Sitting Out in Tournaments

When a player registers for a tournament and pays the buy-in, he has secured himself a seat in that tournament and a starting stack of chips. He is entitled to receive cards and play each and every hand in that tournament while he still has chips. In addition, the player is obligated to play (or fold) every hand received in the tournament until he no longer has any chips.

A player who sits out from a tournament is effectively choosing to fold every hand. Just as there is no rule against folding every hand, there is also no rule against sitting out. In order to ensure fairness for all players in a tournament, each and every chip within that tournament must eventually make its way to the final table. Arbitrarily removing players and their chips from a tournament would be an injustice to all other players within that tournament.

It is important to remember sitting out from a tournament for an extended period of time may actually put the player who does so at a distinct disadvantage relative to their opponents. The tournament rules require him to post his blinds and antes when it is his turn, but he also forfeits the ability to win additional chips. This may occasionally result in winning a share of a tournament’s prize pool, but it will also prevent the player from winning.

While Everest Poker removes both absent players and those who sit out for an extended period from free chip and freeroll tournaments, any player who pays the buy-in to a tournament may participate in that tournament using any strategy of his choosing.