Terms and Conditions
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE OF SERVICES ON WEBSITE WWW.THEPOOLS.COM
Version 1.0 - 25th November 2024
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 By using and/or visiting any section of the Website www.thepools.com (the “Website”) or by opening an account on the Website you agree to be bound by:
1.1.1 the General Terms and Conditions, on this page;
1.1.2 the Privacy Policy;
1.1.3 the Sports Betting Rules (if applicable);
1.1.4 the Sportsbook Rules (if applicable);
1.1.5 the relevant game rules (if applicable); and
1.1.6 Any terms and conditions of promotions, bonuses and special offers which may be found on the Website from time to time.
1.2 All of the terms and conditions listed above shall together be referred to as “the Terms”, “Terms” or “these Terms”.
1.3 Please read the Terms carefully before accepting them. If you do not agree to accept and be bound by the Terms, please do not open an account or continue to use the Website. Your continued use of the Website constitutes acceptance of the Terms.
1.4 In the event that there is any conflict or inconsistency between the Terms, the order of priority in which the Terms shall apply will be (i) the Sport Betting Rules, Sportsbook Rules or any games rules (as applicable and in the case of sports betting (a) the Sports Betting Rules shall rank first, then the Sportsbook Rules); and then (ii) the General Terms and Conditions.
2 PARTIES
2.1 This website is operated by The Football Pools Limited, a company registered and existing under the laws of England and Wales, having registration number 10573569 and its registered address at Walton House, 55 Charnock Road, Liverpool, L67 1AA, United Kingdom (“us”, “our”, “we” or the “Company”). The Football Pools Limited is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission Under Account number 48272.
2.2 In these Terms:
2.2.1 reference to a “player” is to a player participating in the services from Great Britain;
2.2.2 references to “You”, “you”, “Your” means you as user of this Website;
2.2.3 reference to “Deposit Funds” means the funds that you deposit into Your Player Account plus Winnings, in each case that have not been spent on (committed to) bets including bets which are not yet settled;
2.2.4 reference to “Bonus Funds” means any funds that we credit to Your Player Account by way of a bonus or promotion which is not immediately withdrawable or redeemable in cash and all winnings made with the bonus funds which are subject to uncompleted wagering requirements;
2.2.5 reference to “All Funds” means both the Deposit Funds and Bonus Funds; and
2.2.6 reference to “Winnings” is to any and all winnings from wagers made with money which you deposited into Your Player Account and winnings from any bonus which are not subject to wagering requirements or in respect of which the wagering requirements have been satisfied.
3 CHANGES TO THE TERMS
3.1 We may need to change the Terms for a number of reasons, including but not limited to, for commercial reasons, or in order to comply with new laws and regulations. The most up-to-date Terms are the ones available on the site, and the date on which they came into force is stated at the top of these Terms.
3.2 We will notify you of material changes to these Terms prior to them taking effect. We will notify you of any material changes, or of any other changes to the Terms which we wish to notify you of, by email or by placing a notice on the Website. Your continued use of the Website shall constitute acceptance of any changes to the Terms. If you do not agree to any changes to the Terms, you should stop using the Website.
3.3 It is your sole responsibility to review the General Terms and Conditions, the terms and conditions applicable to any of the services (including the Game Rules) and any amendments to them each time you use the Website and/or the services.
4 YOUR ACCOUNT
4.1 In order to place a bet or play games via the Website, you will need to open an account on the Website (“Your Player Account”).
4.2 To register an account, you must be physically located and a resident of the United Kingdom (The United Kingdom means England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
4.3 By using the Website, you confirm you are a resident of the United Kingdom. If you open or use the Website while residing outside of the United Kingdom: Your Player Account may be closed by us immediately; any Winnings and Bonus Funds will be confiscated and forfeited by you and any remaining Deposit Funds (except for any Winnings) will be returned to you on request subject to these Terms and any legal or regulatory obligations with which we are required to comply.
4.4 A player must register personally by following the on-screen instructions.
4.5 When you open Your Player Account you will be asked to provide us with personal information, including your name, date of birth, and appropriate contact details, including an address, telephone number and e-mail address (“Your Contact Details”). In addition, when depositing funds you must provide the relevant card details, including card type, card number, CVV number and the expiration date. The name and address of the cardholder must be the same as that of the account holder. It is your responsibility to ensure that the details provided at registration are accurate and kept up-to-date (especially your email address). You can change the details you provide at registration at any time by contacting customer services using the details set out in paragraph 22 below. For further information about our collection and use of your personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy
4.6 You hereby acknowledge and accept that, by using the services at the Website, you may both win and lose money.
4.7 Accounts are available in Pound sterling only. No other form of currency will be accepted for deposits to your player account.
