2.1 Steps to create an account

1. Please check that you are connected to internet.
2. Open the application from the desktop shortcut or from the Program Files list.
3. Click on ‘Create New Account’
4. Follow the instructions on screen to create an account
5. Account name and e-mail address that you provide should be unique and genuine. We don’t allow multiple accounts with same account names and e-mail addresses.
6. If you are unable to create an account, try registering with different account name and different e-mail address. For security purposes, our software system will not allow to create accounts with similar account names and email addresses.

3.1 Unable to login

1. We recommend a steady and strong internet connection to login and play at our games. Your internet connection plays a vital role in connectivity to our game servers.
2. If you have a dialup internet connection, we recommend you to upgrade to a high speed / broadband internet connection.
3. If you have a high speed / broadband internet connection, we recommend you not to use any other applications while you are playing at our games.
4. Avoid using media streaming applications, P2P applications like KaZaa, Limewire, and Ares as these applications use most of the bandwidth and there will be no bandwidth available for our Program.

3.1.1 Why can’t I login to my account?
If you ‘cannot login’ or the ‘lobby is not opening’:

1. Check if you are connected to the Internet
2. If you are connected to the internet then check if you have a Firewall Software viz. Zone Alarm, McAfee or Norton Internet Security installed on your computer which might be blocking the ports 2147 and 443, unblock them
3. If you have a router or modem connected to your system, is it blocking the ports 2147 and 443, unblock them
4. If you are playing from your work place, then contact your network administrator for unblocking the ports mentioned above.
5. If you are receiving any error message while logging in, please refer to our error messages section.

3.2 Connectivity problems / Internet delays

1. Internet Delays or Internet Disconnections can be caused by a number of reasons, none of which can be influenced by us. For instance, the following issues contribute towards poor connectivity to our servers.
   1. The increasing number of Internet gateways that fall between our site and your system, slow down the process. If any of these intermediate servers are slow, then the transmission to your system will also slow down causing Internet Delays or Disconnections.
   2. Your connection bandwidth
   3. Configuration of your system
   4. The number of applications running simultaneously that access the Internet
   5. The amount of available memory space on your system etc.
2. Delete temporary internet files and cookies from your browser from time to time to maintain a healthy internet connection.
3. If you have a dial up connection, which is the minimum requirement, you may wish to upgrade to a cable or a fixed line Internet connection that will minimize the chances of disconnections, or you may wish to contact your Internet Service Provider for further assistance.

3.3.1 What are ports?
This refers to any one of the ports that are on the back of a computer where devices can be hooked up (like a keyboard, mouse, printer, digital camera, etc). Some common ports found on today's computers are USB, Firewire, and Ethernet.

3.3.2 What ports does EmpirePoker.com use?
EmpirePoker.com uses ports 2147 and 443

3.3.3 What is a Protocol?
When two computers communicate with each other, there needs to be a common set of rules and instructions that each computer follows/recognizes. A specific set of communication rules is called a protocol.

3.3.4 What Protocol does EmpirePoker.com use?
We use TCP/IP protocol for information exchange

3.3.5 What is an IP Address?
IP Address, also known as an ‘IP number’ or simply an ‘IP,’ is a code that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. It is made up of numbers and three dots separating them. Every computer, whether it is a Web server or the computer you're using right now, requires an IP address/number to connect to the Internet. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will assign you either a static IP address (which is always the same) or a dynamic IP address, (which changes every time you log on).

3.3.6 What is a firewall?

• Software used for system protection
• Restricts access to harmful sites
• Blocks entry or transfer of data to selected levels of security

3.3.7 Utility and aspect preferences:

• Strongly advised for systems online and using internet
• Levels of security can be custom set for individual access
• Information security, system performance, and long-life assured due to no virus intrusion

3.3.8 Probability of having a Hardware Firewall:
A Hardware Firewall is a device to which you connect your computers or network in order to protect them from unauthorized access, mostly used in case of network group. If you are connected to EmpirePoker.com from office there is a high probability of having a hardware firewall in place. Routers and modem’s fall under this category. Ask your network administrator to configure the ports 2147 and 443.

