Australian Poker Tour - Terms & Conditions 2024

Live Tournaments
Updated as of 19th October, 2024

1. Tournament Details

1.1 Entry Fees: As per the advertise schedules for Series

1.2 Re-buys and/or Add-ons: Re-entries and add-ons are allowed as per the standard conditions in the advertised series schedules.

1.3 Number of Entrants: Unless advertised events are to unlimited

1.4 Location: To be as per the specified venue in the series schedule.

1.5 The advertised scheduled commencement time for the Tournament is approximate and the Tournament Director reserves the right to alter the start time due to unforeseen or extenuating circumstances.

2 Conditions of Entry – Australian Poker Tour (APT) events

2.1 Participation in an Australian Poker Tour Event implies your consent to abide by the following terms and conditions below.

2.1.1 Entry into any APT Series and competitions, may be made as follows:

2.2.1 Prior to the commencement of the Tournament by:

(a) Completing an application available on-line from the APT Web site, APT-App, Social Media outlet or by personalized email; or

(b) Entering the competition in person at the venue, by the payment of the tournament entry fee and subsequent re-entries/add-ons (if offered) to an administration staff or representative of the APT.

(c) By gaining entry by winning a designated satellite seat hosted by an APT supporting venue.

2.2.2 Entries will be accepted by presenting in person on the day of the Tournament, prior to the start of the event, or by the designated time allowed for registration as deemed by the APT.

2.3 The APT may, prior to the commencement of any Tournament, specify eligibility criteria which entrants must satisfy in order to qualify for entry into that Tournament.

2.4 The Management of the APT reserves the right to refuse any application for entry into the Tournament and the participation of any nominated substitute in any Tournament.

2.5 Entries for the any of the tournaments scheduled with the APT Series will close within the specified time as advertised within the advertised schedule, or unless sold out earlier. Entries may be accepted after this time at the discretion of the APT and its representatives and/or Tournament Directors, due to any strenuous or abnormal occurrence that may have been detrimental to that player being able to complete such a task by the specified cut off time..

2.6 The entry fee, if any, will be refunded in the event that a Tournament does not proceed or where, prior to the commencement of the Tournament, it is determined in accordance with clause 2.1 that an entrant is ineligible to enter.

2.7 If an entrant withdraws from the Tournament prior to the scheduled Tournament date, the entry fee is not refundable, but the entry may be transferred to another person in accordance with clause 2.9.

2.8 The entry fee, will not be refunded to an entrant who is disqualified from the particular Tournament and that entrant’s Tournament Chips will be taken out of play.

2.9 At the discretion of the Tournament Director and/or the APT, an entrant in a Tournament may nominate a substitute, provided the person nominated as the substitute has not already entered that Tournament, and only if that person has not commenced playing in that tournament, by virtue that the players tournament chips have not been in play.

2.10 By registering entrants’ personal information may be used in future advertising and promotions of APT and its partners. If entrants wish this information not to be used by third parties, they have to opt out by notifying the APT, by writing in advance of the event.

2.11 The APT reserves the right and license to use selected entrants’ names, addresses, photographs, images and likenesses for the purpose of promoting and advertising the APT in current and subsequent future poker related purposes and events.

3 Tournament Format

3.1 The Tournament will consist of one or more rounds and a final, played on one table. Subject to clause 2.5; the number of tables will be determined by the number of entries received for the particular Tournament.

3.1.1 Tables designated for use during the Tournament will be used exclusively for Tournament play.

3.2 Prior to the commencement of a Tournament, the Tournament Director will ensure that the entrants are informed as to how the Tournament will be conducted, and provide any specific instructions pertaining to the running of that Tournament. Such information may include, but not be limited to:

3.2.1 The game of Poker to be played;

3.2.2 The amount of the starting bank of chips to be allocated to each entrant; and

3.2.3 The Tournament Structure.

3.3 Table and Seat Allocation

3.3.1 The names of all entrants for a particular Tournament will be drawn randomly by the adopted software generated by computer to determine both the entrant’s table number and playing position.

