LEAGUE RULES

1. HEAD AMINISTRATOR AND ADMINISTRATORS. The Head Administrator (HA) and Administrators (Admin) of Canasta Masters will make all decisions for the league based on a voting process. The decisions will be final and not subject to review, unless overturned by the HA. The members from time to time will be given the opportunity to vote on certain items and/or rule changes, however, the final decision to make said changes will be left up to the Admin Team of Canasta Masters and the HA. If you feel there is a matter which needs attention please bring it to the attention of an Admin or the HA. We are open for discussion and will gladly listen to all ideas, suggestions and/or complaints.

2. GOOD SPORTMANSHIP AND SHOWING COMMON COURTESEY. Please show common courtesy and good sportsmanship to your opponent. You begin each game with Hi and GL, as well as, after each hand you MUST say good hand (gh), or nice hand (nh), or even sorry, or thank you (ty), or good job (gj). We understand that at times you are having a really bad game, however, please remember that playing cards has a lot to do with the luck of the draw and that your opponent is only playing their hand to the best of their ability and is not out to get you. Saying something like gj even if you are losing by 5000 points can serve to relieve an otherwise tense moment. Also you MUST say good game (gg) after the game is over even if the game is loopsided.

3. NO HARASSING, DISRESPECTING, FIGHTING OR ARGUING. Any member harassing, disrespecting, fighting or arguing with a staff member or members or just people in the lobby will result in being boxed or removed from the league. This includes harassing members in the lobby, game rooms, or in instant messages. Members causing disruptions in tourneys or in the lobby that prevent staff from carrying out their responsibilities will also result in being boxed or removed from the league. If you have a problem with someone please take it private. If you are not able to resolve the issue please contact an Admin or put that person on ignore. Anyone found to be changing names in order to come into the lobby and cause a disturbance will be boxed the same as if in league name. It is the person, not the id that is a member. If a member withdraws to violate a league rules(s) and rejoins the league, they will be boxed. Remember that SL3 is our home but is also a public lobby and other people have the right to talk in our lobby and we have no control over what they say or do. The best approached is to not respond and place them on ignore.

4. NO PROFANITY, ABUSE OR HARRASSMENT. Profanity will not be tolerated nor will abuse or harassment of fellow players, TDs, HTDs or ADMINS. Anyone using profanity in our lobby, at our tables or in ims to another member will be given one warning. The second time the member will be boxed or removed from the league depending on the severity. Please remember that we are a league based on a family atmosphere and not everyone finds swearing appropriate. Please remember that SL3 is our home, however it is a public lobby. If you find that someone that is not in our league is using inappropriate language remember we have no control over these people. We have found it is best to ignore them, so please use your profanity filter or ignore button if you feel offended.

5. LEAGUE NAMES AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TALK. League names are not to contain profanity or sexually explicit content. If your league name is found to be in violation of Case's rules, you will be asked to change it to a more appropriate name. Masters is a family oriented league and based on that we asked that you refrain from sexually explicit talk in the lobby, our tables or in ims. Anyone using sexually explicit talk will be given one warning. This rule applies also when making team names for doubles. The second time the member will be boxed or removed from the league depending on the severity.

6. NO FORCE FORFEITING. Force forfeiting is not allowed. If you have to end a game and only after the TD has ok'd it, always click Quit and Cancel.
Force foreiting will be handled as follows:
1st Offense Warning
2nd Offense Box 3 days
3rd Offense Box 10 days
4th Offense Box 30 days
5th Offense Kicked from league
Due to the new Yahoo there are times that a player is booted and it appears that it was a force forfeit because the ratings change. If a player is booted and the ratings change they will be placed on a 10 minute timer. If they return before the 10 minutes, the TD will take the scores from before the boot and have the players to continue playing and add the scores each hand until someone reaches 5,000 or whatever the end of the game is. When this occurs the players are to show good sportsmanship to one another as the fault of the boot was not either parties fault, but that of Yahoo.