3.3.9 What are the most common Firewalls used by EmpirePoker.com players on Windows Operating System?

Norton Personal Firewall:

1. Double click on the Norton Internet Security icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of the screen) (OR) Click on Start → Program Files → Norton Internet Security
2. Click on ‘Personal Firewall ON’ and click on ‘Configure’
3. Then click on ‘Program Control’
4. Click on ‘Add’ and add EmpirePoker.com Master to the list.
5. Select the Application and change Internet Access settings from ‘Block All’ to ‘Permit All’.
6. Click on OK and double click on the EmpirePoker.com icon to connect.

Alternative Method for Norton Internet Security Center:

1. Right click on the Norton Internet Security icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of the screen)
2. Click on ‘Norton Internet Security Options’
3. Click on ‘Firewall’
4. Under ‘HTTP Port List’, click on ‘Add’
5. Add the port numbers 2147 and 443 one at a time.
6. Click on OK and double click on the EmpirePoker.com icon to connect.

McAfee Personal Firewall Plus:

1. Double click on the McAfee Security Center icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of the screen) (OR) Click on Start → Program Files → McAfee Security Center
2. Click on ‘McAfee Personal Firewall Plus’
3. Then click on ‘Internet Applications’
4. Click on ‘New Allowed Application’ and add EmpirePoker.com Master to the list
5. Select the application and please check that to have ‘Allow Full Access’
6. Close the window and double click on the EmpirePoker.com icon and connect to it.

Zone Alarm:

1. Double click on the icon ‘Zone Alarm’ in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of the screen). (OR) Click on Start → Program Files → Zone Alarm
2. As the application opens, click on ‘Program Control’ on the left hand side.
3. Click on ‘Program’ tab on the right hand side.
4. Click on ‘Add’ at the right bottom corner and add EmpirePoker.com Master to the list.
5. Select the application in the list and change all the ‘?’ marks to ‘v’ marks
6. Close all the applications and restart the computer to login to EmpirePoker.com

Freedom Firewall:

1. Click on Start → Program Files → Freedom
2. As the application opens, click on ‘Firewall’ on the left hand side.
3. Click on ‘Internet Access Rules’
4. Click on ‘Add Program’ at the bottom and add EmpirePoker.com Master to the list.
5. Select the application and click on ‘v Allow’ at the bottom
6. Close all the applications and login to EmpirePoker.com

Kapersky DefenderPro Firewall:

1. Open the Firewall by clicking on the icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of the screen).
2. Click on ‘Service’ from the menu across the top and choose Application rules
3. Click the ‘New’ button
4. Under Action, choose ‘Allow activity of the application according to its type’
5. Under Rules Description, click ‘specify the application name’
6. Browse the program folder and choose EmpirePoker.com Master
7. Click the ‘Select’ button and click on ‘Finish’
8. Close all the applications and login to EmpirePoker.com

Windows XP Firewall:

1. Click on ‘Start’ button → Control Panel → ’Windows Firewall’
2. As the window opens’ click on ‘Exceptions’ tab.
3. Under ‘Program and Servers’, click on ‘Add Program’
4. Add EmpirePoker.com Master to the list and change ‘Block All’ to ‘Permit All’
5. Click on OK and close all the applications
6. Restart the system and connect to EmpirePoker.com .

BlackICE Firewall:

1. Open BlackICE Firewall application and click on ‘Tools’
2. Click on ‘Edit Black Ice Settings’
3. In the new window, select the ‘Protection’ tab and then check the ‘Trusting’.
4. Click on ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’

eTrust EZ Firewall:

1. Open EZ Firewall and click ‘Privacy’ on the left side of the window
2. In the tab labelled ‘Site List.’
3. Scroll to the row for www.empirepoker.com
4. In that row, right-click in the column labelled ‘Private Header’ and select ‘Allow.’
5. Close all windows and reconnect to EmpirePoker.com

4.1 To view our games and website content at their highest quality your screen resolution should be set to 1024 X 768 with 96 DPI settings.

