The Stud Classic

See CPT-S2.pdf and CPT9.pdf for chip distributions, blind structures, prizes, and other details.

Only CPT9 can determine who will claim stud supremacy!

After the usual T1500 No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, CPT9 features Seven Card Stud. For those not familiar with this classic game, a brief summary of play follows:

Each player is dealt 2 hole cards down followed by 4 cards up, with a betting round after each up card. The 7th card is dealt down, and one final round of betting takes place.

This game is played for high hand following the standard hand rankings. Stud games generally have antes. Betting starts with the worst (lowest) card showing on 3rd street (the "bring-in"), which is an amount less than the small bet. This can be raised to the small bet value (called "completing the bet"), which does not count as an official raise. The best (highest) hand showing on subsequent rounds acts first in betting. The minimum bet doubles for 5th and 6th streets (similar to after the turn in Limit Hold'em), and again after the river (7th card, dealt down). Also, if an open pair is dealt to any player on 4th street as well (and then remains at this value until the river). We'll cap the betting with a maximum 3 raises per betting round, except when a betting round begins heads up (only 2 players in the hand), at which point those players can re-raise each other until all-in, if they wish.

Notice that play doesn't depend on the button position. However, the dealer is responsible to announce any open (face-up) pairs.

Hope to see everyone at CPT9.

Eights are WILD!

No, not in the poker game... but I just wanted to remind you that if we get exactly 8 or 16 players showing up to CPT9, the No Limit Hold'em tournament will be superseded by "CPT - Heads Up"!

About CPT Season 2:

Welcome to Season 2 of the Chem Poker Tour! I hope you're ready for some serious poker...

Despite popular belief, No Limit Texas Hold'em isn't the only poker game out there. This season, emphasis will be on other games. But not to worry: Due to it's popularity, each month's event will start with a T1500 No Limit Hold'em tournament. What's new is that, for those who are interested in playing late, each month's CPT event will include a second tournament that features a different component of H.O.R.S.E. Traditionally, a H.O.R.S.E. tournament includes alternating rounds of:

• Hold'em
• Omaha High/Low 8-or-better Split
• Razz (i.e. 7-card Stud LOW)
• Stud (i.e. 7-card Stud HIGH)
• stud Eight (i.e. 7-card Stud High/Low 8-or-better Split)

with each game played LIMIT. The season will culminate in a full-out "H.O.R.S.E. Tournament of Champions" to be held in June or July after 6 regular Thursday night CPT events, so if you expect to qualify, it's probably in your best interests to practice each month.

As usual, the buy-in for each tournament is $10, so bring extra $$ if you plan to play in both the No Limit Hold'em and "feature" tournaments. Also, last season the concesus was to have re-buys available until the first break, so we'll probably stick with that policy this season as well. As always, ALL tournaments count in the season (and career) stats!

Don't forget to check out last season's stats, photo gallery, and more at the official CPT web site. As always, photos and results will be updated no later than the weekend after each CPT event.