The 2026 TDA rulebook: out-of-turn checks, smart glasses and AI agents, and what changes at the table

What happened

The Tournament Directors Association (TDA) writes the rulebook many poker tournaments use as a base. It meets every second year, and in 2026 the summit took place on 29 and 30 June in Las Vegas, according to Poker Sites Ranking. In July, Matt Savage described the agreed changes to PokerScout. In September two Japanese poker writers published summaries of the new rulebook, which they describe as 2026 version 1.0, announced on the TDA forum on 7 September.

Both summaries stress that the TDA rules are a base text. A tournament may not have adopted the new version, and house rules can override it, so the rules that apply to you are the ones posted by your event.

Out-of-turn action

Savage told PokerScout that a player who checks or calls out of turn can no longer bet or raise afterwards, a change aimed at angle-shooting. The September summaries describe the written rule more narrowly: when only two players remain in the hand and one checks out of turn, that player may later call or fold to a bet, but not raise. The two accounts may describe the same change in different words, and we could not check the official text, so read your event's rule before relying on either version.

Smart glasses, hidden cameras and AI agents

Poker Sites Ranking reported in July that smart glasses of the Meta type are barred at tables. Savage said no new wearable-technology rule was added because such devices were already banned. The September summaries add that the rulebook now names smart glasses, hidden cameras, external communication devices and AI agents, and that this writes down existing bans on outside help rather than creating a new one. Unless the director permits a device, it should not be used to record, communicate or get assistance at the table.

Chips and procedure

Stacking chips in twenties used to be a recommendation. Savage says it is now required when available, while one summary words it as a clean stack of twenty with the high denominations in front. Players going all-in must push all their chips forward at once, an idea Savage credited to Paul Campbell of Aria. Directors may now apply chip penalties instead of orbit or hand penalties, and Savage said they can be combined with orbit penalties. One summary classes chip penalties as a recommended procedure rather than a rule, which is why a room may not apply them.

At showdown, one summary reports that verbal statements such as fold are not binding, and that a losing hand shown face up must stay identifiable and apart from the muck until the pot is awarded.

What is confirmed and what is not

What this means for a player

Before a live tournament, read the posted rules, in particular the sections on acting out of turn and on devices. Keep your phone away from the table during hands, and if you need a tool to study, do it between sessions. We think good habits at the table and good preparation away from it go together: decide your ranges and stack-depth plans before the day, and the rulebook becomes background, not a surprise.