4.8 Your Player Account must be registered in your own, legal, name. You may only open one account on this Website and in association with this brand. Any other accounts which you open subsequently on this the Website or otherwise in association with this brand shall be considered “Duplicate Accounts”. Any Duplicate Accounts may be closed by us immediately and:
4.8.1 any Bonus Funds will be confiscated and forfeited by you and any remaining Deposit Funds (less any Winnings) will be returned to you on request (minus any reasonable charges) subject to these Terms and any legal or regulatory obligations with which we are required to comply; and
4.8.2 any Winnings or bonuses which you have gained or accrued or (in relation to outstanding (unsettled) bets) may gain or accrue and which have been or may be credited to Your Player Account and/or withdrawn by you from Your Player Account during such time as the Duplicate Account was active will be forfeited by you and may be deducted from Your Player Account or reclaimed by us, and you will return to us on demand any such funds which have been withdrawn from the Duplicate Account.
4.9 You must maintain Your Player Account and keep your details up-to-date. If you wish to close Your Player Account you must send a request to do so to [email protected].
4.10 Please note that all funds received from you in relation to your participation in the services and payment of any winnings in respect of the same are held in a designated customer account (“Customer Account”) which is separate and easily identifiable from all other bank accounts used by The Football Pools Limited in connection with its daily operations. Furthermore, the funds subsisting in the Customer Account are free and clear of all encumbrances and liens and are not subject to any other form of security. This means that steps have been taken to protect customer funds but there is no absolute guarantee that all funds will be repaid. This meets the Gambling Commission's requirements for the protection of customer funds at the level: medium protection. More information can be found at https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-and-players/guide/page/information-on-customer-funds-your-money
4.11 Subject to us first obtaining specific and withdrawable consent from you, we may keep you informed about changes on the Website, and about new services and promotions, by email, phone and SMS. At any point in time, the user can opt out from receiving such communications by sending an email to [email protected] or choosing “My Account” – “My Details”.
5 VERIFICATION OF YOUR AGE AND IDENTITY
5.1 You confirm that:
5.1.1 You are at least 18 years of age (the “Legal Age”). When opening an account, you will be required to confirm that you are the Legal Age. It is an offence for any GB person under the age of 18 to participate in gambling.
5.1.2 The details supplied when opening Your Player Account are correct;
5.1.3 You are the rightful owner of the money in Your Player Account;
5.1.4 the money deposited is not derived from any activity which is illegal; and
5.1.5 You are a resident in the United Kingdom.
5.2 The Company complies with UK, regulations and guidelines for the prevention of money laundering and the funding of terrorism. Suspicious transactions shall be investigated by the Company and, if necessary, a suspicious transaction report will be made by the Company to the competent UK Authorities (or other appropriate Authorities) (the “Authorities”) without notice or further reference to you. Furthermore, in the event of any suspicious transactions, the Company may suspend, block or close the account(s) of the relevant player(s) and withhold All Funds in the relevant Player Account(s) as may be required by law and/or by the competent Authorities.
5.3 We may check any transactions made by players on our Website in order to prevent money laundering and all other illegal activity.
5.4 By agreeing to the Terms you authorise us to undertake such checks as we may require ourselves or may be required by third parties (including regulatory bodies and Authorities) to confirm your age, identity and contact details in order to prevent money laundering (the “Checks”).
5.5 We reserve the right to delay or withhold any payment to/from Your Player Account (including Deposit Funds), until we are satisfied that your identity, age and place of residence have been suitably verified.
5.6 By agreeing to the General Terms and Conditions you authorise us to check with a third party the details you provide when registering or changing Your Player Account details. This may include supplying the details that you have provided to authorised credit reference agencies. In particular, we may verify that you are 18 years old or over or that you are resident in the country in which you say you are a resident and/or that you are the owner of the debit card that is registered to Your Player Account and any sums deposited in Your Player Account. To help us combat fraud efficiently, in certain circumstances we may ask you to provide physical and/or notarised copies of your personal identification or other documents in order to verify your registration and funding details. We may from time to time repeat any of the checks set out in this paragraph 5.6 for regulatory, security or other business reasons.
