Frequently asked questions

If you pay for a Pro account and decide it is not for you within 30 days then just let us know and we'll refund your last payment with no questions asked. We want happy PokerDIY members!

You'll just go back to the Forever Free plan. Any Player Pro or League Pro features/customizations will revert back to normal.

Both. PokerDIY works offline and online - you can still use it to meet other poker players, schedule online or live games and record game scores, whether they were played on the web or in your kitchen.

Use PokerDIY in your phone’s browser to find poker games. To post your own game, sign in and open List a poker game.

A new member’s first listing waits for moderation. Check its status in My account.

Yes! Typing in the tourney results after each game is such pain. PokerDIY integrates with all the top poker league management desktop software:

• The Tournament Director
• Simple Tourney Manager
• Dr Neau
• Other? (Contact us if you have poker league management software!)

Do you use something else to record your scores? Let us know and we'll see if we can import the results into PokerDIY to make it easier for you!

You can read more about how to import your poker league results here.

Yes! you can put in an ad for anything related to live poker! We have poker dealers on PokerDIY who you can hire for your next game if you want to be professional!

Just choose the Ad Type "Other Poker Services" when placing your free ad...

Yes! You can download and install PokerDIY Tourney Manager onto your laptop or computer (for free of course) and run it without an internet connection. Just run it here on PokerDIY and Right-Click anywhere on PTM and click on "Install this on your Computer". This will download and install it so that you can run offline in the future.

Troubleshooting

You will have to make sure your computer supports Silverlight - the easiest way to tell is to just go to the PTM page here on PokerDIY and if you see it then it supports it. If you do not have Silverlight installed then you will need to install that first but the PTM page will guide you on this.

Another way to tell is to go to the Microsoft Silverlight site which will tell you if your computer is compatible or not.

Yes, there are a number of options you have when it comes to scoring. Each season within your league can be different (it is common to adjust your scoring mechanism) - have a read of these blog posts on the different scoring options:

• Poker league scoring enhancements
• Overview of new scoring options

Yes, we have set up several poker leagues to demonstrate the power and flexibility of the software. Here are some examples:

• Fantasy Poker League - 2008 Season (Total Profit Scoring)
• Fantasy Poker League - 2007 Season (Total Number of Games Played)
• Suicide King Poker League - 2008 Season (Average Points Scoring)

Note the different scoreboard layout and ranking per season (this is up to the league owner).

If you are looking for live poker leagues, here are two of the biggest poker leagues on PokerDIY involving real people and real games! This is serious stuff!

• Sydney Home Poker League - 2008 Season (Average Profit Scoring)
• London Home Poker League - 2007 Season (Total Profit Scoring)

Here is the the poker players stats page for a real user. You can have this for your profile too..

Yes! You can use our Poker Widgets to show off your poker league and profile scores on your own website, blog or Facebook Profile. Have a look at our suite of Poker Widgets or read our Poker Widgets FAQ to learn more

Yes, you can promote your poker league members to be League Deputies which gives them the ability to add scores and manage the league. This is useful if you are on holiday or did not play a game and want to delegate some of the work.

You can read more about League Deputies here.

League Deputies can do everything the League Owner can do, EXCEPT:

1. Delete the poker league
2. Delete other League Deputies
3. Promote normal poker league members to League Deputies.

It is very important that you trust the members who you promote to League Deputies as they could potentially cheat or maliciously damage your league. Choose carefully...

Part VII of the Canadian Criminal Code has the laws about gaming, betting, and gambling. Section 197 (sub-sections 1-4) defines the terms used in the Law.

"Common betting house": This is where people get together and play games. There is no 'House' collecting and paying bets, but rather a group of people playing against each other in some game of skill and chance. The host does not collect and pay bets, nor does the host collect a 'rake', as described below.

"Common gaming house": This is where people are enabled to conduct gaming against a second party. Take Home Craps, for example, where individual players play against the host, or House. When somebody's home is used to for somebody to arrange a game where he or she collects and pays bets, it falls under this definition. Some home gamblers refer to a 'rake', where the host collects a small percentage of all pots to help pay for hosting expenses. Use of 'rakes' also falls under this category.

"Disorderly house": A general term used to describe either a common betting house, a common gaming house.

"Game": The game itself, complete with rules and conditions.

"Keeper": The keeper of the house is the person whose name is on the lease, or is helping the person whose name is on the lease, or is acting on behalf of the person whose name is on the lease.

"Onus": If somebody is accused of being the keeper of a disorderly house, it's their job to convince a court otherwise. Even if the game is only started at one house and finished at another (ie. long game of Trips to Win), that first house is still a disorderly house.

Section 198 (only one sub-section) outlines what presumptions can be made by the Law when police officers show up at your door under the suspicion that yours is a disorderly house. They are allowed to assume that yours is such a house if one of the following things happen:

1. The police officer was prevented or delayed from entering your house.
2. The police officer did not find a game-in-progress, but did find enough gaming equipment (ie. poker chips, Craps tabletop, home roulette wheel, etc.) to make it clear enough.
3. The police officer did not find a game-in-progress, but did find gaming equipment on the persons of people in the house (i.e. poker chips in everybody's pockets).
4. The police officer did not charge you while you were found in the disorderly house, but after the keeper was convicted and it was proven that you were there, you can be charged.

Section 199 (sub-sections 1-7) outlines the procedure in dealing with a disorderly house.

Search: The keeper of the disorderly house and anybody in it may be apprehended with or without a warrant, if the officer can prove that it is a disorderly house.
Property: The court reserves the right to keep and/or dispose of any evidence (ie. gaming equipment) that it finds in the disorderly house.

Section 201 (only one sub-section) states that the keeper of the disorderly house and everybody found in it can be punished with a maximum sentence of two years. The word of the law does not specify whether or not the stakes of the game would have an influence on the amount of the punishment.

No. PokerDIY is NOT an online poker site like PokerStars and the rest. PokerDIY connects poker players and allows you to manage your poker league and record results for your live or online games.

One day it may be possible to play poker tourneys on PokerDIY for league points (not for cash!) but not at the moment.

Use the current PokerDIY website in your phone’s browser. You can find poker games and, after signing in, list your own game.

Good news and bad news. We have a scaled down version of PokerDIY Tourney Manager for the the Windows Phone 7 mobile (WP7) but not for the iPhone or Android. We hope to change this soon - please let us know if you would like to see PTM on your iPhone or Android....

