Dear poker players, the most important people of the entire poker industry:

As we come to the close of one year and welcome in the next, I want to pause for a minute to reflect on the year that was. In 2013 I continued in my role as poker Ambassador for the very best and fairest online poker room PokerStars, which I’m grateful for the opportunity of working with for so many years. It has been a great poker year for me, as I did have some good results and was awarded for that.;)

But along with playing poker, I wanted to spend some more time and resources on developing the Federation International de Poker Association (FIDPA). It was important to me to provide better support for the industry; I wanted to help prevent those misunderstandings and conflicts in tournament poker, as we have seen repeatedly occurring time and time again when it comes to inconsistent rules and rulings, based on who is in charge – often interpreting those rules to suit the needs of its organizers. Lately, we’ve seen more players taking an interest in these rules and how they are implemented and enforced, which has meant that more frequently players are questioning the rules in place, often rightly so, and with just cause. So, that issue is exactly what FIDPA’s team has been working on this year, with great success.

We began by voluntarily reviewing FIDPA’s International Poker Rules (IP Rules) and comparing them to the other major sets of rules that are currently being used worldwide – those of the GPTL, the WSOP, the IFP, as well as the TDA of course. The TDA has always given a great basic guideline to Tournament Directors worldwide on how to run the events in the best interests of Tournament Directors rather than the players. As we all know, WE ARE THE PLAYERS and should to be looked after, because the fees we pay is what keeps the tournament circuit financially viable.

Based on our review, along with player feedback that we’ve been gathering for years and then carefully considered, our basic set of 81 IP Rules have been revised to reflect what is International Poker Tournaments’ best practice for all, but still in the absolute best interests of the players, first and foremost.

The resulting 2013 IP Rules, which we re-launched in May 2013, is a more polished and comprehensive set of 81 international poker rules, guidelines, policies and procedures that will create a much fairer and more consistent poker environment for all players, event management, tournament staff, and dealers alike, and that are simple to understand in their use.

We made these IP Rules available to the poker industry for use free of charge (with very simple terms and conditions) in an effort to unite and strengthen the poker industry, from top to bottom, with consistency for all, as it should be.

We also revamped the fidpa.com site and debuted the all-new Mobile App. We believe that making the IP Rules accessible from any mobile phone is a crucial step forward in growing awareness about the IP Rules amongst both players and event organizers. In a time when most people own a smart phone, and many poker players are constantly on the road traveling, we hope that this easy access to the IP Rules from anywhere, at anytime will become an invaluable tool for players and tournament staff everywhere. We’ve even included all 64 of the 2013 TDA rules in the PDF of the IP Rules, so it’s a great resource for Tournament Directors who follow TDA rules.

Hot on the heels of introducing the 2013 IP Rules, we proudly announced our newest partnership with the UK’s Dusk Till Dawn Casino & Poker Club (DTD). The official Endorsement of DTD saw owner Rob Yong commit to using IP Rules in all of the Club’s poker events, and Tournament Director Simon Trumper launching them at the inaugural ISPT Wembley Stadium event in May.

Simon (ACES) Trumper, an ex professional poker player and now very successful, Award-winning Poker Director at Dusk Till Dawn, believes this is the biggest step in the right direction for the poker industry. Of the DTD/FIDPA partnership, he stated: “I have never spoken to a single poker player that didn’t want a uniform set of poker rules wherever they play. As part of the process, FIDPA has consulted some very experienced poker minds, the vast majority of individuals involved in creating The International Poker Rules are well respected poker players with extensive knowledge of the game, between them all I would expect almost all poker situations and rulings to have been covered.”

We are grateful to Rob, Simon and the DTD for their support of IP Rules, and we look forward to developing more Endorsement partnerships with other venues of equal prestige as we move throughout 2014. Click through to find out more about FIDPA Endorsement.

While we’ve had some other wins on the board promoting the use of the I P Rules, in general, it’s been a challenging year for FIDPA. Just when we thought we’d progressed the acceptance and adoption of the IP Rules by more major event organizers, politics and ego reared its ugly head.  While I won’t bore you here with the details of what went down, I hope to be able to rectify this situation early in the New Year, at which time, I’d rather share the good news than dwell on the bad. ;-)!

On the upside, Fidpa is excited about the vocal support we have received from many high profile poker players in support of FIDPA and the IP Rules. Those at the top of the game that have been happy to go on the record this year offering testimonials for FIDPA, include Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Patrik Antonius, Vanessa Selbst, Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Joe Beevers, the Mizrachi brothers, Chris Moorman, Antonio Esfandiari, Marco Traniëllo, and Sam Trickett, amongst many others – check out the site for more.

The quotes can be read at fidpa.com, and we invite any player, pro or amateur, to join them by leaving their own words to support the IP Rules for us at the fidpa.com website here.

We thank these influential pros, and other poker players out there who have provided us with a quote of support in 2013, or who have shown their support in less overt ways, like downloading the PDF of the rules, enquiring about FIDPA Endorsement, liked our Facebook page and engaged in any of our FB updates, or by bringing the IP Rules to the attention of their local card room. The debate surrounding poker tournament rules continues, which proves that players really do care about this issue, as illustrated recently with the hotly contested discussions, involving Daniel Negreanu, about the “At your seat” rule: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGhNm2CdpX8

On behalf of all players everywhere, we at FIDPA, remain committed to working towards our goal of all major poker venues and event organizers using one standardized set of International Poker Rules worldwide.

We toast to the day when all event organizers not only will see the beauty of one set of IP Rules, but will put aside their own vested interests to ultimately start using the IP Rules to provide the players with the absolute best poker experience possible. After all, it’s the players who continue to support their events by throwing their tourney buy-ins across the poker tables time after time. Therefore, it’s also the players that should be treated with the upmost respect, be listened to when they offer constructive feedback, and get to play in tournaments that are safeguarded by one set of international rules that are consistent and fair.

2014 promises to be an interesting year for FIDPA, and with the new year comes renewed hope to move closer to achieving our very reason for being – creating a fairer and more consistent poker environment for ALL players globally. We will also continue to work towards having all organizers, large and small, collaborating together towards the same goal – one set of International Poker Rules acceptable for all of us. I personally invite anybody, player or event director to answer this one question for me. Please explain why this has not yet happened much earlier in the development of the poker industry? Is suspect there’s EGO involved.

Daniel Negreanu is correct when it comes to his statement about the TDA learning to listen, and that they should especially include the players in their decision making process when it comes to updating any of their established rules. Players not only have the right to voice their opinions, but they also carry the most poker knowledge and experience you could ever collect, when it comes to what’s fair and would be best for all!

FIDPA is proud to say that we have done that, with terms and conditions, but free of charge, so we can all play by one set of rules globally, while having fun playing the game that we love, in a fair and consistent environment.

On a small side note, I personally thank all of you for keeping the FIDPA team and I sharp and ready to take up the fight again soon, until we slowly but steadily, come to achieve our mission. ;)

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones – Enjoy, stay safe, and see you at the tables! J

Friendly Regards,

Marcel Luske – CEO FIDPA & Global Poker Support.