Poker played in different countries and sometimes in different casinos in the same country is often played with different rules. Today poker is international with players traveling from one country to another for tournaments. And playing under different rules is becoming burdensome.
In order to overcome this problem Marcel Luske and Michelle Lau have established the Federation Internationale de Poker Association (FIDPA) and constituted the International Poker Rules (IP Rules). This is expected to bring consistency, clarity and fairness to the game.
FIDPA aims to promote the implementation of the IP Rules by endorsing poker rooms and poker tournaments that adopt the rules. The Bellagio has already made a beginning in this respect by holding the recent Bellagio Cup IV tournament and WPT main event under these new IP Rules. The Bellagio regularly has many international poker players who have expressed the need of having the same set of rules worldwide.