3.3.2 The number of entrants allocated to any one table will be at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

3.3.3 On a particular table, position 1 is located to the immediate left of the Dealer with position numbers ascending in a clockwise order.

3.3.4 A draw for the Dealer button will be held at the beginning of the
Tournament.

3.3.5 Seating assignments may be altered to ensure that entrants who are connected by family or association play at different tables or are separated on the final table. The final location of seated entrants can be under advice form the Tournament Director when such conflict occurs.

3.3.6 Incorrect seating assignment. If a player enters the wrong event and is seated in a tournament that they have not duly entered, once discovered that player will be removed from that event immediately. The player will not be allowed to enter the tournament, as they will be disqualified from the event. The players tournament chips (starting stack only) will be forfeited and removed from the table, with the remaining considered “chips in play” and will be blinded out accordingly. No player who has entered the tournament, albeit eliminated or in play, will have any recourse for refund due to the invalid entry being present in the tournament. Exceptions to this rule can be made at the discretion of APT Management and/or the Director of Poker.

3.4 Wagers

3.4.1 All wagers will be made with Tournament Chips. Tournament Chips in the possession of an entrant at the conclusion of a particular Tournament will remain the property of the APT.

3.4.2 Entrants in the any APT Tournament will each be allocated the same amount of Tournament Chips and will be advised of the actual amount of chips prior to the commencement of the Tournament. A starting bank of chips will be placed on the table in front of each designated playing area.

3.4.3 An entrant’s chips must remain on the table in full view of all participants, with their higher denomination chip(s) the most prominent, until each session is completed, and the winner is determined.

3.4.4 The bank of chips will not be supplemented or removed from the table by an entrant during the conduct of Tournament play.

3.4.5 Where an entrant is re-seated in accordance with clause 4.3, he/she must transfer his/her bank of chips so that the chips remain in clear view of the Dealer and/or the Game Supervisor (or above) and the Tournament entrants. Failure to do so may result in the chips being forfeited.

3.5 Re-buys, Re-entries and Add-ons

3.5.1 The APT Poker carnival allows the purchase of re-buys and add-ons. Re-entry is allowed during some types of events offered. Re-entry must be done so with in the allocated times advertised in the registration period of events. Add-ons (if allowed) must also be done in the specified time frame as dictated by the tournament types as determined by the schedule of the series.

3.6 Time to Act

3.6.1 Entrants may request to ‘put the clock’ on another entrant.
Subject to the request being reasonable, the Tournament Director will call “time” and the entrant in question will have one minute to act. If action has not been taken by the time one minute has elapsed, there will be a 10-second countdown. If an entrant has not acted on his/her hand by the time the countdown has elapsed, the hand will be dead. All wagers made by that entrant will remain in the pot(s). The Tournament Director may also call “time” on an entrant, if deemed necessary.

3.6.2 If the Tournament Director determines that an entrant is deliberately being slow to act on more than one occasion in the same tournament, that entrant may be given a maximum of 10 seconds to act for all subsequent hands.

3.7 Electronic devices

3.7.1 An entrant who wants to use a mobile phone must step away from the table. Should an entrant step away from the table during a hand, that hand is dead.

[a] Entrants who wish to use a smartphone (or similar device)
at the table will be required to use that device in a manner that does not impede or slow play at the table. At the Tournament Director’s discretion, all devices will be removed once play enters the prize payout phase of the tournament.

3.7.2 One table before the ‘money’ stage of the Tournament is reached (i.e. where the number of entrants remaining equals the number of places being paid):

the use of audio headphones, iPods or other similar electronic devices will not be permitted.

When players have the opportunity to appear in any live stream coverage of any APT Event, players are advised that smartphones and electronic devices are not allowed to be used during the recording, be it live streamed or delayed throughout the duration of the coverage of the lives stream.

