Cooke's Rules of Real Poker

A big part of poker's appeal is that, at its essence, the rules are same everywhere. For the most part, you play with a deck of fifty-two cards, four suits, and thirteen ranks. The best five card hand takes the money. There are (some wild home game variations notwithstanding) only five combinations of actions: check, bet, call, raise, and fold. The purpose of this book is to provide a uniform set of rules for the most popular poker games spread in public cardrooms. Some rules apply to all games. Some apply to particular games. In deciding upon which rules to use, the rulebooks of nearly every major cardroom in the country have been consulted. Where rules differ, the authors have given preference to the rule that best serves the interest of fairness in the game. Indeed that is one of the first rules of the game: that all rules should be interpreted with the spirit of the game in mind. Beyond the issue of fairness, which is paramount, the next greatest weight has been given to the efficiency of the game--getting more hands out per hour benefits everyone: players get more hands, the house gets more rake, dealers get more tips. After fairness and efficiency, the next most important factor is simplicity. All other things being equal, where there is a simple and a complicated way to do things, the simpler rule has been chosen. Lastly, tradition has been considered. The game has a great history, and the aforementioned variables being equal, the traditional rule has been given preference. Fairness, Efficiency, Simplicity and Tradition: the foundations of the Rules of Poker. An additional factor in establishing rules is inducing action. Although it is not as important as the other influences, action is important to the game. Rules can be constructed and interpreted to encourage action, or to inhibit it. All other things being equal, when one rule would limit action and another would induce it, the authors have given preference to the rule that will encourage players to get involved and play the hand. That said, there are other reasons for preferring one rule to another. When several different rules applying to a certain situation meet the tests of fairness, efficiency, simplicity and tradition, the preferred rule is listed first, and an alternate rule--or rules, if there are several--are listed afterward as Alternate Rules. At times, explanatory notes and/or examples are added after a rule. When interpreting a rule, the explanatory notes and examples should be taken into consideration. These notes and examples, together with the Definitions and Appendices for suggested procedures at the end of the Rules, are the components of Cooke's Rules of Real Poker. While some players and cardroom managers may not agree with all the rules included, it is hoped that the comprehensiveness of Cooke's Rules of Real Poker will result in it being used as a standard in cardrooms across the country. The inclusion of alternate rules that may be used in lieu of the preferred rule at the discretion of cardroom management is an attempt to address the legitimate differences of opinion regarding exactly what rule should be in force at a given establishment. Cardrooms will have the choice of adopting Cooke's Rules exactly as they stand, or Cooke's Rules as modified by house policy.

Roy Cooke is generally acknowledged to be the most consistent hold'em player in the world in a career that spans over 30 years, and is a master of limit hold'em, having one of the best records over time at the middle limits. By his forty-fifth birthday, Roy had played some 60,000 hours of poker-sixteen years as a professional- from the Florida Keys to Puget Sound, from San Diego to New England, in bowling alleys, strip joints and private homes. But mostly he has played in the public cardrooms of Nevada, California and the Northwest. He has, since 1993, been a featured columnist for Card Player magazine. His first book, Real Poker, The Cooke Collection sold out. His second book Real Poker II, The Play of Hands is available from sellers of gambling books. He has three more books in development. He was a consultant to the first real-money Internet poker site. Roy lives in Las Vegas with his wife Misty and daughter Krystle. Roy and Misty have a successful real estate and mortgage brokerage business.

John Bond is a retired attorney and free-lance writer with thousands of hours in both private games and public cardrooms. He has also run private games. His travel articles are regularly featured in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. He is a former weekly newspaper editor and real estate columnist for the Miami Herald and has his Master's in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Florida International University. He has taught Creative Writing at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Florida International University in Miami, and Journalism at Nova University in Fort Lauderdale. He brings to this effort knowledge of how laws and regulations are written. He is currently at work on a novel and screenplay set in the poker world. John lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his wife, Jeannie Deininger, and their two shih tzus, Mookie and Riley.