You can see screenshots of PTM mobile here or download it for free from the Microsoft Zune Marketplace.

Please use the PTM forums for any questions regarding the mobile version of PTM. It has fewer features than the desktop version (for example, resizing does not make sense on the mobile!) but it just as cool...

DISCLAIMER: The following is our layman interpretation of the home poker laws. We have consulted various sources in an attempt to make the home poker laws easier to understand. It should not be taken as legal advice and should be used as a guide only. Gamble at home at your own risk.

In the United States, about half of all states provide some kind of exemption in gambling laws that allow for home poker games, so long as the players are the only ones profiting from the game, or do not have any written law regarding the matter at all.

For home poker laws in other countries please post on the Home Poker Law forum so we can help you find out more.

Most state gambling laws are aimed at the prevention of commercial gambling. That means you can’t open a home poker game and charge $5 at the door, or take a rake from each pot or any player’s chip stack. It has to be an equally profitable game where only the players exchange money.

Basic Social Gambling Guidelines

Let us briefly define the guidelines of a “home poker” or “social gambling” experience:

1. The host, or home owner, may not receive economic gain for hosting the game; only from personal winnings therein.
2. There can be no advantage to one player over another. All must have an equal opportunity to win.
3. The poker game must occur in a private setting, like within the home, or a private social club.

We will now define the home poker laws of each state, in plain English, referencing sources for those who prefer to decipher the language of law writers.

Go to your profile -> Game Ads and click on the poker game ad that you want to remove. This will take you to the Edit screen. At the bottom of the form you can un-check the "Published" checkbox to remove the game from public view. No one will be able to see it now and you can edit it in draft mode or leave it unpublished.

It's not easy running a free site, especially with the current global recession! Online advertising does not really pay the bills these days.

If you wish to donate any amount of money to PokerDIY's upkeep or show appreciation of our free service, you can help by upgrading to a PokerDIY Pro plan.

In return you can get all the benefits of being a PokerDIY Pro and know that you have helped us a lot!

Of course, your help does not have to be financial. Just by spreading the word about PokerDIY you can help us tremendously! Bookmark as many pages (button on top right) as you can and spread the word about our free services...

We appreciate it!

We use PayPal which is a well known, secure and safe way to pay. You can see your subscriptions and payment history in PayPal. You can even pay by credit card using PayPal if you wish (we do NOT store your credit card details). Payments are NOT recurring so at the end of your billing cycle we'll offer you the chance to renew or not. It's up to you.

Contact us for more payment options if you can't use PayPal.

Note: You have to be logged in to be able to select a Pro plan and purchase it. If you cannot see the "Choose the Pro plan..." section please ensure you are logged on).

Just select the plan you want and click on "Upgrade to Pro plan" and you will be taken to PayPal where you can either log in to PayPal and use your existing funds or pay by credit card. You will then be redirected back here and your account will be upgraded and ready to use!

If you need to install Microsoft Silverlight (ie. if you cannot use PTM immediately and you get a message saying that you need to install Silverlight), just follow the instructions on the PTM page to download it. You can always get the latest here too. Remember that you'll only have to do this procedure once (it auto updates after this) and this is as tricky as it gets, so bear with us please.

Depending on your operating system and browser it may download a file called "Silverlight.exe" or it may install it directly (which is a lot easier). If it downloads the "Silverlight.exe" file you will then need to run it once it has finished downloading.

This is as simple as finding the "Silverlight.exe" file once it has downloaded (you can choose where to put it when you stadownloading or it will go into your "My Downloads" folder if you have that set up by default. Then you need to double-click on this file to start the Silverlight installation. Follow the instructions and at the end you'll be good to go (you may have to close and restart your browser). Go back to the PokerDIY Tourney Manager page and you should see PTM loading.

This is as tricky as it gets but if you have any problems let us know and we'll sort it out!

Troubleshooting: If your browser is not recognizing Silverlight then make sure you have the Silverlight browser plug in enabled in your particular browser.

Rest assured your financial details are safe. We do NOT store any financial payment details about you - we do NOT have your credit card details if you use one. We have partnered with PayPal for payment processing, which is a trusted, secure site. You can read more about it here.

Sign in, then open List a poker game and enter your game details.

A new member’s first listing waits for moderation. Check its status in My account.

Once you are logged in to PokerDIY it is very simple to reply to any Poker Game ad you find. There are 2 ways to contact someone when you are viewing the Poker Game detail page - the first is via Private Message and the second is via a profile Wall post.

To send a Private Message you can can click on the "Send Message" button. This will take you to your message center and you can send the ad creator a message that only he/she will see.

Alternatively you can click on the ad creator's name to view their profile. You can now write a message on their profile Wall but bear in mind all the people who can see their Wall will see this message.

You will notice in both these cases that you don't need to know their email address and they don't need to know yours - this is the beauty of PokerDIY - it takes out the danger of contacting strangers by acting as the middle-man. Likewise, if you list a Poker Game ad you should not put your contact details in. Interested parties can contact you in one of the methods described above.

If you are running PTM on your own computer and would like to uninstall it, right-click on the top menu bar and choose "Remove this application". This will uninstall the application and remove the PokerDIY Tourney Manager icons from your start-menu or desktop.

If you are running PTM on a Windows-based machine you can also uninstall it via the Windows Control Panel -> Programs (Windows 7 - "Programs and Features") or "Add/Remove Programs" (Windows XP). Find PokerDIY Tourney Manager in the list and uninstall it.

This process will not uninstall Microsoft Silverlight as other applications may depend on it.

Note: When you uninstall PTM you will lose any Blinds/Chipset changes that you have saved.

You can always re-install the latest by going to PokerDIY Tourney Manager online, right-clicking on the main background and choosing "Install on this Computer".

Absolutely nothing! It's free to use. You can start your own poker league, schedule games, RSVP to events and post classified ads without paying a cent. There is no catch and no place to enter a credit card number like those other kinds of sites we won't mention.

You can help us by supporting our advertisers and checking out their websites and products.

We do offer some additional advanced features as part of our Pro plans. 95% of members will not need or want these, but they offer some cool things, like no advertising.

If you wish to help PokerDIY or want to donate to our upkeep, please check out our Pro plans and become a Player or League Pro.

Ok, firstly, in the words of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; "DON'T PANIC"! PTM works on thousands of computers and has been used for many poker games - I'm sure we can fix your problem!