5.7 In certain circumstances we may have to contact you and ask you to provide further information to us in order to complete the Checks. If you do not or cannot provide us with such information or such information is not satisfactory, then in accordance with this paragraph 5.7, we may lock or restrict Your Player Account until you have provided us with such information, and if we do not receive the required information, or we are otherwise unable to verify your identity, we may terminate these Terms, close Your Player Account and may return to you on request any Deposit Funds in your account at the time we placed a lock or restriction on Your Player Account, plus any funds deposited after the lock was placed on Your Player Account, subject to these Terms and except where it is necessary for us to delay or withhold the payment to you of all or some of your Deposit Funds to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations including our anti-money laundering and fraud prevention obligations. To complete our Checks, we may ask you for:
5.7.1 Passport or driving license together with a recent utility bill (e.g. gas, electric, council tax, bank or building society statement,) less than three months old;
5.7.2 Proof of ownership of payment method – depending on the deposit method used, this may include a copy of the debit card used, screen shot of the e-wallet or a recent bank statement; and/or
5.7.3 Any other documents that we consider necessary in order to complete our Checks.
5.8 In certain circumstances we may also have to ask you to provide information in relation to your source of funds and source of wealth. This includes supplying a source of wealth declaration and any supporting documentation as to the declared source of wealth, including but not limited to, bank statements and payslips. We retain the right to lock Your Player Account and suspend any further deposits and/or withdrawals, if you fail to provide us with the information and documentation requested.
5.9 As part of the registration process a check will be completed to verify that you are over the age of 18. If on completion of age verification, you are shown to be under the age of 18, then Your Player Account will be closed.
INACTIVITY AND DELETION OF PLAYER ACCOUNTS
6.1 Any Inactive Account may, at our discretion, be charged the Inactive Account Fee which (if charged) will be deducted from the Inactive Account on the date that it becomes an Inactive Account and thereafter each following calendar month, during which the Account remains an Inactive Account.
6.2 You should limit your transactions to one Account only. However, should we find that you have more than one Account and one or more is an Inactive Account, then, without limiting any other action we may take in relation to such multiple Accounts, each such Inactive Account will be treated separately for the purposes of applying the Inactive Account Fee.
6.3 Prior to any Account becoming an Inactive Account (and any Inactive Account Fee being charged), we will send you (to the email address registered on your Account) an email to let you know that your Account is about to become an Inactive Account and that an Inactive Account Fee may apply. Our notice to you before any reclassification is made or any Inactive Account Fees begin (except where these Terms and Conditions permit us to withhold payment), shall provide you at least 30 days notice (“Inactive Account Notice Period”) before any Inactive Account Fee applies. During the Inactive Account Notice Period, you must login to your Account and place a bet of any amount, if this does not occur before the end of the Inactive Account Notice Period, the Account shall then automatically be classed as an Inactive Account and we shall start deducting the Inactive Account Fees.
6.4 Should deductions of Inactive Account Fees from an Inactive Account mean that the account incurs a negative balance, then the balance of that Inactive Account shall be deemed to be zero.
6.5 If at any time, you engage in activity in respect of an Inactive Account that has been subject to the deduction of Inactive Account Fees, we will reimburse you on request an amount equal to the Inactive Account Fees charged to that account up to a maximum of £30.
7 USERNAME, PASSWORD, AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION
7.1 After opening Your Player Account, you must not disclose (whether deliberately or accidentally) your username and password to anyone else. If you have lost or forgotten Your Player Account details you may retrieve your password by clicking on the “Forgot Password?” link below the login portal.
7.2 All transactions where your username and password have been entered correctly will be regarded as valid, whether or not authorised by you, and we shall not be liable for any claims in the event that you disclose them to anyone. It is your sole responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your password and you are responsible for all activity that occurs under your username and password. You should notify us of any unauthorised use of your password and any breach of security as soon as you become aware of it.
7.3 We retain the right to void any transactions or suspend Your Player Account where you have provided incorrect details. In such a situation, all stakes or bets made will be returned to you and any winnings accrued at such time shall be forfeited by you.
8 DEPOSITS TO YOUR PLAYER ACCOUNT
8.1 If you wish to participate in betting or gaming using the Website, you must deposit money into Your Player Account which you can then use to place bets or play games.
