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WSOP 2021 Covid-19 Caveat Among Several Rule Changes

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The World Series of Poker released its 2021 set of tournament rules for the upcoming WSOP 2021. Well, the WSOP published the rules on its website but made no announcement about it whatsoever. Few would have known about the publication if not for Kevin Mathers tweeting it on August 10.

So, I printed out the new set of rules and set about the arduous task of comparing the 31 pages of information to the last one published for the 2019 WSOP. After doing so, I realized that Mathers also tweeted a Draftable document comparison thingie that did the work automatically. (Doh.) Luckily, for my own ego, I caught everything that Draftable did.

If you, too, would like to compare documents in the longest, most tedious way possible, here is a link to the 2019 rules and one to the 2021 rules.

Or you can just read on, and I’ll explain the changes.

Tournament Registration and Entry Section Changes

Part 3 of this section refers to the way that players can register for all schedule WSOP events at the Rio. The previously-offered options remain the same:

-cash

-credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express)

-wire transfers

-cashier’s checks drawn from accredited banks and made out to participant or Rio

-Rio gaming chips, Rio tournament buy-in chips

The new option is ACH transactions through the Bravo Poker Live website. This method is explained further in Part 4 (d), a new section regarding ACH transactions. In summary, it notes that first-time ACH transactions require an in-person verification process at the Rio’s WSOP verification area. This should be done at least one hour prior to the start time of the tournament to be played. Players must show a valid ID that matches the name on the tournament registration. When he or she completes the online registration, pays the buy-in and fees, and completes the in-person ID verification, they may retrieve the ticket at the verification area or any WSOP kiosk.

Similar to credit card restrictions, ACH transactions have a cap of $10K per event.

Part 5 notes that all online ACH transactions will assess a 2.75% fee.

Part 17 deals with casino employees and immediate family participation in WSOP events. A subsection previously noted that Caesars employees and immediate family of non-WSOP Caesars employees needed Rio approval in advance to play any bracelet event. That is not in the new rules.

This same subsection also previously prohibited all ESPN, ABC Sports, and Walk Disney Company employees and immediate family from playing in bracelet events. Due to the new contract for 2021, the prohibited is now only CBS Sports.

Participant Likeness and Image Section Changes Needed

There are two parts of Section V of the rules that the WSOP may want to address.

The first is Part 53, which reserves the right for the Rio to ban apparel with images or logos related to marijuana products. Considering these are legal in many states, the WSOP may want to update this at some point.

More importantly, Part 55 begins, “Participants may not cover or conceal their facial identity.” It notes that players must remove any material that inhibits their identification. This clearly doesn’t take into consideration the many people who will wear masks to play in the 2021 WSOP, as the coronavirus pandemic still lingers. This is going to be a difficult rule to enforce, as removing a mask to prove identity may put the person in danger of contracting the virus. That may jeopardize their ability to play in events per a new rule we’ll discuss in a moment.

Poker Rules Section Changes

Part 67 refers to balancing tables. In the first subsection, they deleted a sentence from the 2019 rules. That sentence read, “In stud-only events, participants will be moved by position (the last seat to open up at the short table is the seat to be filled.”

In part 68, the number of participants at a final table changed for 9-handed events. If, in fact, there will be nine-handed events this year, the new rule is that players combine to a final table with 10 players remaining. The previous rule was nine players.

Part 79 adds two sentences to the new hand/limits rule. They are:

“If a hand starts at the prior level by mistake, the hand will continue at the prior level if substantial action has occurred. The new level will then be played on the next hand.”

Part 88 addresses misdeals, fouled decks, and substantial action. The fouled decks part is new and adds a new subsection. It notes three main points:

-If a card with a different color back appears during a hand, all action is void and all chips in the pot are returned to the respective bettors. If that different-colored card is discovered in the stub but will not appear in a hand or on the board, all action stands.

-If two cards of the same rank and suit are found, all action is void and chips in the pot are returned.

