Duplicate poker

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Duplicate Poker is a variant of the popular card game poker. Duplicate Poker is based on the principles of Duplicate bridge,^[1] but also involves some of the rules used for playing pot limit and no limit Texas hold'em.

Duplicate Poker is a skill-based game in which there are two or more tables consisting of the same number of players. Each table is dealt with an identically shuffled deck of cards. Every player holds the same hand as the person seating in identical seats at other tables.

All players begin each hand with the ability to bet the same number of playing chips, regardless of prior performance in the previous rounds.

The object of Duplicate Poker is to win more chips than your opponents sitting in corresponding seats at other tables. Ultimately, the winner is decided based on the total number of chips accumulated up until the end of the game, as compared with those held by all players in the same seats at the other tables. Conceivably, even a player who loses chips overall can win at the game if that player loses fewer chips than his opponents.

1 How to play
2 Duplicate Poker versus standard poker
3 Duplicate Poker: Is it Legal?
4 Duplicate Poker Played Live
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] How to play

There are three variants in Duplicate Poker. They are -- Tournaments, Sit and Gos and Quick Play.

First, there are tournaments. Tournaments are regular poker contests that are held at a scheduled time and have pre-set duration of time or number of hands. In Duplicate Poker, the standard game method in these tournaments is pot-limit Texas hold 'em until the penultimate and final rounds. In those rounds the game changes to no-limit hold'em. Regular tournaments are held with any number of players and tables.

Secondly, there is a Quick Play variant. Quick Play involves matches with four to thirty players and engages only a single set of hand dealt. There can be two to six players on each table and no more than five tables at a single game.

The number of deals in a set differs from five to eight, according to the number of players at a table. The total time involved in a Quick Play contest is usually less than ten minutes. A Round Robin format determines the winner.

Thirdly, there is a Round-Robin session. A Round Robin is a Sit and Go game for six players, where each player plays every other player exactly once for a predetermined series of deals.

[edit] Duplicate Poker versus standard poker

The principal difference from playing standard poker is Duplicate Poker's measure of results, which are between players sitting at correspoding seats at other tables. Player performance is measured relatively to other players sitting in their parallel seat.^[2]

[edit] Duplicate Poker: Is it Legal?

Duplicate Poker is considered a skill game, much like chess and backgammon. For this reason, it is legal to play in most U.S. jurisdictions. Thirty-eight states allow Duplicate Poker online. Virtually all U.S. states alow te game to be played in a live format. While many online poker sites were adversely affected by the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (2006), Duplicate Poker was spared prohibitive restrictions. Players win prize money based strictly on performance.

[edit] Duplicate Poker Played Live

While the game is more condusive to an automated online format because of pre-set decks and the need to record accurate scoring, Duplicate Poker has also been played in a live format. The first-ever Duplicate Poker poker tournament was held in April 2007 at the Cherokee Casino in Tula, Oklahoma. The inaugural Duplicate Poker World Championship will take place in Fall 2008, also at a live venue.