IGAMERS PINOCHLE CLUB

PROCEDURES AND RULES

(updated July 1, 2003)

Since IPC was founded on the belief that pinochle is mainly for fun, there is no reason to have a long list of do's and don'ts.....

• RULE NUMBER 1 .... HAVE FUN!!!
• HOST SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM MASS MESSAGES
• EXPECT A SLOW GAME WHEN PLAYING WITH A HOST (LOL)
• BE NICE TO THE HOSTS - THEY ARE UNPAID VOLUNTEERS AND ONLY HUMAN
• YOU MAY SIGN UP WITH HOST WITH YOUR NICKNAME AND YOUR PARTNER'S
• SUNDAY COSTUME NITE - HOST ASSIGNS PARTNERS
• MARATHONS - MAKE YOUR OWN MATCHES AND REPORT WINS TO HOST
• IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PARD...MESSAGE THE LOBBY AND ASK FOR ONE
• PLAYERS WHO GET "BOOTED" HAVE 10 MINUTES TO RETURN TO GAME
• LOST YOUR PARD DURING THE GAME? ASK HOST AND/OR MESSAGE LOBBY FOR HELP, IF YOU THINK THEY WONT BE BACK WITHIN 10 MINUTES. AFTER 10 MINUTES, IF NO SUB IS FOUND, YOU WILL FORFEIT THAT GAME. IF A SUB IS FOUND WITHIN THE 10 MINUTE TIME LIMIT, BUT NO ONE KEPT THE SCORE, THEN THE GAME WILL BE A "NON-GAME" FOR ALL 4 PLAYERS.
• MOST OF OUR FUN TOURNEY GAMES ARE 250/6 HANDS, SOME ARE 350/8, GENDER BENDER - 500/1, LATE NITE - 300/7. IF UNSURE, CHECK WITH HOST.
• EACH SESSION WILL RUN 12 WEEKS.
• ON TUESDAY OF 13TH WEEK, WE HOLD "WILDCARD" PLAYOFF FOR POSITIONS 17 - 32 AND FOUR WILDCARD SPOTS WILL BE AWARDED FOR SESSION PLAYOFF HELD ON WEDNESDAY. THE FOUR WILDCARD PLAYERS WILL COMPETE WITH THE TOP 16 PLAYERS FOR THE SESSION GRAND PRIZE. HOST WILL ASSIGN RANDOM PARTNERS FOR THESE EVENTS.
• MEMBERSHIP IN THE IGAMERS PINOCHLE CLUB IS OPEN AND FREE TO ALL.

BOOT RULES

• IF YOU LOSE CONNECTION FROM LOBBY DURING A GAME IN PROGRESS OR AFTER THE BID WAS TAKEN AND MELD DISPLAYED.....YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WILL LOSE YOUR MELD. THE OPPOSING TEAM WILL KEEP THEIR MELD - SAVED OR NOT. IF THE OPPOSING TEAM HAS SAVED THEY WILL ALSO KEEP THEIR POINTS. MAKE NOTE OF CURRENT SCORES AND HANDS PLAYED, REGROUP AND KEEP SCORE MANUALLY.

• IF YOU LOSE CONNECTION TO THE GAME HOST, BUT NOT FROM LOBBY DURING A GAME IN PROGRESS OR AFTER THE BID WAS TAKEN AND MELD DISPLAYED.....YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WILL LOSE YOUR MELD. THE OPPOSING TEAM WILL KEEP THEIR MELD - SAVED OR NOT. IF THE OPPOSING TEAM HAS SAVED THEY WILL ALSO KEEP THEIR POINTS. MAKE NOTE OF CURRENT SCORES AND HANDS PLAYED, REGROUP AND KEEP SCORE MANUALLY.

• IF YOU LOSE CONNECTION TO GAME HOST OR LOBBY BEFORE MELD IS DISPLAYED.....IT WILL BE CONSIDERED A NON-HAND FOR ALL PLAYERS. JUST MAKE NOTE OF CURRENT SCORES AND HANDS PLAYED, REGROUP AND KEEP SCORE MANUALLY.

