POKERSTARS – GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These General Terms and Conditions have been amended to include the Home Games Rules, which are incorporated by reference
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Parties: Who We Are
- Changes to These General Terms
- Prohibited Practices
- Consequences of Prohibited Practices
- Use and Availability of the Services
- Poker Software
- Chat Rooms
- Intellectual Property
- Liability
- Information We Collect About You and How It Is Used
- Contact
- Miscellaneous
- Governing Law and Jurisdiction
- the website located at www.pokerstars.ch and any associated mobile sites and apps (the "PokerStars Site");
- the real money poker games available on the PokerStars Site (the "Real Money Games"); and
- any "play money" or "play for free" poker games available on the PokerStars Site (the "Play Money Games").
Where we refer to the Real Money Games and the Play Money Games together, we will say "Games", and "Game" means any one of them.
Where we refer to the PokerStars Site and the Games together, we will say "Services".
References to "you" and "your" in these General Terms are to you as the end user of the Services.
The terms include, including, for example, such as and in particular or any similar expressions used in these General Terms shall be construed as illustrative, without limiting the sense or scope of the words preceding them.
Casino Davos AG ("Casino Davos") is a company registered in Switzerland, with registered address at Promenade 63, 7270 Davos, Switzerland.
Casino Davos operates the online casino available at www.casino777.ch and any associated mobile sites and apps (the "777 Site") and is licensed to do so by the Swiss regulator, the Federal Gaming Board, under licence number 516-008-01 (DE: "Konzession" / FR: "concession" / IT: "concessione"). Casino Davos also provides an online poker offering to its Swiss players under that licence, via the PokerStars Site.
"Flutter Group" (also referred to as "we", "us" and "our") is a group of companies that are controlled, directly or indirectly, by Flutter Entertainment Plc. TSG Interactive Gaming Europe Limited, part of the Flutter Group, operates (in cooperation with the concessionaire Casino Davos AG) the software underlying the online poker platform that Casino Davos offers to you via the PokerStars Site (the "Poker Software").
In order to play Games on the PokerStars Site, you will need to register with Casino Davos via the 777 Site.
When you play Games on the PokerStars Site, you are contracting solely with Casino Davos. Casino Davos is the licensed operator and direct contact for you for all matters relating to your access to and use of the Services. In line with Swiss regulatory requirements, you are expected to direct any claims, complaints and questions to Casino Davos, not to us.
These General Terms are in addition to the terms and conditions for the 777 Site. By accessing and/or using any part the Services, you agree to be bound by these General Terms and the Home Games Rules. If you do not agree to these General Terms, the Home Games Rules, or any part of them, you should not access or use the Services or the relevant part of them.
We may make changes to these General Terms from time to time, including to comply with applicable law or a change in our regulatory requirements, to keep up to date with changes to the Services, and/or to accommodate changes to our business practices.
Casino Davos will notify you of any material changes to these General Terms. If any change is unacceptable to you, or you have any other questions about the changes, you should contact Casino Davos.
The following are considered "Prohibited Practices" with regards to the Services:
- if you make any Unauthorised Use of the Poker Software as set out in Section 8 below;
- if you modify, decompile, reverse-engineer or disassemble the Poker Software in any way, or attempt to do any of these things;
- if you exploit a fault, loophole, incompleteness or error in the Poker Software or any of the Games;
- if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect you are involved in any cheating, collusion, team play, game manipulation, or unethical play of any kind (together "Unethical Play"). Taking part or attempting to take part in Unethical Play, whether by yourself and/or between you and other players (such as by sharing poker hole cards, playing less aggressively against a partner (known as "soft playing") or by any other method), is strictly forbidden and we reserve the right, in addition to our other rights in relation to Prohibited Practices, to restrict seating and/or prohibit players from playing at a particular poker table or in a particular tournament, including restricting two or more players from playing together at the same table or in the same tournament;
- if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect that you have not played out any Game in a normal way, for example if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect that you have intentionally lost a poker hand in order to deliberately transfer chips to another player (so-called "chip-dumping") or if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect you and other players are intentionally avoiding normal game play by putting all your chips in play (so-called "going all-in") or manipulating the play by any other method, in an attempt to end play quickly or prematurely (so-called "flipping");