So, firstly, we need to identify the actual problem-

A) Is PokerDIY Tourney Manager loading or do you see the "Silverlight Required" screen here?

If you can see PTM then that's good - Right-click on the background and see if you get the option to "Install onto this Computer". If you do and you click it and it does not install, please contact us. If you do not have this option then your computer thinks that PTM is already installed for some reason. The easiest way to check is to go to Add/Remove programs in Windows XP (Programs and Features in Win 7). If you have PokerDIY Tourney Manager already listed then you can uninstall it by double-clicking on it and then refresh the web page and right-click to install it. If you do not have it listed then please read the other options below and contact us if you still have problems using PTM.

B) Some people have said that it loads to 100% and then gets stuck. If this is the case, please try the following:

1. Clear your browsers cache completely. Here are instructions on how to do this depending on what browser you are using to view this site. Refresh the page (Ctrl-F5 or Ctrl-R) and see if the problem still occurs.
2. If it does, please try a different browser to the one you are using. For example, if you are using Internet Explorer, please try Firefox or Chrome. Is there still a problem?
3. Lastly, if you have installed PTM before, please uninstall it completely (Add Remove Programs in Windows XP or Programs and Features in Windows 7) and reinstall it from here. Let us know if you still have problems!

C) If you do not see PTM at all, it could be a browser/system/Silverlight issue - we need to work out why it's not working. Firstly - go to the Microsoft Silverlight page and see if it thinks you have the latest version of Silverlight installed. Make sure you have the latest version before trying to run PTM.

Now please contact us and tell us the following:

1. What is the actual problem?
2. Have you got the latest version of Silverlight installed?
3. Are you running PTM online on PokerDIY or have you installed it and running it locally?
4. What's your operating system version (e.g. Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Mac OS 10)
5. What browser are you using? (e.g. Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox etc.) and what version.

Please be as descriptive as possible and send a screenshot to support at staging-pokerdiy.temp513.kinsta.cloud (replace the word "at" with "@").

We'll have you up and running in no time!

If you accidentally erase (not uninstall) the PTM icon and can't load it, you will need to uinstall and reinstall PTM (you will unfortunately lose your saved configurations - please contact us if this is a real problem). 

Your computer sometimes gets into a muddle and you may not see the "Install onto this computer" option on the PokerDIY Tourney Manager web version whilst right-clicking.

In this case your computer thinks that PTM is installed and hence does not show you the option, so you need to uninstall it from your computer first. 

To do this, uninstall it completely (Add Remove Programs in Windows XP or Programs and Features in Windows 7) and reinstall it from here. 

Let us know if you still have problems.

Have you seen the other FAQs on the top right of this page? Have a read of those and if you are still stuck then let us know on our forums! We love to help and love good feedback!

You can also try some of the links on the right hand side of this page under the "Still Stuck?" section.

Great - please post it here and we can get votes on it to see if it will add value to PTM. If it does then we can discuss it and get it into an upcoming version. There is a slight chance that PTM can already do what you need - we aimed to make it as customizable as possible, but easy to use, so a lot of functionality is hidden behind menus etc. Lets discuss your requirement and see how we can help.

For the record, we LOVE hearing feedback - this improves our product for everyone and will one day hopefully make us rich!

You can dicuss our poker software on the poker forums too...

Contact us if you want to discuss anything with a human.

Once you have paid your PokerDIY account should be automatically upgraded to give you full access to all benefits on that particular plan.

However, every once in a blue moon there are integration issues with PayPal and they might not notify us that your payment has been successful. In this case PokerDIY might still think you have not paid - do not panic!

• To check; view your profile and look for the label (near your profile pic) - if you see this then you are on your new plan and will have access to the new features.
• If you don't, log out and log back in to PokerDIY (sounds corny, but it works!)
• Check your profile again to see if you have been upgraded. If not, then let us know.

Note: If you paid by eCheck then your payment needs to clear before you can be granted access (of course, if you need access urgently before it clears let us know and we'll upgrade you manually).

If you are still having problems then let us know and we'll sort it out manually (we'll try to respond within 24 hours).

No! Only the league owner has to pay for the League Pro plan and can then customize the league with the additional features.

Hint: Get your league members to chip in for the cost...

You can do this using our Poker Widgets. Check out the poker widgets page and see the FAQ on how to grab your poker league from here and insert it on your own webpage, Facebook profile or blog.

Ok, please start a new thread/support call on our forums and give us the following information so we can help you as quickly as possible!

We offer a 30 day, money-back guarantee with no questions asked.

If you have used PokerDIY Pro for more than 30 days and wish to cancel before the end of your year then contact us - we are reasonable people!

Refunds are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Let us know why you want to cancel and we can look into options such as a pro-rata refund.

Any Player Pro or League Pro features/customizations will revert back to normal.

Yes. We do not condone gambling of any form although it's jolly good fun and if you are going to do it then you may as well make your life easier by using PokerDIY to schedule your games, find other poker players and record your results. You do NOT actually play poker on PokerDIY - think of it like a Poker Facebook - it's designed to connect poker players.

And of course, if you are going to gamble, gamble sensibly and use chips, not real money. Check the gambling laws in your country/state to make sure you stay on the right side of the law! Please read our Terms of Use if you are unsure.

PokerDIY is safe to use - we don't ever display your email, real name or contact details, even to your friends. We don't ask for your credit card number or the pin number to your bank account.

Yes, your information is completely private. All preferences and data is stored locally on YOUR computer, even when accessing the online version of PokerDIY Tourney Manager. For example, if you set up a tourney with blinds xyz and save it, Bob who is using PTM online at the same time has no way of seeing your blinds/information. 

If you download and install PTM to your own computer then your logged on user (in Windows/Mac) will have their own information store. If someone else logs onto your computer with their own user account they will not see your info.

We take privacy very seriously at PokerDIY - you can read more in our Privacy Statement.

Yes,here is a free web-based Blinds Timer that you can use to time the blinds. There are many free ones available and loads of different mobiles and cell-phones.

If your country or region is not listed here let us know on our Home Poker Law forums and we'll do the research for you!

Remember! We are not official legal advice - we are only trying to help guide you - please consult your local authority for more legal advice and you gamble at home at your own risk. Good luck!

Here are some other links that may help you:

• http://www.gambling-law-us.com/

Home poker games are legal in Alabama so long as they follow the guidelines of a "social gambling" experience. The law specifically states that a player may use the defense of playing in a "social game" in a "private place", but the defendant must be able to provide proof.