To adjust your screen resolution:

Windows:

1. Click on the Start button
2. Select Settings/Control Panel
3. Double-click on Display
4. Click on Settings
5. Adjust Screen Area to 1024 X 768.
6. Click on Advanced button and change the Font Size/DPI Setting to Small/Normal Fonts (96 DPI).
7. Click on Apply and then on click on Ok button.
8. Once you have changed the settings successfully, please start our software again by double clicking on the icon on your Desktop.

4.2 How do I see a bigger screen of EmpirePoker.com on my computer?

For a bigger picture follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the Windows desktop
2. Click on 'Properties' on the pop-up menu. The Display Properties dialog box will open.
3. Click the 'Settings' tab and change the screen resolution to 800 x 600 pixels (for Full Screen) OR 1024 x 768 pixels (for 3/4th screen).
4. Change the Color Quality to 24 bit or True Color OR High Color (32 bit) and click 'Ok'.
5. Restart your computer to allow the changes

4.2 Unable to view complete lobby / tables

If you are not able to view the complete table window or the table graphic does not fit the window appropriately, you may need to change DPI settings on your computer. To change the DPI setting on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Windows desktop
2. Click Properties on the pop-up menu, this will open the Display Properties dialog box.
3. Click the Settings tab, and then click the ‘Advanced’ button.
4. On the General tab, DPI settings appear in a list in the Display area. To change the DPI setting, select a size from the DPI setting drop-down list under Display, please check that the DPI setting is set to 96 DPI and then click OK.
5. Restart your computer to allow the changes to take effect.

5.1 Enabling sounds for your games on our products is easy. Simply follow these steps:

1. Login using your EmpirePoker.com Account.
2. In the EmpirePoker.com lobby, please select the ‘Options’ menu.
3. Click on the ‘Video & Audio Options’ option and please make sure that it is checked.
4. Click on the ‘Sounds On/Off’ option and make sure that it is checked.

5.2 Please check that you have a valid sound card installed in your system, your speakers are switched on and not set to mute.

5.3 If you have difficulty in hearing the sounds on EmpirePoker.com products, please make sure that the option for Wave sounds is not set to mute in ‘Volume Control’ from your taskbar. You can also access the ‘Volume Control’ option from Start → All Programs ? Accessories ? Entertainment.

6.1 Our software does not support Apple Mac machines. ‘Virtual PC’ is a software which works by emulating a Pentium-based Windows machine, right on your Mac. When you launch Virtual PC, the Windows OS appears inside a window on your Mac desktop. You can switch back and forth between your Mac OS and Windows as easily as you go between any two windows on your Mac desktop.

7.1 Unable to view the web pages

8.1 What happened to my play chip balance?

1. We don’t maintain transaction and game records for play money games. Transactions and Game records are stored in our database only for real money games.
2. The outcome of a game is immediately reflected in the account balance at the end of each hand. (Only in live games)

8.2 Chips are not accumulated into my account.

1. The only way to accumulate play money chips is through our games. Chips can be won/lost only through playing our games.
3. Chips cannot be transferred to any account from any other source.
5. Check your account balance at the end of the hand.

8.3 Sometimes I lose my play money chips or my chip balance is shown as negative balance. Why?
The play-money tables are meant solely for players to get a feel for online poker and our site, and we do not maintain game records for these tables and the chip balance. There is a possibility that your play chip balance might show negative when your actual chip balance is more than 20 million. However, be assured that your chip balance is intact and you can view the actual balance by going to any limit table and clicking on ‘Use All’.

9.1 Delay in activities with our lobby / lobby freezes

1. If you are facing any problems with our client while you are logging in, playing at out tables – Uninstall the software completely and install the software again in a new location on your computer. This will increase the performance of the lobby.
2. Do not use too many applications on your computer while you are playing in our games.
3. Do a disk cleanup on your computer from time to time to delete all the unnecessary files on your computer.

9.2 Game Options not shown while playing at our tables

1. This is a system specific problem but not a problem from our side.
2. If there are no available resources to our EmpirePoker.com application, sometimes the game options are not shown on the table and you may get less response time while playing in a hand.
3. Uninstall the EmpirePoker.com software and install in a new location. Whenever, you want to install; we recommend you to download the latest setup from our website.
4. Avoid using media streaming applications, P2P applications like KaZaa, Limewire, and Ares as these applications use most of the bandwidth and there will be no bandwidth available for our applications.