- if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect that you are using or have used any external player assistance tools ("EPA Tools") that are designed to provide an "unfair advantage" to players. In this regard we: (i) define "EPA Tools" as computer software (other than the Poker Software) and non-software-based systems (e.g. web sites, subscription services and physical materials); and (ii) reserve the right to take a broad view of what constitutes an "unfair advantage" in the context of any use of EPA Tools (specific guidance can be found in our Third Party Tools and Services Policy but for the avoidance of doubt, what is prohibited encompasses but is not limited to accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which you have personally observed through your own game play, or receiving advice, direction or assistance on how to play, in real time, that goes beyond a basic level). You agree that in addition to our other rights in relation to Prohibited Practices we may take steps to detect and prevent the use of EPA Tools, including by the examination of software programs running concurrently with the Poker Software on your end-user device, and you agree that you will not attempt to bypass, interfere with, or block such steps, including by the use of third party software that bypasses, interferes with, or blocks such steps;
- if we discover or have reason to believe or suspect that you are using or have used any artificial intelligence including "robots" in connection with the Services and in this regard you acknowledge and agree that all actions taken in relation to the Services by you must be executed personally by you through the user interface accessible by use of the Poker Software, and without the assistance of any form of artificial intelligence;
- if you post any unlawful, indecent, racist, obscene, offensive, threatening, defamatory or otherwise illegal material via the Services (including content expressing bigotry or hatred), including when using the chat function and/or the player images option, and/or you engage in any kind of offensive, threatening or unlawful behaviour in your interactions with our staff and/or other players; or
- if you breach these General Terms in some material way.
We may ask Casino Davos to suspend your ability to play Games and/or your account with Casino Davos ("Player Account") where we have reason to believe that you have engaged, or are likely to engage, in any Prohibited Practice(s). Casino Davos will notify you in such event, and your ability to play Games or your Player Account (as applicable) will remain suspended while the matter is investigated and/or until those checks are completed.
You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Sites, the servers on which our Sites are stored, or any server computer or database connected to the Sites or mobile and tablet applications.
In order for you to use certain Services, we provide Casino Davos with the Poker Software, which is made available by Casino Davos to you via the 777 Site. "Poker Software" includes (a) software downloadable to your personal desktop or laptop computer, (b) mobile software applications downloadable or made available to you on your end-user device (including a cellular phone, PDA, tablet, or any other type of portable or mobile device now existing or hereafter devised), and (c) all ancillary software to the Poker Software (whether web-based software or client/server software).
Subject to these General Terms, Casino Davos grants you a royalty-free, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable right to install and use the Poker Software on your PC or other device, as the case may be, in order to access Flutter Group’s servers and play the applicable Games. The Poker Software is licensed by Casino Davos to you for your private personal use only, on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis. Casino Davos cannot promise that the Services will be free from errors, bugs, viruses, or omissions nor that they will be available uninterrupted and/or in a fully operating condition.
The Flutter Group and its licensors are the sole holders of all rights, title and interest in and to the Poker Software and the Poker Software's code, structure and organisation, including copyright, trade secrets, and all other intellectual property and other rights. You may not, within the limits prescribed by applicable laws:
- copy, distribute, publish, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, modify, interfere with or translate the Poker Software or make any attempt to access the source code to create derivative works of the source code of the Poker Software, or otherwise;
- sell, assign, sublicense, transfer, distribute or lease the Poker Software;
- make the Poker Software available to any third party through a computer network or otherwise;
- export the Poker Software to any country (whether by physical or electronic means); or
- use the Poker Software in a manner prohibited by applicable laws or regulations,
(each of the above is an "Unauthorised Use").
The Flutter Group and its licensors reserve any and all rights implied or otherwise, which are not expressly granted to you under these General Terms and retain all rights, title and interest in and to the Poker Software.
You agree that you will be solely liable for any damage, costs or expenses arising out of or in connection with the commission by you of any Unauthorised Use. You must notify Casino Davos immediately upon becoming aware of the commission by any person of any Unauthorised Use and you must provide reasonable assistance with any investigations conducted in light of the information provided by you in this respect.