8.2 Deposits are made by transfer of money to the Company's account by way of the payment methods stated on the Website. The payment methods currently available include debit cards and PayPal. The Company reserves the right, to change the accepted methods of payment at its sole discretion. The Company further reserves the right to accept certain methods of payment only subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions. The Company does not warrant that all methods of payment are available at all times. To verify which payment and withdrawal methods that are currently available and the time lapse these take to process kindly visit our Deposit tab in the main page of our Website. Once you have made your initial deposit, your card details and/or PayPal will be saved for future deposits and withdrawals. You will be able to register more than one debit card and/or PayPal in respect of Your Account Player. If you wish to change any debit cards and/or PayPal registered to Your Player Account then please follow the online instructions or contact our customer services team.
8.3 We do not accept cash funds or cheques sent to us. We reserve the right to limit the maximum weekly amount which can be paid into Your Player Account.
8.4 By depositing money you agree not to make any charge-backs, reversals or otherwise cancel any deposits into Your Player Account, and you agree to refund and compensate us for any reasonable costs incurred by us in connection with any charge-back, reversal or cancellation of any deposits.
8.5 The Company can, under certain circumstances, credit Your Player Account with so called bonus money (which will form part of any Bonus Funds in your account). Before we credit Your Player Account with any bonus money, you must read and agree to the terms upon which the bonus money or promotion will be granted to you. The specific terms of the bonus will be available within the promotions page on our website. We run a number of promotions on the Website at any time. If you would like to review any of the terms applicable to our promotions please see: https://www.thepools.com/promotions.
8.6 Any Bonus Funds are displayed separately from any Deposit Funds in Your Player Account. Bonus Funds can only be withdrawn once they have been converted into real cash Winnings that form part of your Deposit Funds. If Your Player Account contains both Deposit Funds and Bonus Funds, any wagering will be taken firstly from Bonus funds, and secondly from any remaining deposit funds.
Specific bonus and promotion terms and conditions will be published on the Website in conjunction with the launch of any bonus or promotion. If you request to withdraw all or some of the Deposit Funds used to activate a promotion or bonus before fulfilling any of the terms and conditions applicable to any Bonus Funds (including, but not limited to, any wagering requirements) or otherwise whilst a promotion or bonus is active or pending on Your Player Account you will forfeit any Bonus Funds in Your Player Account associated with the relevant promotion or bonus in their entirety. Any Deposit Funds that you have deposited which is not related to any bonus (i.e. which was not required to be made in order to claim Bonus Funds or to participate in any promotion) are free to be withdrawn at any point in time and will not result in the forfeiture of any Bonus Funds.
8.7 Your Player Account is not a bank account and is therefore not insured, guaranteed, sponsored or otherwise protected by any banking insurance system. Additionally, any money deposited with us in Your Player Account will not earn any interest and we do not offer credit.
8.8 In relation to deposits of funds into Your Player Account, you shall only use such debit cards and PayPal. We will credit Your Player Account with your deposits and winnings.
8.9 If you make deposits into Your Player Account using any payment method belonging to someone else (a third party), we retain the right to request further information and documentation from you and from the other person (the third party) to confirm that you are duly authorised to use that payment method. We will place a lock on Your Player Account so that no deposits or withdrawals may be made until we are satisfied that you are duly authorised to use the payment method in question. If you are unable to provide us with satisfactory proof of your authority to use the other person's (the third party's) payment method, then we reserve the right to close Your Player Account and any Winnings and Bonus Funds will be confiscated and forfeited by you, as will any funds committed by you to bets which at the relevant time are yet to be settled. We also reserve the right to delay or withhold the payment to you of any Deposit Funds on receipt of a withdrawal request from you in order to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements.
9 WITHDRAWALS FROM YOUR ACCOUNT
9.1 You may withdraw all or some of your Deposit Funds at any time provided that:
9.1.1 All payments made into Your Player Account have been confirmed as cleared and none have been charged-back, reversed or otherwise cancelled;
9.1.2 Any Checks referred to in paragraph 5 above have been completed;
9.1.3 Monies will remain in Your Player Account unless: (a) you submit an online request for the outstanding balance to be transferred to the debit card which you have registered with us; or (b) we identify Your Account Player as an Inactive Account, following such we shall follow the process set out at paragraph 6; and
9.1.4 We are not otherwise required to delay or withhold the payment to you of all or some of your Deposit Funds in order to comply with our legal or regulatory requirements.