-Any participant with knowledge of a defective deck must point it out. But if that player tries to win a pot “by taking aggressive action,” he or she may lose the right to a refund. Those chips may also stay in the pot for the next deal.

The WSOP rewrote and added quite a bit of new information to Part 90, dealing with methods of betting. The new sections are:

-Bets are by verbal declaration and/or pushing out chips. If a player does both, the first of the actions defines the bet. If they happened at the same time but the verbal and chip moves contradict each other, the tournament director will rule based on the circumstances.

-Verbal declarations may be general, a specific amount, or both. Invalid bet declarations include two scenarios. First is if a player faces no bet but declares call, which will be a check. The second is if a player declares raise, he or she must make a minimum bet. Third, a player who declares a check when not an option, he or she may check or fold but not raise.

-Declaring a specific amount is the same as silently pushing out chips in that amount.

In that same Part 90, a new subsection addresses incorrect bets, underbets, and underraises.

-In limit and no-limit games, opening or raising less than the minimum legal amount should be corrected anywhere on the current street.

-In pot-limit games, player underbets based on inaccurate counts can be corrected on the current street for a too-high pot count and through to substantial action for a too-low estimation.

Further, Part 93 adds a new subsection to address binding declarations and undercalls in turn. That new section details the following circumstances:

-Verbal declarations like “call” or “raise” commit the player to the full current action.

-If a player undercalls by declaring or pushing chips less than the call amount without declaring a call first, it is a mandatory full call if facing a heads-up bet or multi-way opening bet on any round. “This rule governs when players must make a full call and when, at TDs discretion, they may forfeit the amount of the intended undercall and fold.” (emphasis by WSOP)

-If two or more undercalls happen in a row, play reverses to the first undercaller to correct. The TD will determine following bet protocols based on circumstance.

Poker Rules Section MORE Changes

It’s not over!

In part 94, relating to acceptable forms of raising, one option was removed this year, which referred to verbally declaring a raise prior to putting the chips in the pot.

The next part of the rules refers to raising by 50% or more. The new sentence added notes that a person putting in a raise of less than 50% of the previous bet will be forced to just call instead.

Part 96 updated a simple phrase in exceptions to no-limit and pot-limit raises. The exception to this particular rule of raises equal to or greater than the size of the previous bet or raise previously noted an exception for two consecutive all-in wagers. The new wording is “two or more.”

Part 97 about oversized chip betting removed references to “multiple same-denomination chips,” leaving the reference solely for a single oversized chip.

The 106th part of the rules relates to discretionary color-ups. It previously stated that participants were entitled to a reasonable estimation of a player’s chip count; now it states that dealers and staff are entitled to the same.

The next part changed “chips in transit” to “chips in plain view while in transit.” That paragraph also added a small subsection about lost-and-found chips.

“Lost and found chips for which ownership cannot be determined will be taken out of play and returned to tournament inventory.” (emphasis by WSOP)

Part 108 pertains to protecting one’s hand. They added one subsection to add to s point about a hand without the proper number of cards. That adds a caveat about button games. The button player may receive a final card, even after substantial action unless that player acted on the prior hand. In the player did act before receiving the final card, the hand is dead.

The Controversial Covid-19 Paragraph

Part 115, toward the end of the poker rules section, there is a paragraph that has created quite the controversy since it was revealed. It reads:

“In accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control, [Rio] reserves the right to remove any Participant from any WSOP Event at any time prior to or during the WSOP Event, in its sole and absolute discretion, for any health or safety related reasons, including but not limited to, if Participant is determined by [Rio] in its sole discretion, to have received a positive test result for COVID-19 or come into close proximity (within 6 feet for 15 cumulative minutes) of any person who has tested positive for COVID-19, or if Participant refuses to undergo any health and safety screening required by [Rio] to participate in a WSOP Event. If Participant is removed from a WSOP Event pursuant to this paragraph, and for no other reason, Participant shall not be entitled to any compensation or remuneration of any type other than what Participant had already been awarded prior to being removed from the WSOP Event. However, for the avoidance of doubt, should Participant be disqualified for any additional reason or reasons that subject Participant to penalties pursuant to the Official Rules, those penalties shall apply. Further, in the situation where one or more Participants is disqualified pursuant to this Paragraph, [Rio] reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to determine whether to proceed with any WSOP Event as scheduled or to postpone or reschedule a WSOP Event, or any portion of a WSOP Event, to a later date.”

