House Rules

Before you start your long, and hopefully prosperous, poker career on , we'll ask you to agree to our Service Agreement when you first register. By agreeing to this you confirm that you're over 18 and you're playing from a location in which online gaming is legal.

And like any cardroom, there are a few house rules. They're nothing heavy; they're to help you get the most out of your poker experience by providing a fair and honest environment in which to play. Covering a range of specific situations that may need addressing, from player behaviour, losing connectivity to policies against suspected collusion, they're worth a quick read before you start. Pay attention, you may be tested!

Your screen name

Your screen name is the identity by which other players can get to know you. When registering, choose carefully as we only allow players to change their screen names in very exceptional circumstances. No, we're not just being difficult, there are two very good reasons for this. One, a large part of poker is learning how other players play under different conditions. Two, is a community, and as such we want everyone to be recognisable and able to develop their online persona.

Dealing with a lost connection

No matter where you live, or what kit you're using, the occasional broken connection is a fact of internet life. There can be a number of causes, including a dropped modem connection, problems with your ISP, network congestion on the Internet or your PC hangs or crashes.

If it does happen, our software has been designed to quickly attempt to reconnect you. The game will wait a reasonable time so that your connection can be re-established, but if you can't be reconnected in time then the poker software will treat you as all-in so that you won't be penalised for connection problems if you're holding a strong hand. The all-in works in exactly the way it would if you didn't have enough chips to cover a bet. Once you're treated as all-in, a side pot is created in which the all-in player participates.

To prevent the odd unscrupulous player from abusing this system and deliberately pretending to lose their connection when it may be advantageous to do so, we limit the number of all-ins a player can have in a 24 hour period to two. If you lose connectivity but have already used your allocated all-ins for the day, your hand will be automatically folded. So don't cry wolf; if you misuse your all-in priviliges, you may find it unavailable when you really need it.

One last thing. Due to the potential for abuse of our all-in policy, there's no all-in protection available for pot-limit and no-limit games. Regardless of the reason, if you fail to act in the required time your hand will be folded.

Sitting out and blinds

In games where the position relative to the dealer can bring an advantage, we prevent players from entering and leaving (sitting out) games without having to post the equivalent of the blind. This makes sure that a player can't gain a financial advantage by missing the rotation of the blinds.

Reducing

Following a nice little win you may have a larger stack than when you started. In which case, it can be tempting to leave the table and then come straight back but with fewer chips. Resist that temptation; it's not allowed. It's called ‘reducing', and if you do wish to leave a table you'll have to wait 30 minutes before returning with fewer chips. If you want to come back sooner, you'll have to sit down with the same amount of chips that you left with.

Collusion

Collusion is when two or more players attempt to bet in a fashion that allows added gains. It isn't something unique to the internet; it can be a problem in physical poker rooms as well where trained staff will be watching players for tell-tale signs. Here's where we have an advantage, as we use sophisticated software to detect collusive behaviour by analysing who plays together, how they play and bet, and any irregular betting patterns. We're not going to spill all the beans, but our collusion detection system is always watching.

You can also help us too. If you feel that you've been the victim of collusion, please get in touch either by VikingBetPoker@pokersupport.com or by using the Manager chat feature and let us know the hand number that's shown at the top of the screen. Our hosts will then be able to use this information to correlate with system generated alerts.

So don't try anything underhand. Collusion is cheating and it won't be tolerated. Any one caught can say sayonara; they'll be barred from playing at .

Etiquette

is a community and as in any community there are rules about behaviour. These rules are intended to maximise everyone's enjoyment and comfort. Please follow these rules; those that don't will be contacted and risk suspension or banishment.

• Polite chat: The chat facility is there to help you talk to fellow players and get to know each other. Under no circumstances should use vulgar or profane language or abuse or harass players. Violators risk having their chat privileges removed, or in more extreme cases they risk suspension or banishment.
• Timely play: Please make every effort not to slow down the game. If you're playing two tables at once, try using the advance action options to keep the game moving quickly. It's more fun for everyone that way.
• All-in and purchasing additional chips: You may not buy additional chips for use in a game once the deal has started. If you do buy chips once a hand is underway, they won't be delivered until the end of that hand. If you run out of chips, you'll be treated as all-in. Click here for more information about all-in.
• Sitting Out: We allow players to sit out a number of hands without having to give up their seat at a table. If you do need to sit out for any reason, make sure that you return to your seat in a timely fashion, otherwise you'll be picked up and removed from the table. If you're picked up, your chips will automatically be returned to the cashier.
• Kibitzing: Only players who are remaining in a hand should make comments on the current hand. Observers, including those who have folded, must not comment about the play, or style of any player, or the how the game is being played.

Betting

Betting is at the heart of any poker game, and there are a few house rules covering various aspects that you should be aware of:

• Minimum buy-in: To take a seat at a table, you must bring at least ten times the upper value of the stakes (ie in a $5/$10 you must sit down with a minimum of $100).
• Pot Limit and No Limit Buy-in rules: You must bring at least ten times the big blind to the table. There is also a maximum buy-in of 50 times the big blind.
• Minimum re-buy: You must rebuy at least five times the big blind.
• Pot Limit and No Limit Re-buy rules: When you re-buy in a pot limit or no limit game, you may not exceed the maximum buy-in/re-buy limit. Because you order more chips during a hand, and those chips aren't delivered until the end of that hand, a win may put you over the rebuy limit. If you do win, we'll adjust your order so that you do not buy more chips than allowed and any excess will be returned to your account.