Card Room Rules
These rules apply to all games at PokerStars. Additional rules that relate to tournaments only are available for viewing online here, and those that relate to ring games only are available for viewing online here.
Players at PokerStars are expected to play fairly, and in accordance with the spirit of the game. The following rules must be followed at all times.
Opening a PokerStars Account
- To play at PokerStars, you must be 18 years of age, or the age of majority in your legal jurisdiction (whichever is higher). You may be asked to provide proof that you are of legal age.
- You may not access PokerStars from any jurisdiction where it is illegal to do so.
- To play for real money, you must provide your correct full name , your correct date of birth and your current address (including zip/postal code).
- You may only have one PokerStars account.
- You may play on your PokerStars account only, and you may not let other people use your account.
Connection
- PokerStars accepts no responsibility for the quality of your Internet connection or for any disruptions to it, except for those directly related to PokerStars’ servers. Information between your computer and our servers will pass through a large number of "peers” on the internet, machines that are not owned by PokerStars and that do not belong to your ISP. PokerStars cannot be held responsible for disruptions to such connections. Players, especially those who play for high stakes, should consider having a back-up internet connection available, so they can reconnect quickly if their main internet connection fails.
Unfair Play
- Collusion, by which two or more players work together in the games or share knowledge to gain an unfair advantage over other players, is strictly prohibited.
- You may not intentionally lose a hand to another player in order to transfer chips (‘chip dumping’).
- If you are involved in staking, swaps, profit-sharing, or any kind of bankroll sharing agreement with another player, you may not play at the same cash game table or in the same Sit & Go tournament as that player.
- PokerStars will take steps to detect and prevent all forms of cheating, which may include examination of your account, hand histories, and programs running concurrently with the PokerStars software.
- PokerStars maintains a list of prohibited software programs and services on our Third Party Tools and Services FAQ page.
You may not use any of the programs or services on the “prohibited” list while the PokerStars client is running. The list is not exhaustive, and PokerStars reserves the right to add to or modify the list at any time.
- Unfair play, such as collusion, multiple account abuse, and use of prohibited programs may result in penalties at PokerStars’ discretion. These penalties may include warnings, restrictions on playing with certain other players, seizure of funds, and the closing of your PokerStars account.
- In the event that PokerStars deems that a User has engaged or attempted to engage in unfair play, including without limitation, engaging in any of the activities set forth above or any other game manipulation, PokerStars shall be entitled to take such action as it sees fit, as described in our Terms of Service.
Time Bank
- Each player will be allocated a time bank which allows the player extra time to make a decision.
- The time bank depletes as it is used. If a player elects to use his or her time bank, other players at the table will be notified.
- If a player fails to act in time, the time bank will be activated automatically if the following conditions are met:
- The player is connected to the system when his or her time expires; and
- The player has money invested in the pot (blinds and antes are considered as money invested in the pot)
- The time bank cannot be manually extended or replenished by PokerStars.
- The time bank depletes as it is used. If a player elects to use his or her time bank, other players at the table will be notified.
Chat
- Except in specially designated ‘national’ tournaments, your chat must be in English. Trivial exceptions (e.g. ‘Salut!’, ‘gracias’) are acceptable.
- You are expected to chat in a way that would be appropriate in a public, face-to-face poker game. Abusive, foul, racist, threatening or otherwise inappropriate chat will not be tolerated.
- You may not use the PokerStars chat feature to advertise any product or service.
- You may not ‘flood’ the chat box by entering large amounts of text in order to interfere with the ordinary use of the chat facility by other players.
- You may not ‘spam’ tables with announcements of private tournaments or Sit & Go events.
- You may not make any chat comments which may affect the play of any hand or tournament, even if you are an observer. There are two exceptions to this rule:
- In cash game hands which are heads up (everyone else has folded, or the hand started with two players) the two players involved may chat as they wish.
- In tournaments which are heads up (everyone else has been knocked out of the tournament, or the tournament started with two players), the two players involved may chat as they wish.
- To report problem chat, please call a Chat Moderator by clicking the ‘Call Moderator’ button in the Dealer Chip Tray or Options menu at the top of the table. Or, violations can be reported to chat@pokerstars.com.
Account Security
- You must take reasonable measures to protect your password and account information, and must not share it with any third party. In particular, we encourage players to choose a strong password, and to use one of the additional security features offered by PokerStars such as the PokerStars PIN or RSA Security Token.
For more information on password security, see here.
For more information on the PokerStars PIN, see here.
Fore more information on the RSA Security Token, see here.
- You must take reasonable measures to protect your computer and internet connection from unauthorised access and malicious software.
- PokerStars cannot be held liable for any losses that result from a breach of security on your machine.
Miscellaneous
- In draw games, if the original 52 card deck is insufficient to allow a player to draw the number of cards requested, the remaining deck and all of the cards discarded by players previously (including those discarded by players on the current drawing round) are shuffled together to make a new deck.
Once a reshuffle has occurred, the server will prevent a player from receiving back any specific card he has previously discarded.
- In No Limit and Pot Limit games, the minimum bet will be equal to the big blind. However, PokerStars treats the big blind as a raise of the small blind. That means that pre-flop, any raise in an unopened pot that is equal to or greater than the small blind reopens the action.
- The Cardroom Rules (including the Ring Game Rules and the Tournament Rules) as listed here are intended to complement the Terms of Service, not replace them. In the event of a discrepancy between the Cardroom Rules (including the Ring Game Rules and the Tournament Rules) and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service shall take precedence. In the event of a discrepancy between the Cardroom Rules and the Tournament Rules, the Tournament Rules will take precedence in a tournament scenario. In the event of a discrepancy between the Cardroom Rules and the Ring Game Rules, the Ring Game Rules will take precedence in a ring game scenario.
- PokerStars reserves the right to alter the Cardroom Rules, Tournament Rules, Ring Game Rules or Terms of Service at any time, without prior notice to you.
- PokerStars reserves the right to terminate your account, or take any other action regarding your account it deems fit, without notice, if the above rules are breached.
In case of disputes, PokerStars’ management decision will be final.
