Eight Deuce Rules & By-Laws

Updated 8/30/2026

I – Purpose & Membership

The mission of Eight Deuce (8-2) is to provide a recreational outlet for residents of Parker, Colorado and non-resident members. Our goal is to encourage fair and friendly participation in the game of poker, as well as organizing games and tournaments for the enjoyment of its members.

Terms used in this document

1. Member – anyone admitted to the league who has paid the season League Fee.
2. Committee – the five members described in Section II.
3. TD – the Tournament Director.
4. Tournament – one of the ten scheduled league tournaments of a season, unless another event is named.

Eligibility

1. Only residents of Parker, Colorado are eligible to play in the 8-2. This serves as a “bona fide social relationship” based upon some common interest other than the poker activity, per Colorado law.
2. Any player who is not a resident of Parker, Colorado but has a “bona fide social relationship” with more than one member shall be considered eligible to play in Eight Deuce. Exceptions may be allowed on a case-by-case basis by Committee vote.
3. New resident members are introduced by invitation only. All potential new members are voted on by the Committee and require unanimous agreement to join.
4. No new members will be introduced in the September or October tournaments.

II – Governance & Voting

1. Tournament Director (TD) – responsible for organizing monthly tournaments and keeping members informed of upcoming games, managing invitations and RSVPs, and making rulings on aberrations and rule violations at league tournaments.
2. Statistician – responsible for accurate assignment of season points and related record keeping.
3. Treasurer – responsible for collection and safekeeping of all dues and entry fees, and for making payouts to winners. If the Treasurer cannot attend a tournament, the TD assumes those responsibilities for that tournament.
4. Committee – five league members. The Committee must be consulted when new rules are proposed, and votes on them. When required, votes may be taken by email poll as long as a reasonable time limit to vote is set.

How votes are decided

III – Money

1. League Fees are $250 per season, and are used to provide snacks and supplies for each monthly tournament and for catering the Annual Tournament.
2. League Fees must be paid before a member plays their first tournament of the season. They are not prorated for any reason. Deferred payments or other payment options will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
3. The entry fee for a league tournament is $60 per member, per entry, collected before the start of the tournament.
4. The 8-2 has a “no profit motive”, per Colorado law: the entire remaining balance of the League Fees, after supplies and catering, is paid out at the Annual Tournament or rolled over to the next season, at the Committee’s discretion.

Payouts

Four places are paid at every league tournament, regardless of the size of the field. The prize pool is the total of entry fees and rebuy fees, less any bounty prize, and is paid as follows:

Players remaining at a final table may override these guidelines by agreeing a deal among themselves — see Section V.

IV – The Season & Attendance

1. A season consists of ten tournaments, played January through October. Tournaments are held on a Friday, normally the second Friday of the month. The TD may move a date when the calendar requires it, and will publish the change as far in advance as practical.
2. The Annual Tournament is held on a Saturday in November. All members in good standing who have paid their League Fee are eligible to play in it, regardless of how many season tournaments they entered.
3. The Tournament of Champions closes the season and is described in Section VI.
4. Special tournaments may be organized outside the structure of the season, but do not contribute to season points.
5. On occasion a tournament may have to be postponed. When this happens the TD will schedule the make-up far enough in advance for players to adjust their schedules.

RSVPs, late arrival and the invite list

1. An RSVP is required to play. Seating is drawn at random before the start of the tournament from the players who have RSVP’d.
2. The field closes at noon on the day before the tournament. No entries are accepted after that time.
3. A player who has RSVP’d may take their seat late, up to the end of the first break. After that their seat is forfeit and they are removed from the tournament. A player may withdraw at any time before the tournament starts.
4. Invitees who fail to respond to three consecutive invitations will be removed from the invite list.

V – Playing the Game

1. The structure of the individual tournaments that make up a season stays consistent throughout the season unless the Committee agrees otherwise.
2. The blind structure for each league tournament is posted here.
3. Rebuys. Each member has one opportunity to rebuy, before the end of the second break. Any chips a player holds at the time of the rebuy are forfeited and replaced with a full stack.
4. Deals. Remaining players may agree to divide the prize money among themselves, either evenly or by ICM. A deal is at the players’ discretion and requires no approval. Finishing positions — and therefore the points awarded — may form part of the deal.
5. The host provides cards, chips, tables, chairs, snacks, water and other supplies such as plates and utensils. Alcoholic beverages are not provided by the host; members may bring their own.

Game rules

1. Unless otherwise specified, club game rules follow the current published rules of the Poker Tournament Directors Association (Poker TDA). Otherwise, rules follow those generally accepted.
2. The following club rules augment, supersede or otherwise replace the TDA rules on particular issues:
   1. Seats are randomly assigned by the tournament management software used by the league.
   2. Rebuys forfeit any remaining chips at the time of the rebuy (see V.3 above).
   3. The final table seats four players, as the league uses a modified shootout format.
   4. Short stacks are upgraded to the lowest denomination now in play.
   5. Players may request a wash of the deck at any time but, per the rule, not a deck change.
   6. A player called on the final round of betting must show their entire hand without delay.
   7. To qualify as a winning hand, a hand must be shown in its entirety. No withholding single cards.
   8. Players not actively in a hand should refrain from speaking about it until play is complete. The exception, per the TDA rules, is that any player, in the hand or not, should speak up if they think a mistake is being made in reading hands or awarding the pot.
   9. The club follows Poker TDA RP-1 (All-in Buttons).
3. In all situations, rule V.1 above may be applied at the TD’s discretion.

VI – Scoring & Standings

1. Points are awarded at every tournament a member plays, and rise as players are knocked out. The full formula, with a worked example, is on the How Scoring Works page.
2. A player who rebuys receives a penalty on their point total for that tournament. Through the 2026 season that penalty is 20%. Beginning with the 2027 season it is 5%. The penalty applies only to the player who rebought; the rebuy itself still counts toward the field size used to calculate everyone’s points.
3. Player of the Year is decided on each player’s best eight tournament scores. Points are accrued at every tournament played, but only the top eight count. The Player of the Year receives free entry into the Annual Tournament.
4. A player has until the beginning of the following tournament to ask for a re-evaluation of points awarded. Once that tournament begins, the prior tournament’s points are official and will not be adjusted. Where a legitimate accounting error is evident, the TD will correct the points and notify the league.

The Tournament of Champions

The Tournament of Champions closes the season. The field is capped at ten players and the entry fee is $80.

1. Win a tournament during the season and you are in. One win is enough, and it does not matter where a player finishes in the season standings.
2. A player who wins more than one tournament does not take a second seat. Each additional win opens a seat for the highest-ranked player in the final season standings who has not won. Two multiple-event winners open two such seats, and so on.
3. Qualifying does not oblige a player to attend. If a qualifier does not play, the seat is not filled and the field plays short.
4. Three places are paid: third place receives their $80 entry back, and the remainder of the prize pool is paid 65% to first and 35% to second.

VII – Conduct & Removal

1. If any member feels that another player is a detriment to the overall quality of the league — repeated over-intoxication, taunting, overly obnoxious behavior, cheating and the like — they may propose to the Committee that the player be removed. If the proposal is seconded by one or more members, the Committee votes on it, and a simple majority carries.
2. If a player is deemed no longer welcome to participate, it is the responsibility of the member who initially invited the player to communicate that decision to them, at the Committee’s discretion depending on the circumstances.