Speed Poker Rules

Speed Poker is a live format of Texas Hold'em inspired by the pace of online poker. Card Player magazine credits the Australian Keith Sloan with developing it. The rights to the concept were later bought by the Mansion Group, which trademarked the name Mansion Speed Poker.

The format has been used for televised events including the World Speed Poker Open, the Poker Dome Challenge and the Asia-Pacific Speed Poker Championship.

Any poker game could in principle be played to a shot clock, but in practice Speed Poker has been played almost entirely as Texas Hold'em.

The deal, the blinds, the four betting rounds, the showdown and the hand rankings are the same as in Texas Hold'em. Only the time allowed for each decision differs.

The betting structure is set by the event and shall be announced in advance. Known examples include:

When the action reaches a player, that player has 15 seconds to act.

Each player is given one or more time extensions of 30 seconds. A player may use an extension on any turn to gain extra time for that decision. The number of extensions is set by the event.

If a player fails to act before their time, including any extension, runs out:

3.3(a) if there is a bet to that player, the hand is ruled dead and the player is treated as having folded;

3.3(b) if there has been no bet on the round, the player is treated as having checked.

The term speed poker is also used loosely for fast-fold online poker, in which a player who folds is moved at once to a new table and dealt a new hand, instead of waiting for the current hand to finish. Examples include Full Tilt Poker's Rush Poker and PokerStars' Zoom.

Fast-fold poker is a different format from live Speed Poker. It changes how players are seated and dealt, not the time limit on each decision. The cards and betting follow the rules of the game being played, usually Hold'em or Omaha.