[Reference: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeofAlabama/1975/13A-12-21.htm]

Home poker games are perfectly legal in the state of Alaska when held under the provisions of a "social game", as defined in the social gambling guidelines above. The law specifically states legality under the circumstance of "a person who gambles at a social game on equal terms with the other participants".

Home poker games are defined as “social gambling”, and are perfectly legal in Arizona so long as the same guidelines listed above apply. This means that no “player” or “other person” may stand to gain “any benefit, directly or indirectly, other than the player’s/ winning from the gamble.” There may be no benefits do to proprietorship of the place in which the poker game is held. And players must “compete on equal terms with each other in a gamble”.

[Reference: http://www.azgaming.gov/misc-pdf/Gambling_PSA_Pamphlet2.pdf]

Arkansas strictly prohibits any form of gambling on card games, regardless of the location or value to one or more players, or the host. The law states: “If any person shall be guilty of betting any money or any valuable thing on any game of brag, bluff, poker, seven-up, three-up, twenty-one, vingt-et-un, thirteen cards, the odd trick, forty-five, whist, or at any other game at cards, known by any name now known to the law, or with any other or new name or without any name, he shall, on conviction be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).”

[Reference 1, Original .DOC Version: http://ag.arkansas.gov/opinions/docs/2005-217.doc]

California is very opened minded to gambling laws, much more so than most US states. Home poker games are perfectly legal in California. “Under California law, ‘controlled games’ such as poker can be played only in tribal casinos, licensed card rooms or private homes.”

[Reference: Nathan Barankin, spokesman for California state attorney general, USA Today; http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-17-poker-craze_x.htm]

Home poker games are legal in Colorado so long a they meet two criteria: They must involve players with a “bona fide social relationship” (have something in common outside of the game), and have no “profit motive” outside of equal opportunity winnings derived straight from the game.

[Reference: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Rev-Gaming/RGM/1213781235201]

Connecticut outlaws poker games in most instances, but makes an exception for home poker games that fall into the category of “social gambling”, where no player or other person has an advantage over another, or profits in any way, monetary or otherwise, for hosting such a poker game. The participants must have a “bona fide social relationship”, meaning they have something in common outside of the home poker game.

[Reference: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0495.htm]

The state of Delaware does not have any laws that strictly prohibit home poker games or private, social gambling of any kind. However, the state does not legalize such acts either.

The only reference to the legality of home poker games in Delaware is found in Section 17 of Article II, Legislature, which states:

"All forms of gambling are prohibited in this State except the following:”

• “…Lotteries under State control…”
• “Lotteries … provided under Section 17B…”
• “…pari-mutuel machines or totalizators on horse races conducted at racetracks…”
• “Bingo games as conducted under the limitations of Section 17A.”

The lack of mention of poker, card games, or skill games leads us only to conclude that home poker games would not be legal in Delaware.

[Reference: http://delcode.delaware.gov/constitution/constitution-03.shtml#P264_33577]

Home poker games are permitted in Florida so long as they fall under a few strict guidelines. The game must be held in a residential dwelling, and must be defined, by law, as a “penny-ante” game. The owner of the dwelling, nor any player, may profit from the holding of the game outside of any equal-opportunity winnings derived from the game. All participants must be 18+ years of age. The home poker game cannot be advertised in any way. The “penny-ante” rules states that the pot in a single hand of poker may not exceed a value of $10.

[Reference: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0849/SEC085.HTM&Title=->2009->Ch0849->Section%20085#0849.085]

Home poker games are not legal in Georgia. Though the state’s laws do not explicitly outlaw “social gambling”, it does provide legislation that legalizes only three forms of gambling – bingo, state lotteries and raffles. [Reference 1: O.C.G.A. Title 16, Chapter 12]

[Reference 2: http://gbi.georgia.gov/00/channel_modifieddate/0,2096,67862954_88103912,00.html]

Yes, Hawaii condones home poker games as social gambling, again following the basic guidelines of “social gambling”. All players must compete equally. None shall profit in any way other than their personal gambling profits. The gambling activity must not be bookmaking, and must not be held in a business establishment or public area.

[Reference: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol14_Ch0701-0853/HRS0712/HRS_0712-1231.htm]

Idaho strictly prohibits most gambling activities within it borders, including all forms of poker – home game or otherwise. The only forms of gambling permitted in Idaho are state lotteries, pari-mutuel betting, and charitable forms of bingo and raffle games.

[Reference: Article III, Section 20 of the Idaho Constitution, http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Article_III,_Idaho_Constitution]

The state of Illinois has specific laws in place that restrict home poker games and just about any other form of social gambling. Placing a wager, monetary or otherwise, on any game of chance or skill, whether you’re directly involved in the game or not, is illegal in Illinois.

[Reference: Illinois Law]

Home poker games are not legal in Indiana. The Indiana Code defines ‘Unlawful Gambling’ as anyone who engages in gambling, where ‘gambling’ is defined as risking anything of value on a lot, chance or operation of a gambling device. There is an exemption for skill games, but Indiana does not see poker as a game of skill.

[Reference: http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar45/ch5.html]

Home poker games are illegal in Iowa, restricting all forms of social gambling within the state’s borders. The only forms of gambling allowed in Iowa are charitable bingo and legitimate racetrack betting.

[Reference: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001/725/7.html;

Reference to legal forms of gambling in chapters 99B (bingo) and 99D (racetrack): http://www.legis.state.ia.us/lsadocs/Legis_Guide/2009/LGLSL008.PDF]

By definition, “gambling” is against the law in Kansas, including home poker games. The only forms of betting permitted in the state are licensed bingo games, state lotteries and pari-mutuel. All other forms of gambling, social or commercial, are strictly prohibited.

[Reference: http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_21/Article_43/21-4302.html]

The legality of home poker games in Kentucky is somewhat confusing. When you read over the gambling laws, it specifically states that yes, gambling is illegal, but it also makes an exception for games in which the “ultimate winner is determined by skill”. Kentucky law does not define poker as a game of chance or skill; does not define the game at all. It depends on the interpretation of “skill”, and the “ultimate winner” being determined by skill.