4 Elimination

4.1 Entrants in any of the APT Poker Tournaments will be eliminated from that Tournament when they have lost their bank of Tournament Chips and no further re-buys or add-ons are allowed.

4.2 To maintain balanced tables throughout the duration of the Tournament, entrants may be re-seated at the discretion of the Tournament Director. Unless deemed otherwise by the Tournament Director, the following procedure will be applied:

4.3.1 A difference of two entrants between Tournament tables is acceptable. During the final stages of a particular Tournament a difference of two entrants will be balanced as soon as is practicable.

4.3.2 On any table which is three or more entrants short, creating a difference of three, play will be suspended until that table has been balanced.

4.3.3 Tables will be balanced by moving an entrant in the corresponding seat in relation to the big blind from the table to be reduced, to the table that requires balancing.

4.3.4 Entrants must promptly move to the table as requested or risk incurring a penalty as described in 7.2.

4.3.5 Where an entrant is re-seated, he/she will assume all rights and responsibilities of his/her new position. An entrant moving to a new table is eligible to be dealt a hand in any position, except if they are seated in between the button and the small blind.

4.4 In the event of more than one entrant being eliminated from a Tournament during the same hand on the same table, places will be allocated relative to the size of the eliminated entrants’ respective Tournament chip banks prior to the commencement of that particular hand.

4.5 In the event of two entrants being eliminated from two separate tables on a corresponding hand, those entrants will be equal in placing regardless of their Tournament chip bank at the commencement of that particular hand.

5 Tournament Winners

5.1 The winner(s) for any of the APT Poker Tournaments will be the last entrant remaining in that Tournament after all other entrants have been eliminated.

6 Prize Pool

6.1 The APT and its sponsors may add value to a prize pool in the form of cash, goods or services.

6.2 A Tournament prize pool will consist of all buy-ins, excluded the advertised rake or fee associated with that event.

6.2.1 Cash Tournament Prize Pool

Entrants in a particular Tournament will be advised of the actual prize pool break up as soon as the registration period has finished, and the calculation has been sorted. As a guide, the following formula will provide a general idea of distribution. The tournament matrix will be provided to all players prior to the commencement of any tournament.

7 Conduct of Play

7.1 The Tournament Director may penalize any entrant who fails to comply with these Terms and Conditions or whose behaviour is assessed as being detrimental to the integrity or the proper conduct of the Tournament, including but not limited to the following examples:

7.1.1 Abuse of venue employees, the staff of and representatives of THE APT, either verbally or physically;

7.1.2 Abuse of other entrants, either verbally or physically;

7.1.3 An entrant showing his/her card(s) or verbally advising the content of his/her hand to another entrant(s) when that the betting round is not complete;

7.1.4 Exposing hole card(s) with action pending;

7.1.5 Causing card(s) to go off the table;

7.1.6 Advising another entrant how to play a hand;

7.1.7 Soft-play occurs;

7.1.8 Deliberately miscalling a hand;

7.1.9 Sitting in the wrong seat; (see clause 3.3)

7.1.10 Collusion;

7.1.11 Intentionally avoiding payment of a blind when moving from a broken table.

7.1.12 Discussion of the particular hand in play prior to action being complete by any entrant on the table whether in the hand or not;

7.1.13 One entrant to a hand rule – no seeking advice from other competitors or bystanders;

7.1.14 Acting out of turn;

7.1.15 Concealing hole cards from another entrant(s); and

7.1.16 Concealing chips from another entrant(s);

7.1.17 Being, or assessed by the staff of the venue operator as being
intoxicated;

7.1.18 Use of a mobile device at the table:

(a) That interferes with the pace of the game, by receiving phone calls whilst in a hand, or with action pending.
(b) Communicate with another person in any way using that particular device, that is in the same tournament that passes on advice throughout play.

