted by reputable poker establishments around the world – wrapped up its 11th annual summit over this past weekend. During two days of meetings at the PokerGO Studios at Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, the TDA discussed several aspects of poker and in particular tournament poker, with the impacts of any new decisions expected to influence the way cash and tournament poker events are run worldwide. 

Two notable changes were hotly contested, and the decisions made reflected a willingness of both sides to compromise. 

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Which Comes First, Ante or the Blind?

The first major discussion came with one of the recent innovations in tournament poker – the big blind ante.

In the “old days,” tournament poker utilized antes to increase the action and push players into pots. Each player would put up a prescribed amount of chips, with the big blind and small blind also providing their donation. This would put a tremendous amount of pressure on dealers to ensure that all players were putting in the proper amount of chips and that nobody was “shorting” the pot.

However, over the past few years the “big blind ante” has become popular. Instead of every player putting in an ante, the big blind in each hand would provide an additional amount equal to the big blind as a “table ante.” This eliminates the need for each player to put up some chips, helps dealers to make sure that the pot is correct, and increases the action in each hand (as if the blinds weren’t enough). But the question arose – if a player did not have enough chips for both the big blind AND the ante, which came first?

After intense discussion on the issue, with tournament directors advocating on both sides, it was determined by the Summit that the big blind would be fulfilled first, then the ante. A predominance of the TDs in attendance, including World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director and founder of the TDA Matt Savage, argued that the ante should take priority. But those TDs listened to the reasons presented as to why the blind should take precedence. In the end, the argument for the big blind to take priority was strong enough that it swayed the entirety of the Summit to adopt the new rule that the big blind would be filled first, with any leftover chips going to the ante. 

Dealer Says What?

The second major discussion was regarding the conduct of a dealer and what their actions should be regarding action during a hand.

In the “old days,” dealers were only there to pitch the cards, keep the pot in line, and push the chips to the winner of the hand … lather, rinse, repeat. At that time, players usually kept their attention on the table and, as such, were attentive to what was going on with the action on the felt. However, that has changed over the years.

Today, players usually have some sort of listening device on, whether it is playing music or simply a “noise canceling” headphone to allow the player to concentrate. The use of mobile phones and other electronic devices (we’ve seen laptops at the table) has also been allowed (at least until the money bubble pops in a tournament setting). Thus, the attention of players is, shall we say, a bit distracted.

To potentially help with this situation, the TDA Summit changed the rules to allow dealers to announce the action as it occurs at the tables. In this situation, a dealer is expected to announce a bet or a raise and the amount of that action. For example, a dealer is now bound by the rules to call out “bet of 150” when someone opens a pot and “raise of 150” should a player raise the pot. This would also apply to any additional three-, four-, or five-bets of the hand. 

The discussion here is that dealers may not have the vocal skills to, without emotion or inflection to their voice, announce what table actions have occurred and not influence play on the felt. Players have often complained about the announcements from the dealer of “straight on the felt” or “three to a flush” and how it influences what their opponents do. How can the dealers be trained to announce the action on the felt without unintentionally influencing what occurs? 

With the adjustment of this rule, the tournament directors are expecting that players will pay attention to what the dealers are saying and will not miss the action on the felt. 

Shaping a Worldwide Game

Since the start of the 21^st century, poker has become a worldwide game that is enjoyed in casinos and poker rooms around the globe. While the enjoyment of certain “house rules” in certain areas gives a bit of ambiance to the game, it is recognized that certain rules must be constant for the game to be able to be respected and grow. 

In 2001, the Tournament Directors Association was founded by Savage, former WPT Tournament Director Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and David Lamb.

That group recognized that there needed to be a standardization of the rules of poker, in particular tournament poker, so that players were playing on the same field worldwide. The TDA Poker Rules were enacted then and have been instrumental in managing many aspects of tournament poker, including etiquette at the tables and other innovations (such as the “big blind ante” instituted a few years ago). 

Since the inception of the Tournament Directors Association, 4,000 members have come on board representing 65 countries. Not only does this count Savage, credited with his work with the WPT and other major poker rooms, but other tournament directors from the European Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker, and other major tournament groups and casinos from around the world. 

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