Without prejudice to any other provision of these General Terms or any other chat rules and guidelines notified via the Services, in relation to your use of any chat facility made available via the Services you agree that:
- you will not post any unlawful, indecent, racist, obscene, offensive, threatening, defamatory or otherwise illegal material via the chat facility (including content expressing bigotry or hatred) or engage in any kind of offensive, threatening or unlawful behaviour in your interactions with other users of the chat facility;
- you will not make statements that are abusive, defamatory, harassing or insulting to other players including whilst waiting for other players to make a move;
- whilst in play you will not discuss table strategies with other players, chat about the current hand, or engage in any other communication that might give an advantage to other players or could be classed as collusion;
- you will not make statements that advertise, promote or otherwise relate to any other websites or online or offline ventures, discuss illegal activities, or post personal details;
- you will not make statements about us or the PokerStars Site or any other website connected to us that are untrue and/or malicious and/or damaging to Flutter Group;
- you will not hold us or Casino Davos responsible for the publication of user content within the chat facility; and
- you will not post any content that you do not have the right to post.
You acknowledge and accept that your communications on the chat facility are not private or confidential, and may be viewed and used by others accessing the Services.
You agree to tell the Casino Davos support team if you think you see any players colluding or sharing key information via the chat facility, or if you have been a victim of chat abuse.
The terms "Stars Mobile", "PokerStars", "PokerStars Casino", "PokerStars Sports", "PokerStars School", and "Team PokerStars", the star in spade logo, the domain name "pokerstars.ch", and any other trade marks, service marks, signs, trade names and/or domain names used by the Flutter Group on the PokerStars Site and/or the Poker Software from time to time (the "Trade Marks") are the trade marks, service marks, signs, trade names and/or domain names of the Flutter Group and/or its licensors, and these entities reserve all rights to such Trade Marks.
All content on the Sites, including the Poker Software, images, pictures, graphics, photographs, animations, videos, music, audio and text (the "Site Content") belongs to the Flutter Group and/or its licensors and is protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property or other rights.
You acknowledge that by using the Services you obtain no rights in the Site Content and/or the Trade Marks, or any part thereof. Under no circumstances may you use the Site Content and/or the Trade Marks without our prior written consent.
Additionally, you agree not to do anything that will harm or potentially harm the rights, including the intellectual property rights, held by the Flutter Group and/or its licensors in the Poker Software, the Trade Marks or the Site Content nor will you do anything that damages the image or reputation of the Flutter Group and all its employees, directors, officers, consultants and agents.
You promise that any names or images used by you in connection with the Services (for example, your username and avatar) will not infringe the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party. You grant us for the benefit of the Flutter Group a worldwide, irrevocable, transferable, royalty free, sublicensable license to use such names and images for any purpose connected with the Services, in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
We have granted Casino Davos a licence to the Poker Software so that Casino Davos can provide online poker services to you. Due to your contractual relationship as a player solely with Casino Davos, we exclude all our liability and responsibility arising out of or in connection with the Poker Software and Services to the fullest extent permitted by applicable laws.
We process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions or complaints about the Services, please contact Casino Davos.
We are entitled to assign, transfer, charge or otherwise deal in our rights under these General Terms as we see fit. We may wish to transfer our rights or obligations under these General Terms to any company within the Flutter Group or any other legal entity, including if we restructure or there is a sale of our business. You agree that we may do so provided that in the case of such a transfer, after Casino Davos notifies you of the date on which such transfer takes place, your rights under these General Terms will be against the new legal entity.
These General Terms are personal to you. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these General Terms to anyone else.
If you breach these General Terms and we take no action against you, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these General Terms.
These General Terms are governed by and will be construed in accordance with the laws of Malta.
You agree that, save as provided below, the courts of Malta will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning these General Terms and any matter arising under them and you waive any right that you may have to object to an action being brought in those courts, or to claim that the action has been brought in an inconvenient forum, or that those courts do not have jurisdiction. This provision only applies to claims, disputes or differences concerning the General Terms as they relate to Flutter Group. For any claim, dispute or difference that you as a player might have towards Casino Davos as the licensed operator of the PokerStars Site, please see the 777 Site terms and conditions. Nothing in this Section will limit our right to take proceedings against you in any other court of competent jurisdiction, nor will the taking of proceedings in any one or more jurisdictions preclude the taking of proceedings in any other jurisdictions, whether concurrently or not, to the extent permitted by the law of such other jurisdiction.
This Section does not affect the rights that may be granted to you as a consumer and customer of Casino Davos under mandatory provisions of Swiss laws.
Version Date: November 25, 2022