7.2 Penalties imposed may be as follows:

7.2.1 At the discretion of the Tournament Director, exclusion from the table for one or more rounds of play (blinds, antes and/or forced bets to be forfeited).

7.2.2 Time penalties of 5, 10, 20 or 40 minutes away from the table may also be used (blinds, antes and/or forced bets to be forfeited).

7.2.3 Disqualification from the Tournament. The entry fee will not be refunded to an entrant who is disqualified from the tournament and that entrant’s tournament chips will be taken out of play. Any player disqualified in a position that would normally have received prizemoney will not have an official recording of tournament placing and will not be eligible for any prizemoney. The prizemoney will then be split amongst the remaining live players in the tournament eligible to receive a cash prize for their finishing place in the tournament.

7.2.4 Removal of a player by venue. If a player is removed from the venue for being in breach of venue guideleines [i.e. intoxication, verbal/physical abuse] that player will be removed from the tournament and the chips before them will REMAIN in the tournament. If the players chips continue in the event, and finish in the money, that player is entitled to receive payment from the official prize pool.

7.3 The Tournament Director reserves the right to read any unexposed hands to determine whether or not collusion has occurred.

7.4 If, at the commencement of the Tournament, an entrant does not take his/her allotted seat at the specified time as nominated by the Tournament Director, and is not disqualified:

7.4.1 All antes, blinds and forced bets will be deducted from the set amount of an entrant’s Tournament Chips for each round of betting until he/she takes his/her allotted seat. The entrant’s position at the table will still be dealt in and retain all rights as if he/she was present at the table;

7.5 During a particular Tournament, any entrant who is absent from play will have all antes, blinds and forced bets deducted from the set amount of his/her Tournament Chips for each round of betting until he/she returns. The entrant’s position at the table will still be dealt in during the absence and retain all rights as if he/she was present at the table.

7.6 Any entrant who retires during the course of play may:

7.6.1 From the time of retirement, continue to have all antes, blinds and forced bets deducted from the value of his/her chip stack.
The entrant will remain eligible to progress to the next Round/Session or Final as the case may be and remain eligible to be awarded any applicable prize in accordance with clause 6.2.

7.7 Prior to the commencement of a Tournament all entrants may view the Terms and Conditions and must abide by them or risk disqualification.

7.8 The venues that host the APT Series reserve the right to ban any means of advertising, including apparel which contains obscene images or words, or is otherwise deemed inappropriate by the venue operator.

7.9 The Tournaments will be conducted by the Tournament Director and/or his/her deputies in accordance with these Terms & Conditions, any specifically applicable Terms & Conditions and the Rules of Poker is applicable

7.9.1 In the event of any inconsistency between these Terms and Conditions and the Rules of Poker, the Rules of Poker will prevail.

7.10 In the event of a dispute relating to any of the Tournament conditions, the decision of the Tournament Director is final.

7.11 The APT, and representatives of the APT, shall not be liable for any losses whatsoever that may arise from any decision of the Tournament Director, including the Tournament Director.

8 Behavioural standards

The following list should be used as a guide for player behaviour in APT Poker Tournament Carnivals.

THE ENCOURAGED
The following is the manner in which we encourage patrons to play

● Friendly
● Promptly
● Protecting your hand
● Being quiet when a hand is in play (especially if you are not in the pot)
● Announcing intentions clearly
● Playing with integrity

THE DISCOURAGED
This is the kind of behaviour we will discourage and hopefully a friendly reminder will be all that is required

● Throwing chips directly into the pot (‘splashing the pot’)
● Throwing cards or chips in an aggressive manner
● Acting out of turn
● Using a mobile phone that is distracting at the table

We are hopeful that the above can cease quickly before things get ugly…

THE UNACCEPTABLE
This kind of behaviour will result in immediate suspension or barring at the Poker Supervisors discretion

● Swearing, yelling, arguing or creating a disturbance
● Colluding
● Cheating
● Abusing any patron or staff member
● Bending or marking cards

PLAYER DEALT TOURNAMENTS
Since the majority of this tournament is to be controlled by players at the table assuming the role of the dealer, the following actions will be subject to penalties without warning at the discretion of the tournament director and his staff.