1. Click the 'Settings' tab, and then 'Advanced'.
2. Click the 'Troubleshoot'/’Performance’ tab.
3. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of 'None', the basic acceleration setting.
4. Click 'OK', and then click 'Close'.
5. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click 'Yes'.

9.3 Why am I not able to see the chat box?

There could a number of reasons why this is not displayed on your screen:

• Your font size settings are set to small fonts (72 DPI).
• The Resolution of the screen is less than 800 X 600 pixels.
• A required file for chat box display is missing.

Please follow the steps below to enable your chat box:

1. Exit from our software.
2. Minimize all the windows that may be open on your screen.
3. Right-click on the open space on the desktop and select the option 'Properties' from the pop-up menu.
4. Click on 'Settings' tab in the 'Display Settings/Properties window'.
5. Change the 'Resolution/Screen Area' to 800 X 600 pixels. We recommend a resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels.
6. Click on 'Advanced' and change the 'Font Size/DPI Setting' to Small/Normal Fonts (96 DPI).
7. Click on 'Apply' and then 'Ok'.

9.4 Why is my system freezing when I am trying to access EmpirePoker.com ? How can I resolve this?

This can happen for various reasons, basic reason being unavailability of system resources. When multiple applications/programs are run simultaneously, this would utilize maximum memory and available memory would not be able to support the functionality of new application that the user wants to open afresh.

As EmpirePoker.com is based on client-server architecture, good amount of available memory is required to transfer data to and fro the client and the server.

If there is a delay/lag in the internet connection or congestion in the internet connectivity, the program ideal time increases and it waits for commands to respond. The increase in this wait time leads to system freeze.

9.5 Why am I receiving so many Pop-ups on my computer from EmpirePoker.com ?

Advertisers use dynamic web page technologies such as JavaScript, Java, Active X and ASP technologies or Windows networking software to open new windows in the foreground or background. These windows may contain advertisements that you have not specifically requested, but they Pop-up as soon as you open certain websites you wish to browse. Please be assured that our site does not participate in this form of advertising or marketing.

Follow the procedure below to turn off the annoying pop-ups:

1. Click 'Start', point to 'Settings', click 'Control Panel', and then double-click on 'Internet Options'.
2. Click the Privacy tab, and under 'Pop-up Blocker', click on 'Block pop-ups'.
3. If you want to see pop-up windows from a specific website, under 'Pop-up Blocker' click on 'Settings' type the website address or URL in the 'Address of Website to Allow' box, and click 'Add'.
4. To temporarily allow a site to display pop-ups, click the Information Bar when it notifies you that a pop-up has been blocked. Then click 'Temporarily Allow Pop-ups'.

Also you may wish to consider downloading a Popup Killer or Adware Remover software to disable the pop-ups.

9.6 My Poker Software is crashing as soon as I open it/My Poker Software is crashing while I am playing in between. Why?
This can happen if one or more of EmpirePoker.com files, installed on your computer, are corrupted. Uninstall the software and reinstall it in a different folder.

9.7 Why do I see white dots on the table? /Why is a player’s name shown on the table after he left the table?
Sometimes when playing you will see the chips leave a trail of white dots when moved across the table. This is misunderstood by some players as unauthorized access to information at the tables. It is a system related problem where the graphics do not get refreshed in the trail area. This problem is resolved immediately by minimizing and then maximizing the table window.

10.1 What happens when I get disconnected from a Blackjack table?
If you are disconnected from a blackjack table, the system does not play the game for you. Logout of EmpirePoker.com and login again, to get connected to the unfinished game.

10.2 What happens when I get disconnected from a play/real money table? If you are disconnected from:

1. Live/Ring/Cash games
   The money on the table will be added to your account and you can rejoin the table afresh by clicking on the table ID in the lobby.
2. Single Table and Multi-Table Tournaments
   Logout of EmpirePoker.com and log back in, so that you will be taken back to the table that you were playing on