1. Unless otherwise stated by EmpirePoker.com, the following terms and conditions set forth the rules and procedures that govern all players' rights in the event of disconnection and game cancellation.

2. Disconnect protection is a tool that protects players if their Internet connection is lost while they are involved in a pot. If a player is disconnected, he will be able to stay in the hand (provided disconnect protection is available) to contest the portion of the pot that he was financially involved in at the time of disconnection.

3. EmpirePoker.com strives to offer the best disconnect protection to our players. Our goal is to protect players while also maintaining appropriate checks so that the protection is not abused.

4. Disconnect protection is not intended to be used for any purpose other than a genuine disconnect. Any misuse of this policy may result in forfeiture of any monies won, tournament disqualification, the loss of the disconnect protection privilege, or expulsion from the site.

5. Our software is designed to assess if a player has a genuine disconnection before giving the disconnect protection to him. Players trying to take advantage of disconnect protection by deliberately getting 'timed out' will be deemed to have folded.

6. Players must accept the risk of disconnection. Disconnections can and do occur. Just log back on and continue play as quickly as possible. Ask your ISP about how they can help reduce the risk of disconnection. EmpirePoker.com is not responsible for disconnected players.

7. If a player is disconnected during a hand and has disconnect protection available, he will be able to play for the part of the pot he has invested money in. The player can win whatever was in the pot at the time of the disconnection.

8. EmpirePoker.com reserves the right to alter this policy and render final decisions on all matters herein at its sole discretion. Policy changes and relevant decisions will be communicated accordingly by EmpirePoker.com using electronic and/or written means.

Live game disconnect protection

Disconnect protection resets are allowed three times in a seven-day period of live game play. Before EmpirePoker.com successfully processes a player's reset request, we will determine whether the player has used up his or her quota of resets. We will not reset the protection if a player has used his quota up.

Each player is limited to the use of eight disconnect protections (three resets) within a seven-day period of live game play.

A player may request a disconnect protection reset by either:

1. Visiting to the Lobby, clicking on 'Game rules and options', and clicking on 'Reset disconnect protection'.

2. Click on the 'Dealer's chip tray' while at the table for options. Select ‘Request disc. Protect’ to send a request to us.

The player will receive a confirmation email once the disconnection protection count has successfully been reset.

Sit & Go 1-table tournament game disconnect protection

We have removed disconnect protects from all Sit & Go 1-table tournaments. Your hand will automatically be folded if you lose your connection. This change was implemented at the request of our players.

Sit & Go multi-table tournament game disconnect protection

Disconnect protection is not available in any Sit & Go multi-table tournaments. Your hand will automatically be folded if you lose your connection.

Multi-table tournament game disconnect protection

Disconnect protection is not available in any multi-table tournaments. Your hand will automatically be folded if you lose your connection. This change was implemented at the request of our players.

Game cancellation policy

Real money games

Players will be refunded the exact amount of money they had at the time of cancellation.

Play money games

Players will be refunded the exact amount of chips they originally brought to the table, as we don’t record all play money hand information.

Sit & Go 1-table tournaments

Any players still competing in a tournament when it is cancelled for technical reason will be refunded their buy-ins and entry fees. The buy-in monies from the players already eliminated will be evenly divided between the remaining players, regardless of the chip standing at the time of cancellation.

Players already eliminated from the tournament will lose their buy-in and entry fee.

Sit & Go multi-table tournaments

Players who have been eliminated from a tournament before cancellation for technical reasons will lose their buy-in and entry fee.

Any players still competing in a tournament when it is cancelled for technical reason will be refunded as follows:

1. Each player will be awarded prize money equal to the amount that would have been awarded to the next player to be eliminated.

2. After prize money has been allocated according to point 1, 50% of the remaining prize pool will be distributed equally between the remaining players, and 50% will be distributed on a percentage basis according to the remaining players’ chip count at the time of cancellation.

3. The remaining players will also be refunded their entry fee.

Multi-table tournaments

Players who have been eliminated from a tournament before cancellation for technical reasons will lose their buy-in and entry fee.

Any players still competing in a tournament when it is cancelled for technical reason will be refunded as follows:

1. Each player will be awarded prize money equal to the amount that would have been awarded to the next player to be eliminated.

2. After prize money has been allocated according to point 1, 50% of the remaining prize pool will be distributed equally between the remaining players, and 50% will be distributed on a percentage basis according to the remaining players’ chip count at the time of cancellation.

3. The remaining players will also be refunded their entry fee.

'No disconnect protection' tables

Disconnection protection will not be available on selected tables. These tables will have ‘No DP’ next to their names in the Lobby.

Instead of following the usual disconnect protection conventions, these tables will wait for the player to reconnect based on the investment in the pot. The players' time bank will not be used, but the system will wait for the player to reconnect, based on the following rules:

1.No time will be added if the Pot size is up to 5*X.

2. Twenty seconds will be added if the pot is more than 5*X, up to 20*X.

3. Thirty seconds will be added if the pot is more than 20*X, up to 40*X.

4. Forty-fives seconds be added if the pot is more than 40*X, up to 80*X.

5. Sixty seconds will be added if the pot is more than 80*X.

'X' is either the big blind amount in flop games or the lower limit of the stakes in 7 Card Stud games.

For tournaments, the big blind amounts or lower limits of the stakes will be based on the level of the tournament at the time of the disconnection.

When a player with no investment in the pot is disconnected, his hand will be folded when the regular time allotted expires. However, if a disconnected player can use a check option, the hand will be checked after the regular time allotted has expired.

Blackjack

If you are disconnected in the middle of a game of blackjack, simply log back in to your account. You will be able to resume the disrupted game at the point at which you were disconnected. If you were disconnected after submitting information, the next sequence or result will appear as normal.

Please contact our Customer Care team if you continue to experience problems. We will investigate the situation fully. We will refund any losses caused by a bug in our system immediately.

Side Bets

If you are disconnected in the middle of a side bet, any side bets that have already been placed will continue to be played. You can view the results in your 'Side Bet History' when you log back in. Any repeat bet settings will be turned off - only side bets on current hands will be completed.

If you are disconnected while playing with the repeat bet option turned on, any bets outstanding bets will be completed and the repeat bet option will be turned off.

We will return the side bet amount to you if a game crashes before the flop is shown and you had a side bet on the current hand. This will be treated as a 'No Flop Seen' result.

Deal making

The deal making process will continue as normal even if you are disconnected while discussing a deal with another player, giving rise to the following scenarios:

1. You reconnect while the deal is still taking place and rejoin the process.

2. You do not reconnect before the deal is rejected because the deal making time has elapsed.

3. Other players have rejected the deal while you were disconnected and play has resumed.

4. Disconnection is treated as an implicit rejection of a deal. This means that if a deal must be approved by all the players at the table it will fail unless you reconnect and confirm it in the allotted time.

All use of EmpirePoker.com is governed by the EmpirePoker.com Terms and Conditions of Use.

EmpirePoker.com
September 27, 2006

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