• Any player looking through the muck cards
• Rabbit-hunting
• Exposing a players cards – one player per rule
• Talking in the hand with more than one player to act
• Dealer’s taking a “sneak peek” at the deck whilst dealing
• Players are not allowed to change denominations from the pot or the blinds. Players are to ensure that the correct amount is wagered each time

DISQUALIFICATION
Refer to section 7.2.3 and 7.2.4.

9 All Events

9.1 ROLES AND REPONSIBILITIES – APT

The Australian Poker Tour albeit a privately owned business believes that it has the moral and ethical viewport of promoting the game of poker, with the spirit and intent of the game at heart. APT accepts that an operator must ensure the legal enforcement of the game, its rules and conditions in accordance with state and Federal laws that it acts under.
Every effort is made in attempt to uphold the spirit of the game with attention to fairness for one and all in making decisions pertaining to each individual event, series and competition.

9.1.1 SERIES AND COMPETITION STATUS

The APT however reserves the right to change, alter or cancel any of its events, series and/or competitions for any reason.

A player by entering an APT Event has accepted by the form of payment the terms and conditions as specified in the above descriptions and by this payment accepts the decisions and directions given by the Australian Poker Tour, unequivocally.

9.2 COVID PANDEMIC IMPACT

9.2.1 General – Due to the global pandemic crisis, the APT reserves the right to cancel, alter or suspend events as it deems necessary to obtain public safety in accordance with
Government guidelines, regulations, and mandates.

9.2.2 – Associated Costs – APT will not be responsible for players’ costs in relation to travel, accommodation and other associated expenses, which players have incurred on attending an APT event, series, or promotional activity.
9.2.3 – Tournament Entries – In the event of a series cancellation, or event cancellation, APT will give a full reimbursement of that tournament entry cost, as requested. Players may elect to retain the value of the ticket cost to either use as a) Entry into the same event or event of equivalent value at another series or event; b) Covert that entry into APT vouchers, which can be used in another event or events to the value of the cancelled ticket; c) Get the ticket value refunded into their bank account by Direct Debit process or a cash payment, which will be receipted if required.
If the event has started, the Operations Manager will decide on an event, to determine if the event can continue safely, in accordance with Government guidelines and recommendations.

Scenarios are
i) if play has not finished the registration closure of an event – the event is cancelled.
ii) If play has surpassed the registration cut off time – and play can continue in safe manner, the event shall continue to its conclusion.
iii) If play has surpassed the registration cut off time – and play cannot continue in a safe manner, tournament staff shall determine the prize pool payout based on ICM [Independent Chip Modelling] procedures and the prize pool awarded.
iv) In the case of a multi-flight event, the same shall apply with all players who have bagged chips pending day 2 entry, ICM calculations will apply to the prize pool and monies awarded.

APT Tournament Operation Management reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and alter tournament events as it deems fit, with no recourse for players to appeal the decision.

9.2.4 COVID Guidelines
Players need to be aware at all times, the ever changing government requirements pertaining to the current Covid pandemic. The APT adheres to these guidelines and regulations in a lawful way. Players can find more information relating by clicking the following links

VIC —>
NSW–>
QLD–>
TAS—>
SA–>
WA—>
ACT –>
NT—>
FEDERAL—>

9.3 PLAYER ENTRY IMPACTED BY COVID19 POSITIVE RESULT

9.3.1 Player entry – Players are advised that entering APT tournaments they do so at their own risk.

9.3.2. Players impacted by symptoms of COVID19 and have entered single day events including satellites will not be subject to refund or ICM considerations. Players may be asked to leave to event after due consideration from APT Head Tournament director and/or APT Chief Operations Officer.