[Reference: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/528-00/010.PDF]

In the state of Louisiana, unlawful gambling is defined as “the intentional conducting, or directly assisting in the conducting, as a business, of any game, contest, lottery, or contrivance whereby a person risks the loss of anything of value in order to realize a profit.” A home poker game, where there is no profit made by any player or host of the game, aside from actual winnings derived from the poker game, does not qualify as a business. Therefore, yes, home poker games are legal in Louisiana.

Home poker games are legal in Maine so long as they standard rules of “social gambling” are upheld. No player or other person may benefit from hosting the event. All profits must come from actual winnings from the poker game. No player may have an advantage over another. Etc, etc, etc… Maine does have strict regulations that prohibit unlawful gambling, but an exception is made for “players” in a “social gambling” situation.

[Reference: http://mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/17-A/title17-Ach39.pdf]

The state of Maryland does not allow for home poker games according to the Maryland Code, section 12 on forms of legal gambling. Pari-mutuel gambling and some instances of charitable raffles are the only legal forms of gambling in Maryland. Any other form of gambling, including social gambling, is punishable as a misdemeanor with a minimum/maximum fine of $200-$1,000.

The laws of Massachusetts are not clearly defined pertaining to social gambling situations. It is clear that a player who loses any money or thing of value may reclaim that loss, by law, within three months, but the actual legality of playing home poker games is not referenced in Massachusetts General Law.

[Reference, MGL Chapter 137 Sections 1-7: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-137-toc.htm]

Michigan does not condone home poker games. Social gambling, for the most part, is illegal in Michigan. There is an exception, however, for senior citizens within a senior citizen housing facility, where there are at least 15 members age 60+. There may not be more “guest” participants than resident/club member senior citizens, and it must be a “recreational” poker game, meaning no more than $0.25 per bet, and no single-hand pot exceeding $5.

[Reference: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/PA69_56070_7.pdf; Link 2]

In the state of Minnesota, home poker games are an accepted form of gambling. Minnesota state law specifies that “Social bets are allowed only if they are done in a private social setting”. Social gambling is only illegal when it pertains to “organized, commercialized, or systematic gambling”, or when the owner/host of the residence profits in some way from the home poker game other than actual gambling profits from playing the card game.

[Reference: http://www.gcb.state.mn.us/PDF_Files/Illegal%20gambling.pdf]

Home poker games are illegal in Mississippi. The current laws, as they were written in 1972, are somewhat disconcerting in fact, when you read them over. All forms of illegal gambling and wagering are listed, stating each unlawful activity, followed by the sole exception of “other than a fight or fighting match between dogs”. This appears more than once in the documentation. Apparently it is better to place wagers on the life of two or more traditionally domesticated animals than to play a quiet game of poker among friends in the comfort of your own home.

[Reference: http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/97/033/0001.htm]

In the state of Missouri, home poker games are illegal by omission. State law provides parameters for all legal forms of gambling, leaving all other forms as criminal activity. Unlawful forms of gambling are considered a class C misdemeanor in Missouri, unless the player qualifies, under law, as a “professional gambler”, in which case it is moved to a class D misdemeanor.

[Reference: http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/chapters/chap572.htm]

In terms of unlawful gambling definitions, Montana law is opposed to any game of skill where one player or operator is given a distinct advantage over another. Therefore a social gambling game, such as a home poker game, is permitted so long as no player, host or proprietor is profiting in any way outside of participation in the game that results in winnings from the gamble itself.

The only forms of gambling permitted by Nebraska state law are bingo games, lotteries and raffles designated or licensed by the state. Therefore all social gambling, including home poker games, are outlawed.

Home poker games are perfectly legal in Nevada. State law defines all unlawful gambling activities, but specifically excludes “games played with cards in private homes or residences in which no person makes money for operating the game, except as a player…”

[Reference: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-463.html#NRS463Sec0152 (specifically NRS 463-0152)]

Social gambling and home poker games are not legal in New Hampshire. The gambling laws specifically state that “A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if such person knowingly and unlawfully… permits gambling in any place under the person's control”, which eliminates the legality of playing in a home. Only licensed games, such as horse racing, boxing and raffles, are legal gambling activities within the state.

[Reference: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LXII/647/647-2.htm]

The criminal law statues of New Jersey prohibit home poker games and all other forms of social gambling that are not licensed or approved by the state. According to New Jersey Criminal Law, 2A: 40-1, “All wagers, bets or stakes made to depend upon any race or game, or upon any gaming by lot or chance, or upon any lot, chance, casualty or unknown or contingent event, shall be unlawful”.

[Reference: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/S1000/746_I1.HTM]

Home poker games are considered unlawful by New Mexico state law. Article 19, Section 30-19-2 of New Mexico Criminal Law clearly states that “whoever commits gambling is guilty of a petty misdemeanor”. Jumping back to Section 30-19-1, the law defines all gambling as placing a “bet”, which is thereby defined as “a bargain in which the parties agree that, dependent upon chance, even though accompanied by some skill, one stands to win or lose anything of value specified in the agreement”. End result, social gambling is illegal in New Mexico.

[Reference: Article 19, Section 30-19-1 http://law.justia.com/newmexico/codes/nmrc/jd_30-19-1-c8e1.html; Article 19, Section 30-19-2 http://law.justia.com/newmexico/codes/nmrc/jd_30-19-2-c8e3.html]

Social gambling is just as illegal in New York as professional (criminal) gambling. The only difference between the two is the severity of penalties, particularly for those hosting home poker games, versus illegal professional gambling. According to New York state law, a the definition of a “player” under gambling offenses includes a “person who gambles at a social game of chance on equal terms with the other participants”.

[Reference: http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article225.htm]

Home poker games are not legal in North Carolina. The state’s statutes provide legalization of state-approved lotteries, gaming, bingo and raffles, outlawing all other forms of gambling. Chapter 14-292 states that “any person… who plays at or bets in any game at which any money, property or other thing of value is bet, whether the same be in stake or not, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.” The chapter provides an exception from Chapter 18C, which regards legal lotteries. We’ve referenced both sections below.

[Reference Chapter 14-292: http://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-292.html; Reference Chapter 18C: http://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_18c/gs_18c-130.html]

North Dakota home poker games are perfectly legal. There is only one stipulation regarding home poker games and social gambling conducted within a private residence, found in Chapter 12.1-82-02, Classification of Gambling Related Offenses; “It is an infraction to engage in gambling on private premises where the total amount wagered by an individual player exceeds twenty-five dollars per individual hand, game, or event.” In short, no hand can exceed a maximum pot of $25.

