It is with regret that following legal advice we have to withdraw the award of the 'Top Dog' individual trophies for those players who finish top of each monthly leaderboard. This is to ensure LivePubPokerLeague remain within the rules of the Gambling Act and therefore can continue to offer free, social and enjoyable poker tournaments to our members.

It is only through our open dialogue with our legal advisers and the Gambling Commission that we will continue the success of LivePubPokerLeague, and this course of action ensures that continued success.

On 22 Nov 06 we posted a news item stating that on a trial basis those players who qualified IN THE TOP 20 for the November Area Finals would receive a reward of an additional 500 chips to the 3000 normally provided on commencement of play.

Whilst continually striving to ensure that LivePubPokerLeague remain within the legal guidance provided by both our legal advisers and the Gambling Commission, we will NOT be continuing with this initiative to reward extra points - if we were to do so we would be in breach of the Gambling Act and thereby make LivePubPokerLeague liable to legal action. Obviously LivePubPokerLeague MUST remain within the legal definations of the Gambling Act in respect of playing poker in pubs, and it is our main objective outside our desire to provide free, social and enjoyable poker tournaments to our members.

A reminder to all players that due to combining the Dec 06 and Jan 07 Monthly Leaderboards the first prize in our Christmas Special Finals is entry to the €1,000 (plus €100 registration fee) 2-day NL Holdem Freezeout event held at the Paddy Power Irish Poker Open in Dublin on Sunday 8th April 2007 (Easter Sunday) starting at 6:00pm, with Day 2 of the event on Monday 9th April 2007 (Easter Monday) starting at 3:00pm.

Also included are return flights from Doncaster (Sheffield) airport to Dublin, departing at 1.25pm (eta Dublin 2.25pm) on Sunday 8th April 2007 and returning at 3.20pm (eta Doncaster Sheffield 4.20pm) on Tuesday 10th April 2007 AND hotel accommodation for 2 people sharing a room at the venue of the Paddy Power Irish Poker Open for the nights of Sun 8th April and Mon 9th April - the venue is The Burlington, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (the Burlington is a high quality 4-star Dublin hotel, centrally located, just a five-minute stroll from St Stephen's Green and Grafton Street)

All games held during Dec 06 and Jan 07 go towards the Leaderboard, and with the winner's prize being highly sought after, competition is expected to be tight during the 2 month period - so every point could make all the difference!

Due to combining the Dec 06 and Jan 07 Monthly Leaderboards we are able to offer a fantastic Christmas Special prize for the winners of both the South Yorkshire Dec 06 & Jan 07 Area Final and the West Yorkshire Dec 06 & Jan 07 Area Final (both due to be played on Sunday 11 Feb 07 at venues to be confirmed).

The winner of each final will receive entry to the €1,000 (plus €100 registration fee) 2-day NL Holdem Freezeout event held at the Paddy Power Irish Poker Open in Dublin on Sunday 8th April 2007 (Easter Sunday) starting at 6:00pm, with Day 2 of the event on Monday 9th April 2007 (Easter Monday) starting at 3:00pm.

The 1st prize also includes return flights from Doncaster (Sheffield) airport to Dublin, departing at 1.25pm (eta Dublin 2.25pm) on Sunday 8th April 2007 and returning at 3.20pm (eta Doncaster Sheffield 4.20pm) on Tuesday 10th April 2007.

Also included in the 1st prize is hotel accommodation for 2 people sharing a room at the venue of the Paddy Power Irish Poker Open for the nights of Sun 8th April and Mon 9th April - the venue is The Burlington, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. The Burlington is a high quality 4-star Dublin hotel, centrally located, just a five-minute stroll from Stephen's Green and Grafton Street - perfect for a spot of shopping and/or pub crawl - and if winners take partners along they can always pop upstairs to bed early - partners that is, not players!