9.2 Once you have submitted an online request, you will receive a confirmation message that the transfer has been actioned and the balance of Your Player Account will then clear to zero or the balance of the amount not withdrawn. If you reduce the balance of Your Player Account down to zero, to place any further entries or bets you will need to transfer a minimum deposit of £5 into Your Player Account.
9.3 A player may not withdraw any Bonus Funds other than in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to the relevant Bonus Funds.
9.4 If you have used more than one card and/or PayPal to deposit funds and have requested a withdrawal, as part of our fraud and security processes we may need to review which cards and/or PayPal account we are able to make a withdrawal payment to. In such circumstances, we may be unable to make full payment back to the requested card and/or PayPal and will notify you of this.
9.5 Once a withdrawal has been approved, customers can expect funds to reach them in the following timeframes: Debit Card withdrawals: 24 hours Paypal Withdrawals: 24 hours
9.6 If Your Player Account has been dormant, closed, blocked or excluded for any reason other than for compliance with our client verification measures and for any period of time, you may contact our support team to request to recover any Deposit Funds that might still be in Your Player Account. Our support team will investigate any such request and we will contact you (subject to our legal and regulatory obligations) with information about how the Deposit Funds will be transferred back to you. You will need to answer a number of security questions for us to be able to verify that you are the legal owner of Your Player Account. If there is a dispute over Your Player Account or the funds held within it the dispute will be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints Policy as detailed at paragraph 23 of these Terms
9.7 In relation to withdrawals of funds from Your Player Account, you shall only use such debit cards and other payment methods that are valid and lawfully belong to you.
9.8 Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to us, we may at any time set off any positive balance in Your Player Account against any amount owed to us by you.
10 PLACING A BET OR GAMING
10.1 It is your responsibility to ensure that the details of any transaction you enter into are correct. Although the Company endeavours to ensure that the information available on its Website is correct, the Company assumes no liability for the any errors or any out of date, incorrect or incomplete information, including (without limitation) any results made available on the Website or the accuracy of any scores, statistics and intermediate results during in-play betting. Please refer to our Betting Rules for information relating to the settlement of bets. For the purpose of in-play or in-running betting, the player should be aware that there may be delays to live transmissions and the extent of any delay may vary between players and between events.
10.2 You can access your last 90 days transaction history on the Website.
10.3 We reserve the right to refuse the whole or part of any bet or wagering transaction requested by you at any time in our sole discretion. No bet or wagering transaction is accepted by us until the amount equivalent to the stake is deducted from the relevant balance in Your Player Account.
10.4 The transaction is deemed confirmed when you have received on screen confirmation and a transaction reference. Once your bet or wager is accepted, you cannot cancel the bet or wager without our written consent.
10.5 Where we believe that match-rigging has taken place, either as a result of the size or volume of bets received, or from other evidence, or where the integrity of an individual event is called to question, we reserve the right to withhold payment and ultimately to declare bets on that event void and we shall report the matter to the Gambling Commission and sports regulatory bodies.
10.6 Any bet accepted in error for an event that has already taken place, or where betting has been suspended, will be void.
10.7 Subject to these Terms, winnings due on your transactions will be added to the balance of Your Player Account once the relevant transaction has been settled.
10.8 The Website has maximum winnings of £250,000 per player in any one 24-hour period, save for (i) pool-based competitions where the jackpot is expressly stated to exceed £250,000; and/or (ii) sports betting where the winnings shall not exceed £100,000 (regardless of the size of the stake or the number of bets placed).
10.9 Winnings will usually be paid without You needing to make a claim and will be made within 3-5 working days from settlement of the individual game to which the winnings relate. If You believe that You have not received any winnings due to You then you should notify us as soon as possible and provide evidence for Your claim. No claim for winnings may be made more than six months after the date on which the relevant event took place.
11 COLLUSION, CHEATING, FRAUD AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
11.1 The following activities are not permitted and constitute a material breach of these Terms:
11.1.1 Colluding with third parties;
11.1.2 Using unfair advantage or influence (commonly known as cheating), including the exploitation of a fault, loophole or error in our software, the use of automated players or Artificial Intelligence or “AI”;
11.1.3 Undertaking fraudulent or illegal activities, including but not limited to the use of a stolen, cloned or otherwise unauthorised credit or debit card, as a source of funds;
11.1.4 Taking part in any criminal activities including, but not limited to, money laundering;
11.1.5 Transferring of funds from one player account to another; and/or
11.1.6 Conducting account fraud, use of Duplicate Accounts, manipulation of our software or Website, exploitation of loopholes or other technical forms of abuse or other behaviour which amounts to deliberate cheating.
