- All PokerStars tournaments begin at their scheduled time; the times are posted in the Tournament Lobby window. All seats at the virtual tables are randomly assigned, and no one can change seats once assigned. In Hold'em and Omaha tournaments, the "button" (player who starts the betting) is placed at Seat One. During play, all players should chat with each other. Abusive and offensive language can result in that player temporarily or permanently prohibited from chatting. PokerStars views poker as an individual game; players who appear to try and help other players during play can have their accounts banned and funds seized.
- Each player has a time limit to decide on calling, raising or folding during a hand. If the player's time limit expires, that player's status is checked on unless he has to make a decision at that moment; at that point, the players hand is folded. Every player has a time bank, which that player can use for extra time to make a decision. The time bank is immediately activated when the regular time limit runs out, provided the player is already connected to the system during the hand and has money in the pot. A structured limit tournament allows for one bet and three raises per hand; there are no limits to raises for no-limit or pot-limit tournaments.
- Players are ranked in the tournament according to how long they lasted in the tournament. If multiple players are eliminated in one hand, the player who had the most money at the start of the hand gets the higher ranking. If there is a "synchronized hand" between two or more tables, players from different tables who are eliminated on that hand are recognized as being eliminated on the same hand. Tournament play continues until one player wins all the chips that are in play. If it is a satellite event with a selected number of seats awarded, play ends when that number of players remain.
