LEAGUE RULES

Please read them and abide by them.

RULES for DOLPHINS SPADES COVE

ANY PLAYER REGISTERED FOR ONE TOURNAMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY IN ANY OTHER GAME OR TOURNAMENT WHILE THIS ONE IS IN PROGRESS UNLESS HIS OR HER TEAM HAS BEEN ELIMINATED. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE IS A ROULETTE OR SIMILAR ONE-HAND TOURNAMENT.



TWO MEMBERS LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD MAY NOT SHARE AN ACCOUNT, THEY SHOULD EACH CREATE THEIR OWN ACCOUNTS. HOWEVER, TWO MEMBERS LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD MAY NEVER PARTNER IN GAMES PLAYED WITH PARTNERS.



QUESTIONS: ALL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ASKED IN THE LOBBY BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS

TARDINESS: BE READY TO PLAY AS SOON AS YOUR TEAM IS CALLED IN THE LOBBY. THE INVITING TEAM HAS 2 MINUTES TO CREATE A TABLE AND INVITE THE OPPOSING TEAM. IF AFTER 2 MINUTES THE TABLE IS STILL NOT CREATED THE OPPOSING TEAM WILL BE ALLOWED TO CREATE THE TABLE.


STARTING A GAME: DO NOT MAKE A TABLE UNTIL YOUR TEAM HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED IN THE LOBBY BY THE TD. ANY TEAM CREATING A TABLE BEFORE THEY'RE ANNOUNCED WILL BE ASKED TO REMAKE THE TABLE. DO NOT START THE GAME UNTIL THE TD HAS POSTED RULES FOR THE GAME AT THE TABLE. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE IS A ROULETTE TOURNAMENT WHERE IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO INVITE THE TD TO THE TABLE.


KIBITZ: UNCHECK ALLOW KIBITZ UPON SITTING AT THE TABLE. TDS ARE THE ONLY ONES ALLOWED TO KIBITZ AND WILL ONLY KIBITZ LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO VISIBLE CARDS. PLAY OF THE GAME WILL BE STOPPED IF CARDS ARE VISIBLE.


TABLE CHAT: ALL PLAYERS, WATCHERS, AND MEMBERS WILL KEEP TABLE CHAT MINIMAL OUT OF COURTESY FOR THE PLAYERS. 1 WARNING ONLY. THERE WILL BE NO DISCUSSION OF THE HAND IN PLAY ie "WATCH BAGS P", "GIVE BAGS P" ETC. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TYPE ON THE TABLE TO YOUR PARTNER; IF IT CAN BE MISUNDERSTOOD AS TABLE TALK, DO NOT TYPE IT.


BRB: ALL BRB WILL BE KEPT UNDER 3 MINUTES. THERE WILL BE NO BRB DURING BIDDING OR WHEN A NIL IS ON THE TABLE UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY. PLEASE USE "HLC" HOLD LAST CARD. ANNOUNCE HLC, DO NOT TOSS YOUR LAST CARD, TAKE YOUR BRB AND BE QUICK, UPON RETURNING TOSS YOUR LAST CARD. 1 WARNING FOR BRB DURING BIDDING, MID-HAND OR WHEN A NIL IS ON THE TABLE.


MISBIDS: THE FIRST MISBID WILL RESULT IN -50 POINTS OF FINAL SCORE, THE SECOND MISBID WILL RESULT IN -100 POINTS AND THE THIRD MISBID WILL RESULT IN DQ OF THE TEAM. IN DIFFICULT GAMES THE TD MAY ELECT TO GIVE A WARNING ON THE FIRST MISBID. THIS IS ENTIREDLY UP TO THE TD IN CHARGE OF THE TOURNAMENT. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RULES FOR THIS TOURNAMENT, PLEASE ASK THE TD PRIOR TO THE GAME.


SUBS AND BOOT TIME FOR 2 VS 2: SUBS ARE ALLOWED FOR BOOTED PLAYERS AFTER 5 MINUTES. THE PLAYER WITH THE ABSENT PARTNER HAS SUB CHOICE. IF THERE IS NO ONE SPECIFIC THE PLAYER WISHES TO HAVE SUB, THE TD WILL GO TO THE LOBBY AND ASK FOR A LEAGUE SUB. IF THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE SUBS IN THE LOBBY THE TD WILL THEN SUB IN THE TOURNAMENT. A TEAM HAS 10 MINUTES OF BOOT TIME. THE BOOT TIMER WILL START AS SOON AS I AM NOTIFIED A PLAYER HAS NO PING. ANY SUB WHO STARTS A RATED GAME HAS THE CHOICE TO RELINQUISH THE SEAT OR STAY TO FINISH THE GAME SINCE IT GOES ON THEIR YAHOO RECORD IN ALL GAMES THE SUB WILL FINISH THE CURRENT HAND BEFORE RELINQUISHING THE SEAT.