7. BE RIGHT BACKS (BRB). You are only allowed 2 BRBs on the 3rd BRB you will be dq'ed from the tourney. You are allowed up to a total combined time of 10 minutes (i.e if you use 7 min on the first brb you only have 3 min left of brb’s or timer to use). A player should enter the time they leave on a BRB and if it is the 1st or 2nd BRB, i.e. 1st brb 900, b 903. All BRB time used will be added to the time clock of the game if necessary.

8 MIA RULE:
Single elimination: 10 minutes
One-Handers: 5 minutes.
Doubles: A sub is gotten in a doubles after 5 minutes. If both members are MIA the last member to go MIA is put on a 10 minute timer (no sub is gotten) and after 10 minutes the team is DQd if neither team members has returned.
In a doubles tourney, the timer to get a sub is 5 minutes, If after 5 minutes the person MIA is not back the TD is to go to lobby and get a sub, unless the remaining partner choses not to get a sub and wait the 10 min. The partner of the MIA player may pick their own sub. If the player returns within 6-10 min from the time the game started, the sub will finish the hand that is being played and let original player have their seat back. If the MIA partner comes back after 10 min, they must wait until next round to play again. There can be at no time REPEAT at no time can there be 2 subs for the same team
In a doubles tourney, if a player is not able to sit at the table by 10 minutes after pairings even though they are in the lobby, or pop in and out of the room, the TD will get a sub for the team member that is present, and the MIA member will not be allowed to play the remainder of that round.
BOTH PLAYERS MIA: When both players are MIA and they both time out the win goes to the upper bracket, then on the next round that player gets an automatic loss even if they are back.

9 NUMBER OF TOURNEYS AT ONE TIME. You are not allowed to be in more than 2 full games at one time, except for after midnight. You may be in a one-hander when you are in 2 full games, but you must be able to keep up. If you can't handle this then you may not be allowed to play in a one-hander when in 2 full games. If you are caught in 3 full tourneys you will be dq'ed from the last one you joined. (You may obtain permission from admin to be in 3 full tourneys at a time, however if must be in your player card prior to you joining a 3rd tourney and you must be able to keep up or it will be revoked)
NUMBER OF TOURNEYS AFTER MIDNIGHT. You are allowed to be in 3 full games at one time after midnight till 7:00 am if you can keep up. Please limit your games to 2 if you are in the midnight doubles.

10. DQ'ED FROM DOUBLES OR MULTIPLE TOURNEY. If you or your partner are disqualified for any reason the score will be your opponent 5000 you 0. This goes for any 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 and so on.
If for some reason your partner is boxed while you are playing doubles you may get a p providing they are being boxed for actions that did not occur during your dbles game.

11. DOUBLES NO TABLE TALK OR OUTSIDE COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR PARTNER. . When you are in a doubles tourney no matter what you will not instant message your partner, discuss the game at table, phone your partner or have any other communication with your partner about the game you are playing other than gh/gg, out p; anything that could affect how the hand is played is considered table talking. If the TD feels that someone has table talked they will issue a warning. If the player continues to table talk then the team will be disqualified. If you are found having outside communication it is considered cheating, see rule #12 for cheating consequences. The only tourney you are allowed to use instant message or other forms of communication is in the Cheaters Doubles.

12. Cheating.Cheating of any kind is absolutely not tolerated. If you are caught cheating (i.e. talking in IM during doubles,talking on phone/headset or any other form of outside communication, typing your cards at a table, using a cheat program, etc etc,) you will be immediately boxed for 30 days (for td’s they will also be removed as a td immediately). Your 2nd offense, you will be kicked from the league and banned from returning. This is a very serious offense and will never be tolerated. Keep in mind if you are on the receiving end of an IM or outside communication from your partner during a game, it is up to you to be honest and go to the td about it, to protect your reputation, credibility and character.

13. SLOW PLAY. For slow play you will only get 2 warnings on the 3rd time you will be dq'ed. Slow play is considered to be not making a move for 60 seconds, and starts with your opponent discard, to your complete play (draw, meld and discard).