11.2 We will take all reasonable steps to prevent such activities; detect them and ensure that the relevant players are dealt with appropriately. We may report knowledge or suspicion of an offence to the relevant authorities, we may suspend or close Your Player Account, confiscate your Winnings and any Bonus Funds (which shall be forfeited by you) and in certain cases, in fulfilment of our regulatory and legal obligations, block access to All Funds until we are directed on how to proceed by the authorities. We will not be liable for any loss or damage which you or any other player may incur as a result of any of the behaviour outlined in paragraph 11.1 above and any action we take in respect of the same will be at our sole discretion.
11.3 If you suspect a person is colluding, cheating or undertaking a fraudulent activity, please report it to us by e-mailing [email protected].
11.4 We reserve the right to inform relevant Authorities, other online gaming or gambling operators, other online service providers and banks, electronic payment providers or other financial institutions of your identity and of any suspected unlawful, fraudulent or improper activity, and you agree to cooperate fully with us to investigate any such activity. Please see our Privacy Policy for further details on the data disclosed when informing such.
12 OTHER PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES
12.1 You should not use the Website for any purpose which is considered to be defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, sexist, discriminatory, or offensive. You must not use any abusive or aggressive language or images, swear, threaten, harass or abuse any other person, including other users, or behave in such a manner towards any Company staff used to provide the Website or customer services.
12.2 You shall not corrupt the Website, flood the Website with information with the intention of causing the Website to not function, nor use any features which may affect the function of the Website in any way for example (but not limited to) releasing or propagating viruses, worms, logic bombs or similar. Any multiple submissions or spam are strictly prohibited. You must not interfere or tamper with, remove or otherwise alter in any way, any information in any form which is included on the Website.
12.3 You shall use the Website for personal entertainment only and shall not be allowed to reproduce the Website or any part of it in any form whatsoever, without our express consent.
12.4 You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website, the servers on which the Website is stored or any server, computer or device or database connected to the Website. You must not attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or similar. We will report any breach of this paragraph 12 to the relevant law enforcement Authorities and we will co-operate with those Authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Website will cease immediately.
12.5 We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect Your computer or device equipment, computer or device programs, data or other proprietary material due to Your use of the Website or to Your downloading of any material posted on such Website, or on any Website linked to the Website.
12.6 It is prohibited to sell, transfer and/or acquire accounts from other players.
13 CLOSURE AND TERMINATION
13.1 You are entitled at any time to close Your Player Account and terminate these General Terms and Conditions on notice to us by email, telephone or post using the details on the Website. We will respond within a reasonable time. You remain responsible for activity on Your Player Account until it is closed. You will be required to withdraw any outstanding balance in Your Player Account (if any) on termination of these General Terms and Conditions.
13.2 Subject to paragraph 13.8 below, we are entitled to close Your Player Account and terminate these General Terms and Conditions by giving notice to the email address you notified to us in relation to Your Player Account and, following such notice, you will no longer be able to access the services other than to withdraw any outstanding balances in Your Player Account (if applicable).
13.3 Subject to paragraph 13.8 below, we are entitled to close Your Player Account and terminate these General Terms and Conditions by giving notice to the email address you notified to us in relation to Your Player Account and, following such notice, you will no longer be able to access the services other than to withdraw any outstanding balances in Your Player Account (if applicable).
13.4 We reserve the right at our absolute discretion, and without any obligation to provide you with a reason, to immediately terminate these General Terms and Conditions and/or withhold Your Player Account balance and/or suspend Your Player Account and/or close Your Player Account and/or recover from Your Player Account the amount of any affected pay-outs, bonuses and winnings. Examples of situations where we may take any of the above actions include, but are not limited to, where:
13.4.1 you are in breach of an important provision of these General Terms and Conditions;
13.4.2 we become aware that you have used or attempted to use the Website and/or the services for the purposes of fraud, collusion or unlawful or improper activity;
13.4.3 we become aware through an official source that you have played at any other online gambling site or services and, in connection with the same, are suspected of fraud, collusion (including in relation to charge-backs) or unlawful or improper activity; or
13.4.4 you become bankrupt, do not make payment of a court judgment on time, make an arrangement with your creditors or any of your assets are the subject of any form of seizure, or analogous proceedings are brought in relation to you anywhere in the world.
