Thank you for reviewing our
Terms and Conditions.

Our players must read and accept this Service Agreement before opening an account. Last Updated December 11, 2008.

TERMS OF USE

BY CHECKING THE "I ACCEPT" BOX AND REGISTERING FOR THE HEARTLAND POKER LEAGUE ON-LINE CARDROOM SERVICE, OR BY USING OR ACCESSING THE SERVICE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MUST SELECT THE "I DO NOT ACCEPT" BUTTON AND YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE ANY PART OF THE SERVICE.

1. Binding Agreement. By registering for an account, participating in any tournament, or accessing any services offered on the Heartland Poker League Service (the "Service") you agree to be bound by the most current version of this Agreement. We will post changes to these terms and conditions on our website, and we encourage you to check the website frequently.  Your Heartland Poker League member account ("Account") and all of the tournaments, games, and services at Heartland Poker League are governed by this Agreement.

1.1. Revisions to Agreement. If we revise this Agreement, such revision will be effective five (5) days after we post the new Agreement on Heartland Poker League. You agree to review the Agreement periodically to become aware of such revisions. You can view the Agreement at any time by clicking on the Terms of Service link at the bottom of the Heartland Poker League home page. Your continued use of the Service five (5) days after a revised Agreement is posted on Heartland Poker League will mean that you accept all such revisions. If you don't agree to the changes, or to any of the terms in this Agreement, your only remedy is not to use the Service and to cancel your Account. This Agreement cannot be modified on an individual basis by any person affiliated, or claiming affiliation, with the Service. If any portion of this Agreement is deemed void or unenforceable, then that provision is to be deemed severable from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

1.2. Governing Law and Disputes. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these rules, terms and conditions, the conduct of any contest, the determination of a winner, any Prize or any matters in connection with any of the foregoing shall be settled by binding and final arbitration held in the city of Minneapolis, MN and administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules, including the Optional Rules for Emergency Measures of Protection, and/or its other rules that may be specifically applicable to the subject mater of the dispute, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.  The Parties agree that they and their successors and assigns will be bound by the decision of the arbitrator(s) with respect to any controversy properly submitted for determination.    Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will an entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorney's fees or other such related costs of pursuing a claim. 

1.3     These rules, terms and conditions are governed by, and to be construed in accordance with, the internal laws of the State of Minnesota, and the forum and venue for any dispute shall be in the city of Minneapolis, MN

1.4     You agree that any dispute that cannot be resolved between the parties will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. You further agree that any legal action arising from any dispute will proceed only in the state or federal courts located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and to submit to the personal jurisdiction and venue in such courts for any such action.

2.     Accounts.  The following section describes the requirements and services provided to members that hold an HPL account. Information collected by Heartland Poker League is subject to our Privacy Policy, which may be viewed here: Privacy Policy.

2.1 Registration. You must provide the following information to register:

                                   i.        Home address

                                  ii.        Legal name

                                 iii.        Email address

                                 iv.        Screen Name

                                  v.        Password

2.2    Eligibility. To have an account, you must:

                                   i.        be at least 18 years old

                                  ii.        be the individual who is assigned to the e-mail address submitted on your account registration form;

                                 iii.        be physically located in a location that does not place restrictions on your participation; and

                                 iv.        at all times abide by this Agreement.

2.3   Services. Accounts provide you access to your player profile, the Heartland Poker League Cardroom, and the HPL Store where you are permitted to purchase goods and services through the use of store credit.

2.4   HPL Store. Accounts provide you access to the products and services for sale in the HPL Store that can be viewed here: heartlandpokerleague.com/store.  Heartland Poker League Store products and services may change from time to time without notice.

2.5   Limitations on Accounts. You may not open more than one Account, and Heartland Poker League may monitor any effort to establish multiple accounts. If Heartland Poker League determines that you have opened or may have tried to open more than one Account, then Heartland Poker League may terminate any or all of your Accounts. Heartland Poker League may void any Prizes you may have won and any benefits that may have accrued to you.