14. TIME LIMIT TO MAKE TABLE AFTER PAIRINGS. When pairings are called in lobby the top bracket invites lower bracket and TD and then has choice of seat. In a tourney players are expected to watch the lobby for pairings. After 3 minutes, second call is announced by the TD and the lower bracket may invite the upper bracket and TD and have seat of choice. If pairings have to be spammed a 3rd time, a timer will be started on both players. After 10 minutes the top bracket gets the win then on the next round this player will get an automatic loss even if back in the lobby.

15. SUBBING RULE.
1. No subbing in a singles tourney allowed.
2. In a doubles tourney, the timer to get a sub is 5 minutes. After 5 minutes a sub is gotten. The partner of the MIA player may pick their own sub. or the TD can go to the lobby and request a sub. If the player returns before the game is over, the sub will finish the hand that is being played and then let the original player have their seat back. There can be at no time REPEAT at no time, be 2 subs for the same team at the table. If both members of the team are missing the team is dq'ed after the second team member has been mia for 10 minutes.
3. In a doubles tourney, if a player cannot sit for 10 minutes after pairings a sub will be gotten for the remainder of that round. The player will not be able to sit again until the next round.
4. In a 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and so on the only sub allowed is one of your partners. Example you are in a 3v3 Joe, Sue, Kim are all partners playing different games, Sue goes MIA. The only sub allowed is Joe or Kim.

16. TIME LIMTS FOR GAMES:
One-Handed Games 15 Minutes
Singles 40 Minutes
Doubles 60 Minutes
Speed 20 Minutes
All games will be called at the hand ending nearest the end of the time limit. If the game is not over the highest score wins the game.

17. KIBITZ.
Please keep kibitz off at ALL time and keep them off the duration of the game and if you do not you will be disqualified. You will be given one warning then you will be DQ. (The rule will be exempt from the games that kibitz has to be on)
Once game is started, flashing kibbies at any time (turning kibby off, then on right away, then off) will be a immediate DQ.
There will be times when you are in a doubles when you are asked to turn your kibitz on. Only Admins are allowed to do a random kibitz. Failure to comply with the Admins request could result in your team being dq'ed from the tourney.

18. FINISHING A GAME IF OPPONENT IS MIA. If a game is started, unless that game is an unrated game, the game may be finished if their opponent times out if the score is 4000 or more. The TD on duty will asked the player if they would like for them to finish the game. If the player says yes the TD will sit and finish the game. If the player does not care to finish the game it will be canceled and they will get the win. If the game is unrated the player will get the win and the game will be canceled.

19. PLAYING LEAGUE GAME. When playing a league game if you go MIA for 10 minutes then you time out and the opponent gets the win. It is your responsibility to report the loss. If you do not report the loss you are subject to being boxed or removed from the league depending on how many times this has happened.

20. MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS AND MORE THAN ONE MEMBER PER HOUSEHOLD. Multiple accounts are not allowed in Masters. If you have 2 or more names in Masters please remove all but 1. If you are found having multiple accounts you could be kicked immediately. If there is more than one member in your household please let an Admin know so that your account won't be kicked for duplicates. Members of the same household may not partner in doubles except for Cheaters Doubles. They may partner in games such as a 2x2, 3x3 etc.

21. STARTING AND ENDING GAME. Please do not invite the TD until pairings are posted in the lobby. Please wait for the TD to get to the table before starting your game. Do not leave the table until the TD has said gg. They must be able to see the score and verify the win. Both parties are to stay at the table until the TD has said GG. Repeated violations of this rule could be punished by boxing.

22. RESTARTS: Restarts can only be done for the following reasons:
The table was made wrong
The rules posted at the table were wrong.
Even if it's the first hand and both parties agree, restarts are not allowed.

23. BOOTS: As a result of yahoo and how it boots players we do not dq players for a certain number of boots. When a player is booted the TD will put the player on timer. If the player is booted again the times mia will be added. At 10 minutes mia total they will be dq’d. Players please invite the TD when a player is booted for a timer.