9.3.3 Multi-day events – Players entering multi-day events, e.g. APT Main, Goliath, Players and the like, if qualified for a Day 2 or subsequent days of that event, whom become impacted by COVID19 result showing positive, may nominate a proxy player to take their place in that event. The player nominated must be established before the start of that days’ play. The player [original entrant], must provide APT administration evidence of their positive test result by virtue of a digital receipt logged with the appropriate governmental authority before the proxy [replacement player] can be considered. The proxy player can only be a person who has not previously played in the event. For example in the APT Main event if a players has participated in any such flight, and have been eliminated they are not eligible proxy. The same applies to events which have a Day 2 or Day 3 continuance, e.g. The Grind. Players who cannot find a proxy replacement before the start of play will have their respective stacks put into play and blinded out. If a proxy player cashes on behalf of the original entrant, the monies and prizes will be awarded to the original entrant via bank transfer or such other means. *Please note:- that this is an exceptional circumstance, as has been taken as a measure to consider player safety at our events, and expresses the intent of fairness of play for all.

10. Final Table Details

Prize money and deals between players – APT is prepared to assist with financial deals made between players. APT does require that an amount of money is left “up top” and payable to the outright winner of the tournament regardless what other money distribution has been agreed to.

The calculation is as follows:

Up to $50,000 – 10%

Remaining prize pool (unpaid places, not the total for the tournament) up to $50,000 – 10% rounded down to the nearest $500 is to be deducted from any deal discussions and reserved for the winner.

$50,001 – $100,000 – 5%

Remaining prize pool (unpaid places, not the total for the tournament) between $50,001 and $100,000 – 5% rounded down to the nearest $500 is to be deducted from any deal discussions and reserved for the winner.

Any deals meeting the above criteria will be recorded and separate payments made to the final finishers for the event.

As a duty of care to players, APT will, in its absolute discretion, advise any player that is being offered significantly less than ICM considerations during deal discussions.

If players insist on not following the above approved payout structure method, then APT will provide pay-outs based on the predetermined pay-out structure and players are to arrange between themselves alternate arrangements. APT takes no responsibility for players being duped via underpayments when not following the terms of deals for APT events.

Regardless of any agreement by players to follow APT preferred payout structures, any “place fixing” or similar agreements will result in each of the remaining players receiving equal lowest available points available under POTS competition rules.

If, for instance, there are 3 players remaining who agree to a certain winner, second and third place then all three will receive equal third points in the POTS competition. If 2 remain then equal second place POTS points will be awarded to each player.

Furthermore, if, in the opinion of the tournament director, in his/her absolute discretion they believe the game is being manipulated for a particular result and players have ignored any warnings given then the tournament director will advise players that this rule is in effect.

Poker is an individual game, chip dumping and other forms of collusion will result in disqualification.

The integrity of the game is our priority and efforts to bring this into question will not be tolerated.

11. Unscheduled Day 2

APT reserves the right to cease tournaments between 2am to 3am and require players to return the following day at 12pm to play down to a winner. The tournament director will advise remaining players and provide an approximate maximum playing time / number of levels to be played before chips are bagged, if, in the opinion of the tournament director there may be the need for an additional day of play. This clause overrides any advertised schedule suggesting tournaments are single day duration.

12. PRIZE MONEY & PLAYER PAYMENTS

1. Payment Method for Payouts $10,000 and Over:
For prize money payouts totalling $10,000 and above, cash payments will not be facilitated. Winners are required to opt for electronic fund transfer (EFT) or bank transfer as the preferred mode of payment.

2. Processing Time for EFT/Bank Transfers:
Kindly allow a processing period of up to 3 business days for EFT and bank transfers to be completed.

13. AUSTRAC Requirements

When participating in tournaments with a buy-in of $10,000 and above, it is mandatory for us to fulfil all AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) requirements. This process involves comprehensive form submissions and thorough identity checks. EFT transactions do not need AUSTRAC form submissions.