Terms of Service

Last updated: [date of launch]

These terms are an agreement between you and [Company legal name] ("we", "us"), which runs The Pool Hall (the "Service"). By creating, joining or using a pool, you agree to them. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.

1. What The Pool Hall is

The Pool Hall lets a person (the "commissioner") set up a sports pool, such as a pick'em, survivor pool, prop sheet or squares board, and invite friends with a link. The Service keeps the rules, records picks, locks them at kickoff, keeps score and hosts a chat for the group.

2. The Pool Hall is not a sportsbook

• We do not accept, place or hold bets or wagers, and we do not set odds. Lines shown in the Service come from public sports data and are shown for the pool's rules only.
• We never collect, hold, transfer or pay out money for any pool. A buy-in or payout written on a pool is a note the commissioner adds so players see the same numbers. Any money that changes hands does so directly between players, outside the Service, and is their responsibility alone.
• We do not take a share of any pot. The only money we receive is the fee for optional paid features (Section 6), which is the same whether or not a pool involves a pot.
• You are responsible for making sure that taking part in any pool, including one with a pot, is legal where you are. Laws about pools, contests and gambling differ by state and country. Don't use the Service where doing so is against the law.

3. Who can use it

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live, if higher) to create or join a pool. By using the Service you confirm that you are.

4. Commissioners

The commissioner sets a pool's rules and can change its name and look, remove players, issue new access links, enter answer keys and override scores. Commissioners agree to run pools honestly, to settle any money matters with their players directly, and to resolve disputes within their group. We are not a party to any arrangement between a commissioner and players.

5. Your conduct

• Use a name that doesn't impersonate someone else.
• Don't post anything unlawful, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, or that shares someone's private information.
• Don't try to break, overload, scrape or get around the Service's limits or security, or access a pool you weren't invited to.
• Your personal access link signs in as you. Keep it private.

We may remove content or pools, or block access, if these terms are broken.

6. Paid features

Players never pay to use the Service. A commissioner may buy a Pool Pass for a single pool, a one-time fee that raises the number of players the pool can hold. Payments are processed by Stripe; we don't see or store full card numbers. Prices are shown before purchase. Because a Pool Pass takes effect right away, it is non-refundable except where the law requires a refund or where we choose to give one; contact us if something went wrong.

7. AI pool builder

When you describe a pool, the text you type is sent to an AI provider to turn it into pool rules. Review the rules card before you create a pool: the commissioner, not the AI, is responsible for a pool's rules. Don't type personal or sensitive information into the description.

8. Sports data and scoring

Schedules, lines and scores come from third-party sources and can be late, wrong or unavailable. We try to score pools correctly but don't guarantee it. The commissioner's decision is final for their pool. We are not responsible for any loss that comes from a data error, an outage, or a pick that didn't save.

9. Your content

You keep ownership of what you post (names, picks, chat messages). You give us permission to store and display it to the members of your pool so the Service can work. NFL team names are used only to identify teams; The Pool Hall is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NFL or any team.

10. Disclaimers and limits on liability

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any money won or lost in a pool, and our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or $50.

11. Ending use

You can stop using the Service at any time. A commissioner can ask us to delete a pool. We may suspend or end the Service, or any pool, at any time; we'll try to give notice when we can.

12. Changes

We may update these terms. If a change is significant we'll post a notice in the Service. Continuing to use the Service after a change means you accept it.

13. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of [State], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. [Dispute resolution clause to be chosen with counsel.]

14. Contact

support@thepoolhall.app · [mailing address]