It is perfectly legal to play home poker games in Ohio so long as no person is profiting from ownership of the residence, or hosting of the game. The only time players are committing a crime is if they are considered professional gamblers, which basically means they are profiting more from home poker games than they are from any other source of income.

[Reference: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2915]

Oklahoma does not allow home poker games. The law specifically prohibits all forms of gambling, in or outside of a private residence. If convicted, a player is subject to a fine of $25-$100, or 1-30 days in jail.

[Reference OS §21941: http://law.justia.com/oklahoma/codes/os21.html]

In the state of Oregon, home poker games are classified as “social games”, which are legal according to the provisions of the Oregon Revised Statues. Home poker games are permitted so long as all players qualify as “a person who engages in any form of gambling solely as a contestant or bettor, without receiving or becoming entitled to receive any profit therefrom other than personal gambling winnings…”

[Reference ORS Gambling Offenses Chapters 161 and 167: http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/167.html]

It is not clear whether home poker games are considered “unlawful gambling” in the state of Pennsylvania. According to current legislation, a person may not do the following:

…allow persons to collect and assemble for the purpose of unlawful gambling at any place under his control

…solicit or invite any person to visit any unlawful gambling place for the purpose of gambling; or

…be the owner, tenant, lessee or occupant of any premises, knowingly permits or suffers the same, or any part thereof, to be used for the purpose of unlawful gambling. However, there is no published definition of “unlawful gambling”.

Pennsylvania does not provide its statues online for viewing, therefore we cannot properly reference with 100% accuracy. Please be advised that our reference source cannot be guaranteed accurate at this time, and may or may not be complete.

[Reference: http://law.onecle.com/pennsylvania/crimes-and-offenses/00.055.013.000.html]

No, home poker games are not legal in Rhode Island. No form of social gambling is permitted. After researching the lengthy (and by that we mean wordy) statues referring to unlawful gambling, we can shorten the whole thing into this simple statement. You may not provide a poker game without first getting permission from the state, and you may not participate in a poker game that has not been approved by the state.

Home poker games are currently illegal in South Carolina, however, there is an amendment working its way through legislation that would allow for home poker games as “recreational activity”. The definition of recreational activity has yet to be given, since the amendment has yet to be approved.

[Reference H 3201, to Amend Section 16-19-40, Code of Laws, South Carolina: Link 1]

South Dakota documents its unlawful gambling statutes in a very vague way, as to include all forms of gambling without actually stating each and every type of gambling prohibited. Because of this, home poker games are included as unlawful gambling activities in South Dakota.

[Reference: http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=22-25-1]

In Tennessee, home poker games are outlawed by default, as they are not specifically mentioned anywhere in the state’s legislation. The Tennessee Code only proffers legal gambling venues, which include approved, state-issued lotteries and annual, authorized charitable gambling events. Every other form of gambling is restricted.

In Texas, home poker games are legalized by specific exceptions in the unlawful gambling laws. The Texas Statues clearly indicates that social games are legal if a player “engaged in gambling in a private place”; “no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings”; and “except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants”.

[Reference: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PE/10/47/47.02]

Utah is another state where home poker games are considered unlawful gambling. There are no exceptions for private dwellings or equal opportunity gains. As defined by the Utah Code, all forms of gambling are illegal except amusement devices. This law dates all the way back 1953.

[Reference Utah Code 76-10-11: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/reports/ut.pdf]

Home poker games are not legal in Vermont, but they do carry a very lenient penalty. The law states, “A person who wins or loses money or other valuable thing by play or hazard at any game, or by betting on such play or hazard, or sharing in a stake wagered by others on such play or hazard, shall be fined not more than $200.00 nor less than $10.00.”

[Reference: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/sections.cfm?Title=13&Chapter=051]

You are allowed to play home poker games in Virginia thanks to an exception to the definition “illegal gambling” that states, “Nothing in this article shall be construed to make it illegal to participate in a game of chance conducted in a private residence, provided such private residence is not commonly used for such games of chance and there is no operator…” (an operator being the home owner or host of the game who profits from proprietorship or hosting of the game).

The state of Washington has invoked laws that permit legal home poker games, defined as “social card games” in RCW 9.46.0282 (see Reference). So long as the players follow the basic guidelines of social gambling, meaning no player or host profits in any way aside from the gamble, the game is not promoted and all players have an equal chance, no crime is being committed. There are also laws in place to allow social card games within certain business establishments.

[Reference Social Card Games: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.46.0282; Reference 9.46.070: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.46.070; Reference Social card Games in Business Establishments: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.46.0325]

Home poker games are considered unlawful gambling in West Virginia. The law states that any person, at any place, public or private, is guilty of a misdemeanor for betting or waging anything of value on any game that involves chance. The penalty is a fine between $5 and $300, with a possibility of up to 1 year probation.

[Reference 61-10-5: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=61&art=10]

In the state of Wisconsin, home poker games are illegal by default. The law states all forms of betting that are permitted, prohibiting all other forms of gambling. The only permitted wagers are those placed on publically licensed contests, bingo, raffles, pari-mutuel wagering and lotteries.

[Reference: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/statutes/Stat0945.pdf]

Wyoming home poker games are legally acceptable by Wyoming Statues definition of Gambling, which provides exceptions for “any game, wager or transaction which is incidental to a bona fide social relationship, is participated in by natural persons only, and in which no person is participating, directly or indirectly, in professional gambling.” Professional gambling would require someone to profit indirectly from the actual game, by charging an admission fee, taking a portion of the pot(s), etc.

[Reference: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/statutes/statutes.aspx?file=titles/Title6/T6CH7.htm]

Yes! this is exactly who it is for - there's no limit to the number of players you can have on PTM so you can use it for a heads-up tourney or a bar poker league for 1000 players. Keep an eye out for it at the next WSOP!

And it's still free for large commercial leagues.

You can see the main overview of the different Pro plans here. 

League Pro includes everything that Player Pro has and adds a few more things (mainly advanced league management features that may interest some league hosts).

PTM runs on Microsoft Silverlight, which is a browser plugin to allow feature-rich internet applications and cool programs online such as PokerDIY Tourney Manager! Silverlight is an exciting technology from Microsoft which is a lot like Flash, which you may have seen on the internet. You can read more about it here.

Once you have installed the Microsoft Silverlight plugin (you probably already have it installed as it is all over the web already) then PTM will load up automatically and you're good to go.

