Calling the clock and playing with a shot clock are different procedures. A called clock asks staff to put a time limit on a decision after a delay. A shot clock, also called an action clock, times decisions under an event’s standing procedure. Neither the word “clock” nor a display at zero tells you the outcome by itself.
This guide is for live tournament preparation. It compares a current TDA rule with two named WPT event documents, then gives you a worksheet for your own event. It does not set a universal time allowance or decide a disputed hand.
Calling the clock: staff decides when it starts
Under Poker TDA 2026, version 1.0, Rule 31, the tournament director judges whether reasonable time has passed. The director can initiate a clock or approve a request from a player in the event who is at their seat. Having folded does not itself remove that request right.
The rule provides up to 25 seconds followed by a five-second countdown. At expiry, a hand facing a bet is dead; without a bet, it is checked. A tie goes to the player. Directors can adjust the allowance and address persistent delays.
The rule sets no fixed waiting period before a request. Ask the dealer to involve the floor; do not start a personal countdown. These are TDA provisions, not automatic house rules everywhere.
A shot clock has an event-specific rulebook
The 2026 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown player guide describes a dealer-controlled Action Clock introduced after Level 14. It gives 15 seconds for the initial preflop decision and 30 postflop; the final six get 30 for both. A later preflop decision gets 30 after voluntary chip commitment, excluding blinds. Bets are counted and announced before the next clock starts.
In that event’s rules, reaching zero with an extension chip remaining automatically adds 30 seconds. With none remaining, expiry means a check when no bet is pending, or a fold when facing a bet or raise.
Check the specific event rather than memorizing that schedule. For example, the official January 2026 WPT Wildcard Lightning Stack event page specifies 15 seconds both preflop and postflop throughout the tournament, with its own extension-chip allocation. A familiar tour logo is not enough to identify the policy.
Three cases: the same zero, different next steps
These authored Hold’em examples apply only the Showdown guide above. At each deadline the player has not acted; staff have established the facts, with no timing dispute. Read A against B, then B against C:
On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways. Keyboard: focus the table region, then use the arrow keys.
| Case | Extension chips | Wager pending? | At zero |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | One remains | Yes | Automatic +30 seconds |
| B | None | Yes | Fold |
| C | None | No | Check |
A to B changes extension availability; B to C changes the pending wager.
Build one clock profile before the event
Use the event-clock preparation worksheet before play, starting with the exact event, date and document. All policy fields begin unresolved. Fill them from the published event rules; bring unanswered questions to tournament staff.
- Name the clock. Are you recording a staff-called decision limit, a routine action clock or the blind-level schedule?
- Find the start condition. Note who operates it and what must happen before the countdown begins.
- Record extension handling. Separate the base allowance from extension length, availability, collection and replenishment.
- Record the end condition. Keep separate fields for facing a wager, having no wager pending and an unresolved timing dispute.
Here is a useful preparation test: you have copied “30 seconds” into your notes, but not the event stage or street. Can someone else tell which decisions it covers? If not, the record is incomplete. Leave the answer unknown until you find the missing scope.
Similarly, “I have time chips” leaves their use unresolved. Write the actual procedure rather than assuming you must throw a chip forward, that it is spent automatically, or that unused time will be returned. If two documents disagree, record both versions and ask staff which applies. Leave the field unresolved instead of combining convenient parts of different policies.
Keep the level clock separate
A countdown to the next blind level answers a different question from a countdown on one player’s decision. For level boundaries, see what you will post after the blinds increase. For synchronized play across tables, see hand-for-hand rules. If the issue is someone acting before their turn, use the separate action-out-of-turn guide.
Do not use this article’s comparison to transfer the September 2026 TDA version onto an earlier WPT event. Each example retains its own source and date; an event’s adopted rules and staff rulings control its play.
Practice the vocabulary, then check the event policy
For separate study of basic actions and hand strength, River offers structured poker lessons and interactive practice. Work through the fundamentals away from the table, then use the event’s documents for its clock procedure.
GTO Gecko and River are published by GTO Solutions AS. This independently authored worksheet is not a River feature, and we have not tested River as a live-event clock trainer.
Sources, worksheet and limits
Sources were accessed September 29, 2026. The TDA page identifies its rules as 2026 version 1.0, September 7; the two WPT examples retain their 2026 event scope. This is a document comparison, not an observation of floor rulings or proof of how every tournament applies a clock.
The worksheet works offline after download, has no automatic rule updates and does not store your entries. With JavaScript enabled, reload or Reset clears them; without it, browser form restoration can vary. Use your browser’s Print / Save as PDF to preserve a completed copy. Saving the web page itself does not preserve typed entries. Its method and limitations, field definitions and rebuild script are available for inspection.
The header is AI-generated conceptual artwork, not a tournament photograph or an app screenshot.