Punto Banco

Punto Bunco Tournament Rules

Punto Bunco Tournament Rules

A tournament of “Punto Banco” will be organised by the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco (“S.B.M.”), to be held in accordance with the gaming rules in force at the Casino de Monte-Carlo. This tournament will take place on 01 July 2023 at the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

ARTICLE 1 : SCOPE

A tournament of “Punto Banco” (the “Tournament”) will be organised by the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco (“S.B.M.”), with its registered office at Place du Casino, Monaco (Principality of Monaco), to be held in accordance with the gaming rules in force at the Casino de Monte-Carlo. This tournament will take place on 01 July 2023 at the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

ARTICLE 2 : REQUIREMENTS

The Tournament is open to any person aged 18 and over, in accordance with the rules of the gaming rooms of the Casinos of Monaco (displayed in the rooms) and is governed by the provisions of Law No. 1.103 of 12 June 1987. It should also be noted that permanent and/or casual employees of the S.B.M. or its subsidiaries and their direct relatives (ascendants, descendants, spouses) as well as minors will under no circumstances be allowed to take part in the Tournament. S.B.M. reserves the right to ask any participant to provide evidence that they fulfil these conditions. Any person who does not meet these conditions or refuses to provide evidence as such will be excluded from the Tournament and will not, in the event of their win, benefit from the winnings in question. All players in the Tournament unreservedly accept all the rules and conditions thereof. The S.B.M. reserves the right to refuse to pay out the winnings and to suspend the player from the Tournament at any time should it be deemed that the player has not complied with the conditions set out herein.

ARTICLE 3 : REGISTRATION FEES AND CANCELLATION

Registration

Registration fee:
- €4,500 (until 17/06/2023)
- €6,000 (until 24/06/2023)
- €7,000 (until tournament day)

Registration fees must be paid before the start of the Tournament, in chips, cash or by bank card.

Cancellation

Any cancellation by the player is refundable if notice is given no later than 48 hours before the start of the Tournament. Beyond this period, the registration fee will no longer be refunded. In the event of cancellation of the Tournament by the S.B.M., registration fees that have already been paid will then be refunded to the participants

ARTICLE 4 : TOURNAMENT PRINCIPLE

All the gaming rules and regulations in force at the Casino de Monte-Carlo must be complied with during the Tournament. The Tournament will be managed by the Management of the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

The prize pool is €300,000 (guaranteed). Forty participants will be required to start the Tournament. If this number is not reached, the Management of the Casinos reserves the right to continue or cancel the Tournament.

The maximum number of participants is set at 72 players.

Admission to the Tournament is at the discretion of the Management of the Casino de Monte-Carlo, which will decide whether a player may participate.

The official language of the Tournament is French.

The allocation of seats and tables is made by drawing lots in the presence of an official of the Casinos de Monaco, at a maximum of seven players per table. However, depending on the number of players, some tables during the quarter-finals may have fewer than seven players.

For each of the rounds, each player must arrive at the table assigned to them at least ten minutes before the start of the game.

Otherwise, the player may be eliminated from the Tournament.

Special chips will be used for the Tournament and will not be valid outside the Tournament, nor will they have any value outside the Tournament. They must be returned to the Casino de MonteCarlo at the end of each game.

“Bank Pair” and “Player Pair” bets cannot be accepted during the Tournament.

During the quarter-finals, each player will receive €250,000 in Tournament chips. Only at this point, do players can benefit from one or more “RE-BUYs” under the following conditions:

- If they have lost all their initial chips. However, if the player has less than €5,000 left, the table minimum, they may nevertheless benefit from the RE-BUY.

- “RE-BUYs” must take place no later than the 11th hand.

- Upon payment of €1,500 in chips or cash, the player will be awarded Tournament chips worth €125,000 (half of the initial amount in chips).

For the semi-finals and final, each player receives new Tournament chips worth €250,000.

Throughout the Tournament, the minimum bet is € 5,000 and the maximum is €250,000 on the Bank and Player. The minimum bet on a Tie is €1,000, with a maximum bet of €30,000.

All bets on the Bank and the Player must be stated in multiples of €5,000, or on a Tie in multiples of €1,000.

Should players wish to play all of their chips, within the limit of the maximum allowed before the secret bet, or with no limit during the secret bet, their bet must be stated in multiples of €1,000. Chips that cannot be wagered will be counted and will be added to any winnings, or will act as the balance if the player lose.

Players are not permitted to bet on behalf of another player.

Players may only play in their designated place during the Tournament.

Players must bet on each hand.

Any player receiving coaching or holding conversations with external spectators or other players will be disqualified.

