The Tournament Director's Association (TDA) was formed in 2001 by Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Dave Lamb with the goal of standardizing poker tournament rules. Before the TDA, each venue would have their own 'house rules,' creating problems and confusion for new or traveling players, while suppressing the growth of the game.  

In the two decades since, almost every licensed cardroom in the world has jumped on board, adopting TDA policies and procedures for their own events. Today, the TDA has more than 4,000 members in 65 different countries.  

Every two years, poker room managers, tournament directors, and event organizers from all over the globe gather in Las Vegas for the TDA summit. It is there that rule and procedure changes are proposed, voted on, and ultimately made.  

World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director Matt Savage is not only a co-founder of the TDA, but also sits on its Board of Directors. Card Player recently caught up with him for a special episode of the Poker Stories podcast to talk about the most recent summit and the latest rule changes to look out for.  

Highlights from this episode include subjects such as the big blind ante, player abuse, the order of mixed games, stalling, tournament guarantees, and the use of real-time assistance, better known as RTA.