S.D. Admin. R. 20:18:16:15.15 - The play - Ultimate Texas Hold'em

Ultimate Texas Hold'em must be played according to the following rules:

(1) Ultimate Texas Hold'em may be played only on tables designated by the licensee for the play of Ultimate Texas Hold'em. A single deck of cards must be used. Posted table limits must take into consideration the additional wagers available so that a customer cannot exceed the $1,000 bet limit. The rank of hands in Ultimate Texas Hold'em, from highest to lowest, is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, and high card;

(2) Each player shall make at least one initial bet in the amount specified at the table by the retail licensee and shall place the bet in either the Trips wagering area or both the ante and blind wagering areas, not to exceed the posted table limits, in front of the players position. The optional progressive bet is made on the sensor in front of the players position. The trips wager and progressive wager are placed to play for hand value only; the ante bet is placed to play against the dealer; and the blind bet is placed to play for hand value and against the dealer. All bets may be placed if the player wants to play all ways;

(3) Any dealer tip delivered as a wager may be placed on any one, or all, of the trips, ante, or blind bets, if the player has placed a personal wager on the same hand. If a player continues play with a play wager, the dealers tip ante may remain in play whether or not the player adds a play wager for the dealer;

(4) Immediately before play begins and after each round of play has been completed, the dealer shall shuffle the cards. After all players have placed wagers, the dealer shall press the appropriate button on the keyboard. The sensors shall lock in the bet and light up, indicating a progressive wager. The dealer shall remove all progressive bets from the table. Following shuffle and cut, the dealer deals two cards to each player and to the dealer, face downward and one at a time in rotation among the players and the dealer. The first player to receive a card is the player to the left of the dealer; the dealer receives cards last or if a mechanical shuffling device is used, the five community cards are dispensed first, then two-card groups must be dispensed for every player, and the dealer is last;

(5) An incorrect number of cards dealt to a player or to the dealer is always a misdeal. An exposed card is not a misdeal. If the dealer exposes a card, the dealer turns the card over and continues dealing;

(6) Wagers are collected or paid in this order: play, ante, blind, and trips, if applicable. The optional progressive wager shall be collected before cards are dealt. The sensor shall stay lit during the round of play if a progressive wager was made and winning hands shall be paid at the completion of the round of play;

(7) Once a player looks at the two face down cards, the player has the option to check to see the flop, the first three community cards, or bet. If a player makes a bet, that player shall place an additional wager in an amount equal to 3x or 4x the ante in the play wagering area in front of the player's position and place the cards face down under a wager in accordance with house policy. Once a player makes a play bet, the player is locked into the hand and must wait to see if the player beats the dealers hand to be paid;

(8) After all players have acted, the dealer burns a card and exposes the flop, which is the first three community cards;

(9) The players who checked during the first round of betting shall be given the option to check again to see the next two community cards or bet. If a player makes a bet, that player shall place an additional wager in an amount equal to 2x the ante in the play wagering area in front of the players position and place the cards face down under the play wager. Once a player makes a play bet, the player is locked into the hand and must wait to see if the player beats the dealers hand to be paid;

(10) After all players have acted, the dealer burns a card and exposes the turn and river cards, which are the final two community cards;

(11) The players who checked during the second round of betting shall be given the final option to bet or fold. If a player makes a bet, that player shall place an additional wager in an amount equal to the ante in the play wagering area in front of the players position and place the cards face down under the play wager. Once a player makes a play bet, the player is locked into the hand and must wait to see if the player beats the dealers hand to be paid;

(12) If a player has placed an ante, blind, or trips bet and does not wish to play, the player may fold and forfeit the ante, blind, and trips bet or bets after the turn and river. If a player already has at least a three of a kind or better the player shall be paid on the trips wager. After each player who wishes to fold has folded, the dealer collects the ante, blind, and trips bet or bets, if not a three of a kind or better, and the cards from each player who folded. As the dealer collects the folded cards, the cards are spread face down to count the cards and then placed in the discard rack;

(13) After each player has decided to play or fold, the dealer shall expose the dealers two down cards and combine the cards with the five community cards and call out and show the best possible five-card hand that the players have to beat. Once the dealer has determined what the highest hand is, the dealer takes either of the following actions:

(a) If the dealer does not have a qualifying hand, a pair or better, there is no action on the ante bets and the ante bets are returned to each remaining player; all remaining bets remain in action and shall be pushed, paid, or taken accordingly; or

(b) If the dealer has a qualifying hand, the play and ante wagers are pushed, paid, or taken; the blind bet is either pushed, paid on all straights or higher if the player beats the dealer, or taken; the trips bet is paid on all three of a kind or better, or taken;

(14) If the dealers hand is a tie with a player's hand, the play, ante, and blind bets are a push; however, the trips wager is paid, if applicable;

(15) For play and ante bets, if a players hand beats the dealers hand, the player wins the ante and play bets, both of which are paid at the rate of 1 to 1. If the dealers hand has the higher poker rank than the player's hand, the player loses both the ante and play bets. Tied hands are a push;