This means that any computer, laptop or device (like an XBOX!) that can run a browser (like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc) can run PokerDIY Tourney Manager.

Of course, not EVERY computer can run Silverlight, which means it can't run PokerDIY Tourney Manager. The easiest way to find out is to go to the PTM page and try and install Silverlight (if you can see PTM then it means you CAN run it offline) - the Microsoft Silverlight site will tell you if you have a compatible computer or not.

You can also see a Silverlight Requirements matrix here on Microsoft- this will tell you if your computer can handle Silverlight.

If you cannot run it, please let us know. We can't promise we can help but maybe we can..

While setting up your own free poker league on PokerDIY you can:

• Upload your custom poker league logo and brand your page how you like
• Decide if you want a Public or Private League which only league members can see
• Decide on the scoring structure from season to season (Average Points, Total Points, Average Profit, Total Profit or Number of Games)
• Chose any currency and other defaults for your league
• Schedule poker games and events for your league and keep track of RSVPs
• Record your game scores after each game on the league scoreboard
• Keep track of who is currently winning and past season winners
• Chat to your league members on the league wall and discuss the league
• Email the latest scoreboard results to your league members
• Post ads for poker league players or to find a poker league near you

and a lot more! If you have not already done so, start a poker league now and have a play around with it!

DIY stands for Do-It-Yourself, as in Do-It-Yourself Poker League Management. If you don't believe us have a look in the Dictionary!

You can start your own poker league, find games near you and manage your own poker league - hence the DIY...

Yes. We don't charge for ad listings at all. You can list your poker game or post a "Wanted" type ad and it won't cost you a cent. It's in our best interests to connect you with other poker players you see.

Everyone starts off on the Forever Free plan and has access to 99% of the functionality and services on PokerDIY. You can stay on this plan forever and it will always be free. You can:

• Have your own PokerDIY profile, wall and gallery
• Start a poker league with your own scoreboard
• Put your poker league on your own website or blog
• Publish your live poker league scoreboard on your Facebook profile
• Access to PokerDIY mobile on your iPhone/mobile
• Place home poker game ads and reply to ads to find home games
• Start poker groups and meet other poker players in your area
• Share poker videos and pics with other poker players
• Schedule and manage your poker events

And the list goes on and on. The best way to think of it is that you can do pretty much everything on PokerDIY on the Forever Free plan. You'll know when you need the additional features as they'll be marked as such and are aimed at players with more advanced requirements.

Of course, one of the best features of the Pro plans are no annoying ads! 

MS Silverlight is a browser plugin for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc. It was developed by the clever folks at Microsoft and works the same way as Flash, which you may have seen on the web.

It allows feature-rich internet applications (a lot smoother and more powerful than normal web applications) in the web browser. It also means that any device that has a compatible browser can run Silverlight and therefore could run PokerDIY Tourney Manager.

PTM is written in Silverlight which means we can take advantage of this web platform and create a great online app that can also be downloaded with ease.

You can read more about MS Silverlight here and check if you have a compatible computer/device here. If you are running the latest version of Silverlight then you should be able to run PTM.

PokerDIY Tourney Manager is a free program to run your live poker tourneys and manage poker games from start to finish. You can run it online or download it to your own computer.

It has poker timers, blind management and chip calculators, amongst other tools. When designing PTM, our goal was to make it simple and easy to use and provide all the functionality found in existing poker tourney management software.

There are 3 good reasons to use PTM:

1. It's simple and easy to use (did we mention this?)
2. It's free (other poker tournament managers retail for around $50+)
3. It can run online (use it on PokerDIY) or offline (install it on your own computer/laptop) or on Windows Phone 7

if you play in a home poker game with your mates or run a professional bar league with hundreds of members then PTM can make your life a lot easier! Why not try it now (did we mention that's it's free to use and install on your own computer?)

Note: It may also be referred to as PokerDIY Poker Tourney Manager or PTM around the web. There is also a scaled down version for the Windows Phone 7 (WP7).

PokerDIY is a free poker league management site for connecting poker players. Think of it as a MySpace or Facebook for poker players. It's free too, which is always good! You can...

• Record league results on your league scoreboard


• Find poker games online or in your area


• Find poker players or join poker groups


• Show off your profile to your poker friends


• Browse or post poker classified ads

Why don't you create your profile and join our poker community now?

A poker league is a group of poker players who play a series of games over a period of time (lets call it a "season"). For example, here is a home poker league based in London.

PokerDIY makes poker league management really easy for both the league host and the poker players in it. You can schedule poker games, record the scores and organize your league for free right here!

Yes, think of our "Poker Games" section on PokerDIY as a Classified Ads section for local poker games and other poker stuff.

You can browse local home poker games by area or list your own home poker tourney so that others can see it. Poker players can respond to your ad or you can contact existing Poker Game ads to arrange a game.

For example, instead of posting your ad for a local poker game on Craigslist or GumTree, we think it makes more sense to post it in a poker-playing community like PokerDIY. You will get many more responses to your ad.

Likewise, if you are looking for local poker games in your area this is the place to find it!

Total Cost is the sum of the Buy In + Rebuys + Addons (if any).

So if your game Buy In was $20 and you had no Rebuys or Addons it would be $20.

If your Buy In was $20 and you had 2 Rebuys at $10 each and 1 Addon at $10 it, your Total Cost would be $50.

There are a number of ways to publicize your poker game on PokerDIY. It's best to use as many as you can to ensure the right people see your game and can respond in time. Try all/any of these:

• List your game in the Local Poker Games section.
• Schedule an Event (this is useful for managing replies too)
• Post a message on the Poker Forums about your game (don't make it look like an ad though)
• Make a blog post and describe the game in more detail
• Search for players in your area and write on their profile walls (or PM them)
• Alternatively use our Poker Map to see who is near to you and invite them to play

All of the above options will work - remember to be as descriptive as possible when listing a poker game or event. PokerDIY and Google get on well so in a few days if people are searching are your location it should come up in Google too!

A lot of people subscribe to our RSS Feeds so they get notified when new content (i.e. your game) is published. All of this is free of course...

There is a slight difference between the two here on PokerDIY. Our Poker Classified ads are really "Poker Games" and our Poker Events are specific poker tourneys that have been scheduled and are awaiting player RSVPs. Poker Games are used to advertise the intent of holding a game or organziing a poker league or tourney.