2.6   Accounts for Individual Use Only. You, as the holder of your Account, are solely responsible for all obligations and, assuming your compliance with this Agreement, are entitled to receive all the benefits as well. You may not allow any other person to access your Account, access the Service, accept any winnings, or participate in any tournament using your Account. Your Account is not transferable to any other person. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold Heartland Poker League harmless from or for any claims, liability, damages, and/or costs (including attorneys' fees) arising from any use of your Account by any person.

3.     Tournament/Sweepstakes Rules

     3.1. Heartland Poker League On-line Tournaments are not Gambling. Heartland Poker League is not a gambling site -- you are never asked to place a bet or risk money on a poker tournament or any game. The Service and all tournaments are subject to the laws governing sweepstakes, contests, and promotions, which vary from State to State. There is no purchase necessary to participate in any the tournaments available on the Service. See Section 3.4 for an alternative mail-in means of entry to Tournaments. The Service's tournaments are void if prohibited by the law in the jurisdiction in which you are playing. You are subject to all laws of the State or province and country in which you reside and from which you access Heartland Poker League and you are solely responsible for obeying those laws. You agree that Heartland Poker League cannot be held liable if laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit your participation. Heartland Poker League makes no representations or warranties, implicit or explicit, as to your legal right to participate in any tournament offered at Heartland Poker League, and no person affiliated, or claiming affiliation, with Heartland Poker League has authority to make any such representations or warranties.

     3.2. Tournament Structure. Please go to the following links to review the tournament structure and payout

     3.3  Additional People Not Eligible The following people are ineligible to receive any prize offered through the Service: employees, officers, and directors (and their immediate family members) of Heartland Poker League, its affiliates, and advertising and promotional agencies as well as other people with access to non-public information regarding the operation of any tournament offered on Heartland Poker League. "Immediate family members" are parents, siblings, spouses, children, or any other person permanently residing in the same household with such employee, officer, or director.

3.4  No Purchase Necessary. Mail-In Entry. There is no entry fee requirement to participate in any Heartland Poker League On-line tournament. Players may qualify by playing in sanctioned Heartland Poker League tournaments at participating Heartland Poker League casinos.  Please go to the following link to review how to qualify for the different on-line tournaments www.heartlandpokerleague.com.

A.     Players may use the following alternative means of entry into our online tournaments:

                  i.        Register and Download Software. Register at Heartland Poker League.com download, and install the Heartland Poker League poker software

                  ii.        Mail-in Entry. For each week you would like to participate in the weekly freeroll Tournaments, send a 3" x 5" card placed in a #10 envelope to Heartland Poker League.com, ATTN: Account Validation, 3505 8^th St South 1C., Moorhead, MN 56560, with the following hand-written information:

1.     Heartland Poker League Screen Name;

2.     Email Address associated with Heartland Poker League Account;

3.     First and Last Name;

4.     Mailing Address (Street, City, State, ZIP Code and Country)

5.     Date of Birth;

6.     Specify the dates of the week of on-line tournaments you would like to play. The requested dates must be no later than 30 days from date of the postmark on the letter, and no earlier than 10 days from that date.

7.     Each 3" x 5" card must be an original. No copies, reproductions or facsimiles will be accepted. Heartland Poker League will not be responsible for late, lost, stolen, misdirected, illegible, incomplete or postage-due.

8.     No more than four mail-in entries over a month-long period will be accepted; and you may not send more than one entry in a single envelope.

9.     The odds of winning prizes will be no different for mail-in entrants as compared with all others

     3.5 Prizes

A.     HPL Store Credit can be used exclusively at the Heartland Poker League store at heartlandpokerleague.com/store.  HPL store credit holds no cash value and cannot be transferred to another account. 

B.     Claiming Prizes. Heartland Poker League will credit your account with the appropriate HPL store credit within 48 hours of tournament ending.  You can use your HPL store credit to purchase items in the HPL Store on-line.  Shipping of items purchased will be at the sole cost of HPL.

C.    Taxes. In compliance with United States Internal Revenue Service regulations, any person who wins and purchases more than $600 (USD) at Heartland Poker League store in any given year must complete an IRS Form W-9.  Heartland Poker League will send an IRS Form 1099 or other appropriate form to such person. If a person does not provide a signed W-9, HPL reserves the right to hold prizes until the form is completed and returned. Depending on the jurisdiction in which you reside, Heartland Poker League may also send you additional similar tax forms. You remain solely responsible for paying all federal and other taxes in accordance with the laws that apply in your state, province, and/or country of residence.