• IF YOU CANNOT SEE THE BIDS ON YOUR BID HISTORY AND/OR CANNOT BID (KNOWN AS THE "IGAMERS GLITCH"), THIS WILL ALSO BE CONSIDERED AS A NON-HAND FOR ALL PLAYERS. JUST MAKE NOTE OF CURRENT SCORES AND HANDS PLAYED, REGROUP AND KEEP SCORE MANUALLY.

• IF THE BID HAS BEEN TAKEN, MELD DISPLAYED, HAND HAS STARTED AND A "GLITCH" OCCURS THAT PREVENTS PLAY OF CARDS BY ALL AT THE TABLE EVEN THOUGH ALL ARE STILL IN THE LOBBY AND ALL ARE STILL ABLE TO CHAT AT THE GAME TABLE, THE HAND WILL BE CONSIDERED A NON-HAND FOR ALL PLAYERS. NO MELD OR POINTS WILL BE AWARDED. JUST MAKE NOTE OF CURRENT SCORES, HANDS PLAYED, REGROUP AND KEEP SCORE MANUALLY.

• IF A "BOOT" OR LOSS OF CONNECTION OCCURS DURING THE LAST HAND....THE HAND MUST BE REPLAYED...A TEAM CANNOT WIN ON A "BOOT" EVEN IF THEIR SCORE EXCEEDS THE GAME LIMIT AT THE TIME OF THE "BOOT".

• IF A TEAM IS "BOARD SET" (NEEDS MORE THAN 50 POINTS TO MAKE THEIR BID) AND A BOOT OCCURS, THE BIDDING TEAM WILL LOSE MELD AND HAVE TO DEDUCT THE BID AMOUNT FROM THEIR SCORE. IF A NON-BIDDING TEAM MEMBER BOOTED, THAT TEAM WILL ALSO LOSE THEIR MELD AND POINTS...UNLESS THEY HAVE SAVED.

• IF A NON-BIDDING TEAM MEMBER BOOTS AND THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH POINTS AVAILABLE FOR THE BIDDING TEAM TO SAVE, THE BIDDING TEAM WILL HAVE TO DEDUCT THE BID AMOUNT BUT WILL STILL KEEP THEIR MELD. IF A BIDDING TEAM MEMBER BOOTED...THEY WILL LOSE MELD, ANY POINTS AND DEDUCT THE BID AMOUNT.

• IF THE OUTCOME OF A HAND CAN NOT BE DETERMINED AT THE TIME OF THE BOOT, THE BOOTING TEAM LOSES MELD AND THE NON-BOOTING TEAM RETAINS MELD AND POINTS (IF SAVED).

• IF A TEAM IS ON THE FINAL PLAY OF THE HAND WHEN A "BOOT" OCCURS, AND THEIR "SAVE" CARD IS DISPLAYED, THAT TEAM WILL GET CREDIT FOR THE SAVE.

• IF UNCERTAIN ABOUT YOUR "BOOT" SITUATION, YOU MAY ASK THE HOST OF THE TOURNEY FOR A "JUDGEMENT CALL". THE DECISION OF THE HOST IS FINAL.

• IF ANY PLAYER IN A "BOOT" SITUATION HAD A DOUBLE RUN OR DOUBLE ACES DISPLAYED ON TABLE...THAT TEAM WILL KEEP THOSE POINTS NO MATTER WHO BOOTED.

• IF A PLAYER IS UNABLE TO DISPLAY HIS DOUBLE RUN OR DOUBLE ACES DUE TO THE "IGAMERS GLITCH" OR A "BOOT", HE MAY CLAIM THE "SPECIALS" CREDIT BY MAKING A SCREEN SHOT AND SENDING TO A COMMITTEE MEMBER AFTER INFORMING THE HOST. DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A SCREEN COPY ARE ON OUR WEB SITE.