In an effort to unite and reinforce the international poker industry, professional players Marcel Luske and Michelle Lau have founded the Federation Internacionale de Poker Association (International Poker Federation) and the International Poker Rules. Their object is establishing a model of standard rules for poker rooms and tournaments that offers consistency, clarity and impartiality.

“Since we are in the middle of a poker boom, it would be a great step for the game to have rules that everyone can learn and follow,” Luske commented. The IP Rules are a set of 80 technical rules, policies and procedures for tournaments that also make reference and incorporate the latest version of the 40 rules of the Tournament Directors Association. These rules can be modified by the tournament director, organizer or director of the venue provided that players are told beforehand.

According to Lau “a unified system of rules was completely necessary, since any professional player who travels around the world to play tournaments have no way to know the different rules of each country or even each casino. If we allow tournament directors to make the necessary modifications before the tournament, we can know the rules, taking into account the changes.”

The FIDPA will promote and implement the International Poker Rules encouraging tournaments and poker rooms all around the world to adopt these rules. The Bellagio was the first venue to take up the rules during the Main Event of the WPT. “A large number of players come to play in our tournaments,” Tournaments Director for the Bellagio Jack McClelland commented. “We want to make sure they feel comfortable with the rules and hope this measure will help give some consistency to the rules in a worldwide level.”