D.    Chances of Winning. The chances of winning a prize will vary depending on the number of entries in the particular tournament and the relative skills of the several entrants.

E.     List of Winners. A list of winners is available upon request to Heartland Poker League.

     3.6 Tournament Operation and Fair Play.

A.     Game Play. The Service tournaments are governed by the rules of No-Limit Texas Hold'em Tournaments.

B.     Fair Play. Your play in each tournament is governed by the following standards of conduct. If you break any standard, then you will be disqualified from the tournament, and your Account may be suspended or terminated.

                                   i.        No Automated or Programmed Participation. Any attempt to participate in any tournament at Heartland Poker League by means of automatic, macro, programmed, or similar methods, or to otherwise commit fraud with regard to the tournaments, may result in active pursuit of civil litigation and/or criminal prosecution, termination of your Account, and forfeiture of all prizes to which you might otherwise be entitled.

                                  ii.        No Software Modifications. You may not attempt to modify, decompile, reverse-engineer or disassemble the Heartland Poker League Software in any way.

                                 iii.        No Collusion. Collusion between players by sharing hole cards or by any other methods is strictly forbidden. Because collusion is a violation of this Agreement, Heartland Poker League may suspend or terminate your Account if you engage, or attempt to engage, in collusion, notwithstanding the effect of such an attempt. Heartland Poker League may, in addition to other measures, restrict seating or prohibit players from playing at a particular poker table or in a tournament, including restricting two or more players from playing together at the same table or in the same tournament.

                                 iv.        No Chip-Dumping. Chip-dumping occurs when a player intentionally loses a hand for the purpose of deliberately transferring his chips to another player. Heartland Poker League may suspend or terminate your Account if you engage in chip-dumping.

                                  v.        "No-Shows" are not Eligible to Win. If you are registered for a tournament, but do not log in and play a hand in the first 30 minutes of that tournament (becoming a "No-Show" at the end of that 30-minute period), you will be disqualified from the tournament. Players that are disqualified are not eligible to win a prize.

                                 vi.        Other. If Heartland Poker League determines that you have engaged or attempted to engage in fraudulent, unlawful, dishonest or improper activity while using Heartland Poker League, including without limitation, engaging in any of the activities set forth above or any other game manipulation, Heartland Poker League may take such action as it sees fit, including immediately suspending, or terminating your Account, or taking legal action against you.

C.           Right to Cancel. If Heartland Poker League determines, in its sole discretion, that operating or concluding a tournament is not feasible for any reason, including without limitation, any of the reasons set forth in this section, then Heartland Poker League may cancel such tournament

                                   i.        Technical Issues. If technical difficulties compromise the integrity or ability to continue registration or play, Heartland Poker League reserves the right to terminate the tournament.

                                  ii.        Computer, Internet, or Other Technology Failures or Errors. Heartland Poker League is not responsible for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operations or transmission; theft or destruction or unauthorized access or alterations to the Service, computer transmissions, or for technical telephone equipment, electronic, hardware or software, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions of any kind; or inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive information by Heartland Poker League on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet.

                                 iii.        User's Technology. Heartland Poker League is not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed software transmissions that may limit your ability to participate, or damage your system as a result of participation, or downloading any information necessary to participate in the tournaments.

                                iv.        Minimum Players. Heartland Poker League reserves the right to terminate or cancel a tournament if such tournament does not have the minimum number of users registered to participate.20 players minimum for Weekly National Championships. 

     3.7  Rules Interpretation. This Agreement, the official rules, and enforcement of the standards of conduct, will be interpreted in Heartland Poker League's sole discretion, and all determinations made pursuant to these rules by Heartland Poker League are final and binding.

     3.8  Limitation of Liability. Heartland Poker League is not responsible for: (i) any condition caused by events beyond its control that may cause the Service to be disrupted or corrupted; (ii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Service or the entry process; (iii) any software or technical errors or bugs associated with the Service.

     3.9  Release. Each participant agrees to release and hold Heartland Poker League, its parent, subsidiaries and affiliated companies, and the employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents representatives of Heartland Poker League its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, harmless from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with the Service, the entry process, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy.

