1- Player leaving and declaring he will not come back: what about his chips? (imagine big stack must leave for familly problems: different TD opinions)
In our tournaments, we blind out the chips until gone, this actually happened on this past Monday Night, player had to leave for work, was pushing all-in, all-in, and hitting, finally declaring that she must leave, she finished in the money at 4th place.
2- Player registered (allready paid) but late: what about the stack and blinds? (nobody's sure he will arrive)
Same as rule number 1, as the chips are paid for.
3- Player registered (still have to pay) but late: what about the stack and blinds? (nobody's sure he will arrive)
We use the one hour rule, same as regular or re-buy tournaments, chips are blinded out, then removed after one hour.
4- Player registered (freeroll sponsorded tourney) but late: what about the stack and blinds? (nobody's sure he will arrive)
Same as rule number 1
The only exception to the above rules are when we have quarterly playoff tournaments that players qualify for, but have to pay an entrance fee, as most tournaments only have about 75% of players showing, all players chips are placed on the tables before the start, once play begins, the no-shows chips are removed A.S.A.P. so that all tables have as many LIVE players as possible.
Players have one hour to show up, and if they do, their chips are then put back into play.