"Robert's Rules Of Poker" is authored by Robert Ciaffone, better known in the poker world as Bob Ciaffone, a leading authority on cardroom rules. He is the person who has selected which rules to use, and formatted, organized, and worded the text. Nearly all these rules are substantively in common use for poker, but many improved ideas for wording and organization are employed throughout this work. A lot of the rules are similar to those used in the rulebook of cardrooms where he has acted as a rules consultant and rules drafter. Ciaffone authored the rulebook for the Poker Players Association (founded in 1984, now defunct), the first comprehensive set of poker rules for the general public. He has done extensive work on rules for the Las Vegas Hilton, The Mirage, and Hollywood Park Casino, and assisted many other cardrooms. Ciaffone is a regular columnist for Card Player magazine, and can be reached through that publication. This rulebook will be periodically revised, so suggestions are welcome.

Poker rules are widely used and freely copied, so it is impossible to construct a rulebook without using many rules that exist as part of a rule set of some cardroom. If such a rule is used, no credit is given to the source (which is unlikely to be the original one for the rule).

Warning! Anyone contemplating the hosting of a private game should make sure what he is doing is not in violation of the law. Most laws governing private poker games are made at the state level. No state in our country allows a person to run a poker game as a business. Raking pots and charging an hourly rate for playing are two examples of activities only a licensed commercial cardroom would be allowed to do. Some states prohibit the playing of poker for money, because they prohibit any kind of gambling. Other states allow social gambling. Even though gambling laws may sometimes enforced only sporadically, they do exist, and people are prosecuted for violating them. Check out the penal code in your state and protect yourself, your family, and your friends by obeying the law. This rulebook is not to be construed in any way as an aid to breaking the law. It's purpose is simply to maintain order by providing a fair framework for playing poker in a situation where the game is legal.

This rulebook for private games was made by taking the document constructed for cardroom use and making the appropriate changes. Most of those changes are in wording, but there are a few of substance. Here are some examples. A warning is given regarding the legality of hosting a poker game. The restriction on the maximum number of raises on a betting round was set at a bet and three raises for all limit poker forms, which is the traditional rule for private games. The procedure for shuffling and cutting is described. The time one may be gone from a game has been shortened.

This rulebook is copyright protected. It may not be used for any commercial purpose without the specific consent of Robert Ciaffone, its author.

• You may find the original version of this document here, on Robert Ciaffone's website.