     3.10   Sponsor:  Heartland Poker League, LLC is the Sponsor of the Heartland Poker League On-line Cardroom.  Its contact information is: 3505 8^th St South 1C., Moorhead, MN 56560, Telephone 218-359-0063.

4.     Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights

     4.1. Heartland Poker League Owns the Service. You acknowledge that all information contained at Heartland Poker League may be protected, in all forms and media, by one or more valid copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights, and that all such rights are owned by Heartland Poker League or its licensors. You may not modify, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit this information, except as permitted by law, such as under fair use. While we use reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information, Heartland Poker League makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy. Heartland Poker League does not assume any liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of the Service.

     4.2. Feedback and User Communication. Any communication or material you transmit to Heartland Poker League by electronic mail or otherwise, including any data, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like, is and will be treated as, non-confidential and non-proprietary. Anything you transmit or post may be used by Heartland Poker League or its affiliates for any purpose, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast and posting. Furthermore, Heartland Poker League is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication you send to Heartland Poker League for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information, without any additional compensation to you.

     4.3. Trademarks. The trademarks, logos, and service marks (collectively the "Trademarks") displayed on the Service are lawful trademarks of Heartland Poker League or others. Nothing contained on the Service should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark displayed on the Service without the written permission of Heartland Poker League or such third party that owns the trademark displayed on the Service. Your misuse of any trademark displayed on the Service, or any other content on the Service, except as provided in this Agreement, is strictly prohibited. You are also advised that Heartland Poker League will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including but not limited to, the active pursuit of criminal prosecution or civil litigation where appropriate.

5.     Rules of Conduct for Chat, Message Board, and User-Provided Content (Avatars). The following rules of conduct apply to all user communications, chat, and user-provided content (avatars) functionality on Heartland Poker League. Heartland Poker League reserves the right to temporarily or permanently ban users and cancel the account of users who violate these rules of conduct, or who in any way abuse the community purpose of the chat areas. Heartland Poker League may remove any posts or other content for any reason.

     5.1. Profanity, obscenities, or the use of **asterisks** or other "masking" characters to disguise such words or to avoid automatic censoring functions of the Service, are not permitted.

     5.2. Obscene, lewd, slanderous, pornographic, abusive, violent, insulting, indecent, threatening and harassing language or content of any kind will not be tolerated.

     5.3. You may not make statements that could unfairly influence the play of any tournament.

     5.4. You may not type words, characters or phrases that make it difficult for others to use the chat feature.

     5.5. Screen Names may not impersonate other player Screen Names.

     5.6. Opinions or comments on the subject at hand are welcomed, but attacking (flaming) individuals, companies or products is not allowed.

     5.7. No advertising or promotion of other companies, or links to third party sites is allowed.

     5.8. Do not share personal information (your name, phone number, home address, password) with others on the site.

     5.9. Do not use copyrighted materials (images or text) if you do not have permission of the owner of such materials.

    5.10. Information disclosed in the Service chat areas, message boards, or other features is revealed to the public. Heartland Poker League is not responsible for any information you choose to disclose to others.

    5.11. Any attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service's systems or any Account, interfere with procedures or performance of the Service, or deliberately damage or undermine the Service is subject to civil and/or criminal prosecution and will result in immediate termination of your account and forfeiture of any prizes to which you are otherwise entitled.

6.     Limitation of Liability. YOU AGREE THAT HEARTLAND POKER LEAGUE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR INJURY RESULTING FROM USE, ACCESS, OR ATTEMPTED USE OR ACCESS OF THE SERVICE. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT HEARTLAND POKER LEAGUE IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR INJURY CAUSED BY DOWNLOADING ANY INFORMATION FROM THE SERVICE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, YOU AGREE THAT HEARTLAND POKER LEAGUE IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER, ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR CORRUPTION OF DATA, OR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM USE OF THE SERVICE.

7.     No Warranty. ALL GOODS AND SERVICES PROVIDED ON THE SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. NO PERSON AFFILIATED, OR CLAIMING AFFILIATION, WITH THE SITE HAS AUTHORITY TO EXTEND SUCH WARRANTIES.

