WSOP has published this year's edition of the rule book for the tournament series. There are no major changes, but some of the points have been clarified and some new rules added. An interesting addition noted by Pokerati.com concerns personal hygiene.

The new rule states, "Any individual who encounters behavior that is not civil or courteous — or is abusive in any way — is encouraged to immediately contact a Tournament official. This shall include, but is not limited to, any player whose personal hygiene has become disruptive to the other players seated at their table."

So there you have it; don't forget to take your daily shower if you plan on going to the Las Vegas heat in July. According to the rules, the tournament staff has the last word in determining whether a player is too smelly to be allowed to continue playing at the table if someone complains.

Doyle Brunson complained about the poor standard of personal hygiene at the WSOP in 2009, and the organisers have undoubtedly received a lot of complaints from others, too. Probably some players have even used their body odor as a tactical weapon to throw opponents off their game.

What comes to other rules, players are still allowed to wear sponsors' logos on their shirts. The rule concerning the use of mobile devices has been changed to allow iPhone, Blueberry, Itouch and such so that everyone can "tweet" as much as they like.

A total of 186 penalties were handed out at the WSOP in 2009, ranging from warnings to disqualifications and removal from the premises. The most common penalty was a one-round penalty. The range of infractions included (according to the WSOP press release): exposing hand, acting out of turn, removing chips from the table, abusive language, excessive celebration, soft play, cell phone use, throwing cards, dealer abuse and discussing the content of a hand.

Read the rules here (in PDF format).

Source: Pokerati.