If all tactics prove fruitless on day 1, the lucky Area Finals' Winners can always watch the Irish Open Main Event Final Table action on Monday 9th April, which will be a televised event, and maybe get a background TV shot to preserve the memory...

All games held during Dec 06 and Jan 07 go towards the Leaderboard. Can you afford not to qualify for the Area Final?

Spectators are most welcome at the Area Finals. However, all spectators must be members and participants of LPPL. 'Non-members' will not be permitted access to the LPPL 'private' areas and due to legal issues are not permitted to join LPPL on the night of the event.

It is common practice in a 'self-deal' game (ie all players take their turn to deal a hand) that the Dealer has full responsibility for the correct running 'of that hand' - which means it is the Dealer who should control the movement of cards (including those mucked in the middle of the table), the 'betting' of chips (including making sure each player puts in the correct amount - and the Dealer should be the only person to 'give change') and the general 'conduct' of players at the table.

Examples of a Dealers Responsibilites include:

If players bet (or check) out of turn then the Dealer of that hand has a responsibility to remind players that this is not correct and that players should wait their turn.

If players break the rules, for example by showing someone else their cards, then the Dealer should remind players that this is, in fact, breaking the rules.

If players remove cards from the 'muck pile', including trying to retrieve their own cards after they have folded, then the Dealer has a responsibility to point out to players that they are not allowed to do that.

The list of possible examples could go on and on, but the general concept that the Dealer is in charge of the table 'for their particular deal' is to be abided by at all times. If disputes arise, the Dealer should take control of the situation immediately and try and sort it out - if they are not able to take control, or they cannot sort it out, then they should immediately call for the Tournament Director (TD) who will take over the responsibility, and it should ALWAYS be remembered that it is the TD who will always have the final say.

On a final note - every player has a certain degree of responsibility to ensure the game is played in a fair and amiciable manner, and therefore players should not rely on a Dealer, or the TD, to bring to the attention of others that something is wrong - if you see that someone has not put in enough chips to the pot - tell them, if you see someone has put in too many - tell them, if you see someone is 'sharing' their cards with another player - tell them...... after all, it is them that are in the wrong, and the more 'we' (ie players) point out mistakes the less they will happen.

Players who deliberately and/or repeatedly 'break the rules' should be reported by Dealers to the TD, who will inform the Host and in turn LivePubPokerLeague may instigate a ban from future events.

All players are reminded that the minimum age to play in LivePubPokerLeague is 18 years.

To clarify a few things...

If a player mucks their hand then no-one, including THAT player, is entitled to then look at the cards after they have been mucked - players folding should push their cards into the centre of the table and they should stay there until the game is over - and even then no-one is to look at mucked cards.

No-one is to deliberately look at another player's cards whether they are still in the game or have already folded. This is especially true for The Dealer, who after they have folded may think they have a right to view someone elses hand - they do not! - whether the other player is still in the game or his cards are mucked - NO-ONE is to view them.

The minimum bet at the start of any round of betting is always the Big Blind (exceptions made only if someone is 'all-in' and they were first to bet). If blinds were 25/50 and someone raised post-flop to 500 and was called, after the turn the minimum bet would still be the Big Blind - ie 50.

When 2 or more players get eliminated during the same hand, it is the player who had the most chips who finishes in the higher position.

For example, if John has 2000 chips, Mark 300 chips, Kay 7000 chips and Tom 900 chips, and John, Mark and Tom are 'all-in' (thus creating 2 side-pots for both Mark and Tom and leaving the remainder of the main pot to be fought over between John and Kay) - and Kay wins the hand thereby knocking out all three players (ie John, Mark and Tom) then the finishing positions would be, for example:
5th John (who had 2000 chips)
6th Tom (who had 900 chips)
7th Mark (who had 300 chips)

If in the rare instance two or more players get knocked out during the same hand, and have the exact same number of chips, LivePubPokerRules then revert to the player who is highest on the Area League Leaderboard who finishes highest, and thereafter we revert to the player who has played in the most games during the relevant month.