So, yeah, a lot of players take issue with various parts of this rule. The primary concern seems to be the impunity with which the WSOP staff can oust someone from a tournament for so much as being within six feet (for 15 minutes) of a person who tests positive for Covid-19.

Members of the poker community have floated every possible situation, from a dealer infecting an entire table of players to a fully vaccinated and masked player who just happens to become a carrier of the virus through no fault of his/her own.

As determined by social media outrage, the worst part of the new rule is that the player – ousted for being Covid-19 positive or near someone who is positive – may not receive any of their buy-in or fees back.

In reality, there are multiple problems with this rule. The obvious is that players risk losing their buy-ins, which can run from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, possibly through no fault of their own. Some are also concerned that they may catch the virus and bring it home to young children or vulnerable family members. Since there is no word that tournaments will play shorter – eight-handed or nine-handed – players may be crammed together against CDC guidelines, the same ones that can be used against players.

Expect Changes to Covid Guidance

The trend of positive Covid-19 cases in Nevada (and everywhere, really) continues to change weekly, if not daily. With more than a month and a half before the WSOP is supposed to begin, it is almost a guarantee that the rules will change.

If cases continue to rise and the vaccination rate does not, the situation is likely to worsen. If people refuse to mask up in public in the coming weeks, the virus may spread further and wider. On the other hand, if more people do get vaccinated and mask up, the virus will be less likely to spread. Numbers will decrease, and rules will loosen.

Listen up. I’m no WSOP insider or defender, but I like to think my criticisms are fair and that I compliment when warranted. With that said, the WSOP cannot win no matter what they do at this moment.

Poker players are going to criticize any move the WSOP makes right now.

The best way to protect the most players is to issue a mask mandate for the 2021 World Series. But that will generate mass criticism, outrage about freedoms and rights and whatnot. What about taking temperatures at all entrances? People will decry the invasion of privacy and find ways around it. Can they install plastic barriers between players as poker rooms did when they first reopened in the post-Covid era? It would be expensive, difficult, and still outrage some players.

They could cancel the 2021 WSOP, too.

For now, the WSOP probably had to say something. Per Nevada Gaming Commission guidelines, the WSOP most likely had to release a rule or statement regarding Covid-19 and CDC guidelines.

Obviously, players need answers in order to book travel and accommodations…or not. But in this age of an unpredictably wild pandemic, there can be no promises. Things may change. Everything may change. Poker players, who should be somewhat accustomed to some level of risk, will have to decide the importance of this series for themselves.

Other Pertinent WSOP Information

The rest of the rules seem somewhat inconsequential after Part 115, am I right?

As a quick summary, there are some rules clarifications for Short Deck in Section IX. And in the glossary of poker terms at the end of the document, the last sentence in the “action out of turn” section is new, as are the last three sentences in the definition of “burn or burn card.”

There is a new Part 129 of the rules that states:

In the event that a tournament situation arises that is not covered in the Official World Series of Poker Tournament Rules, staff will reference the Official World Series of Poker Live-Action and House rules. If the situation is not covered by either rule set, the staff will follow Rule 51.”

Rule 51 is that the Rio has the sole authority to render a judgment, with a penalty if necessary, “in accordance with the best interests of the tournament and the maintenance of its integrity and public confidence.”

With all of that said, the WSOP also added structure sheets to its WSOP schedule. You can click on the structure sheet of any tournament listed on this WSOP page. There is also a payout calendar for each tournament at this WSOP location.

 

 

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