During the Tournament, players must keep their chips visible in front of them, classified by denomination. Chips must not be removed from the table, exchanged, loaned or borrowed between players.

A Tournament official will cut the cards.

Mobile phone use is not permitted during games.

Players may not bet on the Bank and the Player at the same time.

To play on Tie only, players must bet the table minimum (€5,000).

At “no more bets”, bets can no longer be moved or changed.

Each game consists of 21 hands, including three mandatory Free Hands at the beginning of each deck.

After these three Free Hands, the opening bet will be made by the player in seat number 1.

The direction in which the bets will rotate will be marked on a puck.

Tournament officials must count the chips after the 20th hand of each game and will clearly indicate the amount to each player.

A mandatory “secret” bet will take place on the 21st and final hand of each game. During the secret bet, players must bet at least €5,000 and can bet any amount they wish up to all the chips they still hold (in multiples of €1,000), either on the Player, the Bank or Tie, or on the Player and Tie, or on the Bank and Tie.

All “secret bets” must be entered clearly in the relevant box(es) on the official scorecard provided for the Tournament and will be checked by a Tournament official. All players will have three minutes to enter their secret bet(s); once this time has passed, no more secret bets will be accepted.

The amount of the secret bet may not exceed the total amount of chips the player holds at the time of the bet.

A final count will be made after the 21st hand. The player with the highest amount will be declared the winner.

The rankings will be determined in decreasing order according to the total amount of chips held by the players at the table.

Whether players advance to the next round will be determined according to the rankings and the number of participants. To add to the number of players who qualify for subsequent rounds, the Tournament Management may decide to re-enter eliminated players by a simple drawing of lots. In such a case, players are required to remain in place; if not, they cannot be re-entered. Should the player drawn at random not arrive within a maximum of two minutes of their name being called, another player will be drawn at random and so on.

At the end of the game and in the event of a tie between two or more players with an identical amount of or no chips, two additional hands will be played by bets in secret (according to the rules thereof) to decide between them, as follows:
- Players keep their score from the 21st hand, which under no circumstances will rise or fall according to these two additional hands.
- €50,000 in Tournament chips will be provided to play these two hands and the full amount must be used. The player with the highest amount of chips will be declared the winner of this play-off.
- If these two hands do not result in a win, there will be a drawing of lots.

Players holding no more chips or less than €5,000 – the minimum for a valid bet (except in the event of a RE-BUY during the quarter-finals) – will be eliminated. They must then leave the game and sign the official game form.

At the end of each game, players not eliminated must remain seated while their chips are counted and verified by Tournament officials. Players must then initial the official game form.

All participants in the Tournament must accept all the rules and conditions thereof.

Any breach of the Tournament rules may result in the immediate disqualification of the player(s) involved.

All the Tournament prizes will be paid in striped plaques of the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

 

ARTICLE 5 : PLAYER LIABILITY

The Tournament will take place according to these rules; players will be deemed to be aware of and have accepted the Tournament rules.

In particular, participation in the Tournament offered by the S.B.M. is exclusively at the player’s discretion, assessment and risk.

The player unreservedly adheres and undertakes to comply with the rules laid down by the Management of the S.B.M. as well as any revisions. The player specifically accepts to comply therewith.

The Management of the S.B.M. reserves the right to disqualify any player for misconduct, breach of the rules or for any other reasons that the Management deems sufficient.

ARTICLE 6 : REVISION OF THE RULES

The Casino de Monte-Carlo reserves the right to cancel or modify the Tournament or any element thereof, for any reason and without prior notice or liability.

Circumstances not provided for in these rules will be subject to the assessment of the Management of the Casinos de Monte-Carlo

ARTICLE 7 : APPLICABLE LAW - DISPUTES

The law applicable to these rules is Monaco law.

The Management of the S.B.M. has the first say in the resolution of disputes that may arise during the Tournament or in the application of these rules.

Any dispute arising during the Tournament will be the subject of an attempt to reach an amicable settlement. If no agreement can be reached, the dispute will be brought before the Courts of Monaco. No disputes will be heard more than two months from the end of the Tournament.

These rules have been drawn up in French, and have been translated into English and Italian. In the event of a discrepancy between the versions, only the rules in French will prevail.

ARTICLE 8 : PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

In accordance with Act No. 1.165 of 23 December 1993 as amended, concerning the protection of personal data, the personal data provided by the players when they register for the Tournament will be required for them to take part in the said Tournament. All participants in the Tournaments are entitled to access and rectify the personal data they have provided. This right may be exercised by letter to the Management of the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer – Place du Casino – 98000 Monaco.

 

Monaco, 11 October 2022.