SUBS AND BOOT TIME FOR 1 VS 1: SUBS ARE NOT OFFERED IN A 1 VS 1 TOURNAMENT FOR THE ORIGINAL PLAYING MEMBER. THE ONLY TIME SUBS ARE OFFERED IN A 1 VS 1 TOURNAMENT IS WHEN ALL ORIGINAL PLAYERS FOR THAT ROUND ARE AT THE TABLE BUT ARE IN NEED OF PARTNERS. EACH PLAYER HAS ONLY 5 MINUTES OF BOOT TIME IN A 1 VS 1 GAME. ONE-HANDED GAMES SUCH AS ROULETTE EACH PLAYER HAS ONLY 3 MINUTES OF BOOT TIME AS THESE ARE FAST PACED TOURNAMENTS.


INSTANT MESSAGES: NO INSTANT MESSAGES ALLOWED!!

SLOW PLAY: ANY PLAYER WITH A BAD PING OR SLOW PLAY WILL BE WARNED 1 TIME AND THEN WILL BE ASKED TO EITHER 1. GET A SUB OR 2. REBOOT, IF AFTER REBOOTING THE PLAYER STILL HAS A BAD PING HE/SHE WILL BE ASKED TO LET A SUB FINISH. IF YOU HAVE A DISTRACTION THAT NEEDS ATTENDING TO, YOU MUST ANNOUNCE BRB OR HLC. IF YOU DON'T, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED SLOW PLAY. (SEE RULES ABOVE FOR BRB THAT ARE NOT EMERGENCIES) ANY TEAM WITH GOOD PING AND SLOW PLAY WILL BE WARNED 1 TIME ONLY. IF MORE THAN ONE WARNING IS NECESSARY, -50 POINTS WILL BE ADDED TO THAT TEAM'S FINAL SCORE FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT WARNING.

ATTENTION: SLOW PLAY WITH GOOD PING WILL DRAW A WARNING. IF SLOW PLAY CONTINUES, IT MAY RESULT IN DQ OF THE OFFENDING PLAYER. If a player is DQ'D for slow play their partner will continue the game with a sub as a partner.

GAME END: ALL MATCHES WILL BE REPORTED BY THE TD. PLEASE REPORT YOUR WIN IN THE LOBBY IN CAPS AND CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL YOU'RE ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE TD IN UNRATED GAMES, WINNERS DO NOT LEAVE A TABLE UNTIL THE TD HAS LEFT THE TABLE TO ENSURE THAT THE TD KNOWS WHO WON THE GAME.


CONCEIVING: IN RATED GAMES ALL PLAYERS ARE EXPECTED TO FINISH THE GAME THEY START. ANY TEAM WISHING TO CONCEDE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ELIMINATED FROM THE TOURNAMENT BUT WILL BE REQUIRED TO PLAY THE GAME OUT FOR YAHOO RATING POINTS. ANY TEAM ABANDONING A RATED GAME WILL BE GIVEN SUBS TO FINISH THE GAME OUT FOR YAHOO RATING POINTS AND MAY BE PENALIZED ALL DECISIONS TO CONCEDE ARE FINAL NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ACTUAL GAME. IN UNRATED GAMES A TEAM MAY CONCEDE AT ANY TIME DURING THEIR GAME SINCE THESE GAMES ARE NOT FOR YAHOO RATING POINTS AND WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ELIMINATED FROM THE TOURNAMENT.


TD DECISIONS: ALL TD DECISIONS ARE FINAL. TD DECISIONS SHALL NOT BE DISPUTED DURING GAME PLAY OR IN THE LOBBY. THE TD MAY GET THE ADVICE FROM A HTD OR ADMIN FOR ANY DECISION. KEEP ALL DISPUTES OUT OF THE LOBBY IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANOTHER MEMBER, TAKE IT TO A PRIVATE TABLE IF THERE IS A PROBLEM IN THE LOBBY LET ME HANDLE IT IF THERE IS A PROBLEM AT A TABLE CALL ME TO THE TABLE BECAUSE I WON'T DISCUSS IT IN THE LOBBY


RULE CHANGES: AT THE DISCRETION OF A TD THE RULES MAY BE CHANGED AT ANY TIME.

THIS IS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING. CHANGE IN RULES TO MAKE GAME CLEARER CHANGE THE NUMBER OF HANDS IN FINAL ROUND DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS (MUST BE ANNOUNCED AT START OF FINAL ROUND)


EXPECTED BEHAVIOR: ALL MEMBERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE RESPECTFUL TO ALL OTHER MEMBERS. CUSSING AND BELLIGERENT BEHAVIOR WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND CAN RESULT IN A BOXING AT THE TD'S DISCRETION.

THESE RULES ARE NOT SET FORTH TO HINDER OR DISCOURAGE TOURNAMENT PLAY, BUT RATHER TO KEEP EVERYTHING AS FAIR AND UNBIASED AS POSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE.

PLEASE REMEMBER WE ARE ALL HERE TO HAVE FUN. SO LETS ALL TRY TO WORK TOGETHER...