For example, if you wanted to hold a weekly live poker tourney in your area and were looking for players you could place an ad. If you had just moved to the area you could place an ad looking for a poker league or live poker tourney.

You can read more it in the Difference between Poker Games and Poker Events blog post here.

All new PokerDIY members automatically get a free 1-month trial of League Pro. This means no ads for the first month and all the advanced features.

After a month there is absolutely no obligation to continue - you will automatically revert back to the Forever Free plan. You can upgrade to any Pro plan for another year if you wish to keep it.

Any Pro features you used will revert to normal (sorry, this includes those annoying banner ads on any pages!) once you return to the Forever Free plan.

Note: We're good, fair people! If you did not get to try your free 1-month trial or want to extend it then contact us and let us know. We'll give you another month to test it...

Anything to do with poker. If you run a home poker game and need new players or if you have a charity poker event coming up you can advertise for free in our Poker Games section. If you are new to the area you could also post a "Wanted-Poker Game in XYZ" type ad. If you have a poker service or some poker equipment for sale feel free to list it.

Ads for mobile phones, nokias and viagra will not be approved. You know who you are!

This is up to you, but bear in mind that the more descriptive you make your ad the more likely you are to get the right people contacting you about it.

The most important information is your location (e.g. city and country) if you are advertising for a home poker game. This helps people find you correctly.

The rest of your ad depends on you - how many people normally play? What ages are you looking for (if this is important). What are the skill levels etc.

You should not put in your contact information - interested parties can contact you via PokerDIY. Our editors will remove this from your ad for your own safety during the approval process.

Public poker leagues are visible by everyone, including non-site members (To test this, you can log out of PokerDIY and view your league). Private poker leagues can only be seen by league members.

Most of the time it's ok if your league is public, although you may want to hide it by making it private if you are displaying your address or personal information. Sometimes you don't want any new members and can't be bothered showing it off so you could set it to private.

Bear in mind that a poker league can be Public and Invite Only. This means that anyone can see it but only the league owner can add them as a member. Non-members can not write on the league wall or do anything with the league.

You choose who can see your profile, poker leagues, events, groups and other things you create. For example, you may want your profile visible only to friends approved by you (like this player here), or you may want to show your profile off to the whole world, like this player.

 When you create a poker league, event or group you can set it to be public or private. Public items are seen by everyone but private items are seen only by the people you choose. In other words, it's completely up to you what you want people to see on PokerDIY.

Read our Profile FAQs for more profile-related questions...

Anyone can use PTM but we have had good feedback from home poker players as well as large bar poker leagues running commerical tournaments.

Here are some typical scenarios:

1) Bob plays hosts a home poker game with his mates every week. He used to use an egg-timer to count down till the next blinds and would record all the results on an excel spreadsheet. Now he uses PokerDIY Tourney Manager to track results, monitor the poker blinds and generally make sure everything runs smoothly.

2) Mary is a poker tournament director for a profressional poker league that hosts bar poker games around the country. She used an existing poker tournament program to project the blinds and tourney status onto a projector, but now she uses PokerDIY Tourney Manager as it is much easier to use and free.

The easiest way is to decide for yourself - just try it out and see if it is a match for your next live poker game. If it is not, let us know why and we'll fix it!

Thousands of players in hundreds of leagues around the world use PokerDIY to manage their leagues and find games and poker players.

There are mainly 2 types of users - people who host/organize poker tourneys and people who play in them. Both league hosts and poker players can benefit from PokerDIY's free service.

If you play poker with a group of people then you should consider starting a poker league and tracking your results on the league scoreboard. You can compare your results over time, track your winnings (but hopefully not losses!) and see if you really are a better poker player than jammy Benny who always wins on the river. It'll catch up with him in then end!

You may have noticed that you cannot type values into certain textboxes, such as the blind values or chip amounts, when you are in fullscreen mode. The Up/Down buttons work fine though.

All you have to do is richt-click and resize the screen to normal window size and make your changes, and then go back to fullscreen mode.

This is an annoying limitation of the technology that PTM is written in (Microsoft Silverlight) and is done for technical reasons.

The good news is that in a few weeks this wont be a problem when you are running PTM offline on your own computer - you will always have to resize it when running it online on staging-pokerdiy.temp513.kinsta.cloud though.

Some of the more advanced features in PTM need internet access.

For example, the default backgrounds are not all shipped in the download when you install PTM on your own computer. This is to make it a smaller and quicker install (we assume that you have internet if you are installing it!). When you first access a new background it will download it from the staging-pokerdiy.temp513.kinsta.cloud server (all in the background, you may not even notice).

Another example are the talking announcements. If you are connected to the internet then PTM will announce dynamic messages like "The blinds have gone up to 150 / 300" (or any amount you have specified). This is because it is hitting an online web service (Microsoft Translator in this case) to translate and encode the text. We could not store every possible variant of blinds/break durations of course! If you don't have internet access then it will just say "The blinds have gone up".

So if PokerDIY asks your Firewall to use your internet connection, don't be scared - we are not doing anything dodgy - it's just trying to access advanced features for your benefit.

PokerDIY offers a set of advanced features that some people might like. By subscribing to a Pro plan you get access to these features for as little as 50c a month. In addition, the Pro accounts are not ad-supported, which means no more annoying ads on every page!

These features will be marked on PokerDIY with a "Pro" label (like this ) - you'll see them easily. Chances are your Forever Free account will give you all the features you want anyway. 

If you don't know if you need a Pro plan then you probably don't, so stay on the Forever Free plan with our blessing!

Some kind folk have asked how to donate money to PokerDIY - we appreciate this but instead ask you to upgrade to a Pro plan - this helps us to keep our services free! Much appreciated...

There's no catch - it's free and always will be, just like PokerDIY.

We make our money from advertising and PokerDIY PRO customers. This is why we can offer our poker software for free. Plus, the more people that use it/download and install it, the more people that can help improve the software for everyone.

A lot of poker tournament management software charge between $10 to $100 to use their software - why not install ours and see if it meets your needs and spend that money on beer? If you don't like it, then just delete it - no harm done!

Yes. You will always be able to use PokerDIY for free. Trust us - Google has already indexed this and stored it forever.

Start and manage your home poker league, find home poker games and blog about poker - for free... like you have always done and always will be able to do on PokerDIY.

If you like some of the additional features - by all means upgrade to a PRO plan.