Thank you for reviewing our
Privacy Policy.

Your online safety is of utmost importance to us.

This is Heartland Poker League's Privacy Policy, which is effective as of October 9, 2008, and describes how Heartland Poker League collects and uses information from the Heartland Poker League Service and the Heartland Poker League website. Heartland Poker League respects the privacy rights of our users and recognizes the importance of protecting the information collected about you. Heartland Poker League uses your data to administer your account, provide information of interest to you, and to communicate with you. Heartland Poker League stores your data in the United States, and our use of your data is subject to this privacy policy. This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page. If we make a significant or material change in the way we use your personal information, the change will be posted on this page thirty (30) days prior to taking effect and registered users will be notified via e-mail. If you have any questions regarding the Privacy Policy, or wish to contact us, please send an email to support@heartlandpokerleague.com.

Types of Information Collected

Personally Identifiable Information

Personal information is information that identifies you and may be used to contact you on-line or off-line. Heartland Poker League collects personal information from our online visitors during account registration, or through sign-ups at participating HPL casinos.

Information collected will vary depending upon the activity and may include your name, e-mail address, phone number, home address, and birth date. For purposes of verifying your identify in case you are a prize winner, we may ask for a copy of photo identification, and social security number (for tax purposes). The photo identification and social security number will be used solely for verification of your identity and for tax purposes. In addition, we may collect demographic information such as gender, zip code, software, platform, Internet IP address and connection, information about your use of the Service such as tournaments played, game play statistics, user rankings and click paths and other data that you may provide in surveys or online profiles. We may combine demographic information with personal information, such as email address, to tailor our offerings or web pages to your preferences or interests. Prize winners may also be required to provide Social Security or other tax identification numbers for tax purposes.

Aggregate Information

We may store non-personally identifiable information that we collect through log files to create a profile of our users in the aggregate. Log files record internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser types, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks which we will use to analyze trends, administer the Service or Heartland Poker League website, track aggregate service and usage patterns, and gather broad demographic information for general use. Your individual usage cannot be tracked through aggregate data.

Online Chat Rooms and Profiles

You may choose to disclose information, including personal information, about yourself through chat functions, message boards, screen name profiles for public view, or in similar forums on the Service. Information that you disclose through these features is public information, and there is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality there. You should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of those features, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit through these features. Please see our Terms of Service on this point and for other guidelines about posting content on the Service.

How We Use the Information

Account Maintenance and Transactions

We use your personal information to maintain your Heartland Poker League account and to provide the Service to you. In addition, the personal information you provide will allow us to alert you to new products, features and enhancements; special offers; upgrade opportunities; and events of interest. We may send you electronic communications about the Service or your Account.

Statistical Analysis

Heartland Poker League may perform statistical, demographic and marketing analyses of users, and their usage patterns, for product development purposes and to generally inform advertisers about the nature of our user base.

Products and Services from Third Parties

You may opt in to allow Heartland Poker League to share your personal information with companies and organizations that provide products or services that we believe may be of interest to you. We see this as a value-added service helping you to find useful products or services. We strive to limit use of the information you provide to those offers that we think you would appreciate receiving. You may opt-out of receiving these offers by changing this option in your Account settings. To opt out of further communications from a marketing partner or sponsor with whom your information has been shared while you had opted-in to receiving such communications, please contact that partner directly.

Changing or Updating Your Information

You can correct or update your account information at any time by logging into the Service and going to your account. Should you be unable to log in or wish to have your account deactivated contact support@heartland pokerleague.com. We will be happy to review, update or remove information as appropriate. We may still retain your information in our files however, to resolve disputes, enforce our terms of use, and due to technical and legal requirements and constraints related to the security, integrity and operation of the Service and our websites.

Security

The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. When you enter sensitive information  on our registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can contact support@heartlandpokerleague.com.

Public Data

Your participation in tournaments or other public online events, is conditional upon you agreeing to us collecting, using, storing, transmitting and publicly displaying statistical data (such as your scores, rankings and achievements) generated through your participation.

COPPA Compliance

Heartland Poker League does not knowingly collect or store any personal information, even in aggregate, about children under the age of 13.

Compliance with Legal Process