(16) For blind bets, if the dealers hand beats the player's hand, the blind bet loses. If a players hand beats the dealer's hand and the players hand contains a straight or better the player wins the blind bet. The player is paid according to the following blind payment schedule, which must be included as part of the table layout:

Blind Payment Schedule
UTH-01	UTH-02	UTH-03	UTH-04
Hand	Blind	Blind	Blind	Blind
Royal flush	500 to 1	500 to 1	500 to 1	500 to 1
Straight flush	50 to 1	50 to 1	50 to 1	50 to 1
Four of a kind	10 to 1	10 to 1	10 to 1	10 to 1
Full house	3 to 1	3 to 1	3 to 1	3 to 1
Flush	3 to 2	3 to 2	3 to 2	3 to 2
Straight	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1

(17) For trips bets, if a player has a trips bet and the player's hand contains a three of a kind or better, the player wins, regardless of the dealer's hand. If the players hand contains less than a three of a kind, the player loses. The player is paid according to the following trips payment schedule, which must be included as part of the table layout:

Trips Payment Schedule
UTH-01	UTH-02	UTH-03	UTH-04
Hand	Trips Bonus	Trips Bonus	Trips Bonus	Trips Bonus
Royal flush	50 to 1	50 to 1	50 to 1	50 to 1
Straight flush	40 to 1	40 to 1	40 to 1	40 to 1
Four of a kind	30 to 1	30 to 1	30 to 1	20 to 1
Full house	9 to 1	8 to 1	8 to 1	7 to 1
Flush	7 to 1	6 to 1	7 to 1	6 to 1
Straight	4 to 1	5 to 1	4 to 1	5 to 1
Three of a kind	3 to 1	3 to 1	3 to 1	3 to 1

(18) If the Ultimate Texas Hold'em progressive wager is offered, a player has bet on the optional progressive wager, and the players hand contains a royal flush the player wins, regardless of the dealer's hand. If the players hand contains less than a three of a kind the player loses. The player is paid according to the following payment schedule, which must be displayed on a table placard or video progressive sign:

UTHP-01
Hand	Pays
Royal Flush - First 5 Cards	100%
Royal Flush - First 7 Cards	5%
Community Royal	3,000 to 1
Straight Flush	250 for 1
4 of a Kind	100 for 1
Full House	10 for 1

UTHP-02
Hand	Pays
Royal Flush	100%
Community Royal Flush	1,000 to 1
Straight Flush	250 for 1
4 of a Kind	75 for 1
Full House	10 for 1

Multi-Link Game Progressive Payment Schedule
PMG-01		PMG-02
$1 Wager amount		$5 Wager amount
Hand	Pays	Envy	Pays	Envy
Royal Flush	100%	$1,000	100%	$5,000
Straight Flush	10%	$300	10%	$1,500
4 of a Kind	300 for 1	300 for 1
Full House	50 for 1	50 for 1
Flush	40 for 1	40 for 1
Straight	30 for 1	30 for 1
3 of a Kind	9 for 1	9 for 1

The original progressive wager may not be returned to the player. The envy and seed amounts adjust up or down accordingly with changes made to the wager amount:

(a) For progressive winners:

i. The percentage pays are paid from the progressive jackpot shown on the progressive meter;

ii. Other hands are paid from the tray; these payments do not come off the meter;

iii. If a player has a progressive winner, the dealer shall press the appropriate button on the keypad. If the button is pressed by accident, the dealer shall press the button again to turn if off;

iv. If there is a progressive winner, the dealer shall contact a supervisor;

v. If more than one progressive hand payable from the progressive meter hits at the same table during the same time, house procedures are followed for paying the prize;

vi. After keying in the progressive winner, the meter may be reduced, depending on the winning hand. Keying in a 100% award will reset the meter to the seed amount, plus any reserve amount. The dealer shall continue handling progressive awards in a counter-clockwise fashion;

vii. After the dealer reconciles all action, the dealer shall press the appropriate button on the keypad. This action shall reset the system to begin the next hand and be logged into the progressive system;

(b) An envy bonus shall be paid as follows:

i. A player making the progressive side wager also qualifies to win an envy payout. If another player at the table has a royal or straight flush, each player who made the progressive side bet wins the envy payout. A player that has a royal or straight flush and has not made the progressive side bet only receives the normal prize pay and does not receive any envy pay;

ii. If a players hand triggers an envy payout, the dealer shall leave that player's hand face-up on the table until all payments are made; and

iii. The dealer shall pay any envy payout at the end of the round. If more than one player is involved in a qualifying envy payout, each player wins multiple envy payouts;

(19) The provisions of §§ 20:18:16:21 and 20:18:16:31.01 do not apply to Ultimate Texas Hold'em.

Notes

S.D. Admin. R. 20:18:16:15.15

36 SDR 22, effective 8/18/2009; 37 SDR 131, effective 1/10/2011; 38 SDR 172, effective 4/23/2012; 41 SDR187, effective 5/13/2015; 42 SDR 146, effective 5/3/2016; 44 SDR 151, effective 4/30/2018

General Authority: SDCL 42-7B-4(18), 42-7B-7.

Law Implemented: SDCL 42-7B-4(18), 42-7B-7, 42-7B-15.