13.5 Your Inactive Account (30 months without recording a log-in) may be terminated with written notice (or attempted notice) using Your Contact Details.
13.6 In the event of any such termination by us, other than where such closure and termination is made pursuant to paragraph 11 (Collusion, Cheating, Fraud and Criminal Activity) or paragraph 18 (Breach of the Terms of Use) of these Terms, we will on receipt of a request from you, return any Deposit Funds in Your Player Account to you.
13.7 The Company may refuse to open an account or may opt to close a players' account which has already been opened at its own discretion. Notwithstanding this all contractual obligations already undertaken or entered into will be honoured subject to these Terms.
13.8 With the exception of termination in accordance with paragraph 13.4 above, termination shall be effective from the date on which all outstanding bets made by you via Your Player Account as at the date on which notice to close Your Player Account was sent are settled and such notice of termination of these General Terms and Conditions will not affect any outstanding bets provided they are valid and not in breach of these General Terms and Conditions.
14 ALTERATION OF THE WEBSITE
14.1 We may, at our absolute discretion, add or remove, alter or amend, any of the products offered via the Website at any time.
15 IT FAILURE OR INTERRUPTION
15.1 Where unexpected system flaws, faults or errors occur in the software or hardware which we use to provide the Website, we will take immediate steps to remedy the problem.
15.2 We do not accept any liability for IT failures which are caused by your equipment used to access the Website or faults which relate to your internet service provider.
15.3 You are betting or gaming via an electronic form of communication and consequently you acknowledge that:
15.3.1 you may be using a connection or equipment which is slower than the equipment used by others and this may affect your performance in time critical events offered via the Website; and
15.3.2 you may encounter system flaws, faults, errors or service interruption caused by unexpected flaws, faults or errors in the software, hardware or networks used to provide the services and the Website. Where such flaws, faults or errors cause a Service to be interrupted or in circumstances where it cannot be restarted from exactly the same position without any detriment to you, we will take all reasonable steps to treat you in a fair manner.
15.4 The services may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons reasonably beyond our control. We will not be liable to you or to any other person in the event that all or any part of the services are discontinued, modified or changed in any way.
15.5 In the event of systems or communications errors relating to the generation of random numbers, bet settlement, match results or other element of the services, we will not be liable to you as a result of any such errors and we reserve the right to void all bets on the draws or matches (as applicable) in question.
16 ERRORS OR OMISSIONS
16.1 A number of circumstances may arise where a bet or wager is accepted, or a payment is made, by us in error.
16.2 Neither we (including our directors, employees, partners or agents), nor our partners or suppliers shall be liable for any loss including (without limitation) loss of any Bonus Funds or Winnings that results from any error by us or an error by you. You will forfeit any Bonus Funds or Winnings that result from any such error. In such a scenario, the stake or wager will be refunded to Your Player Account.
16.2 If an error is made in the prices or conditions published, we reserve the right to correct any mistakes and to settle any transactions already made at the correct price.
16.3 Despite every effort to ensure total accuracy, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in respect of information provided on the Website.
17 EXCLUSION OF OUR LIABILITY
17.1 Your access to and use of the products offered via the Website, is at your own risk.
17.2 Nothing in these General Terms and Conditions will:
17.2.1 exclude or limit our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence; or
17.2.2 restrict your statutory rights (statutory rights include, for example, that we will provide the Website and the services to a reasonable standard and within a reasonable time).
17.3 Except under paragraph 17.2 above and save in respect of any winnings lawfully due to you in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, our maximum liability to you under these General Terms and Conditions in relation to any one incident or series of related incidents is limited to: (a) any net losses incurred by you during the three (3) month period prior to any claim; or (b) two thousand pounds (£2,000).
17.4 We do not guarantee which services will be available on the Website. The services and the Website are provided on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis. We cannot promise that the Website and the services will be free from errors or omissions nor that they will be available uninterrupted and in a fully operating condition. We will provide the Website with reasonable skill and care and substantially as described in the Terms. We do not make any other promises or warranties the Website, or the products offered via the Website, and hereby exclude (to the extent permitted by law) all implied warranties in respect of the same. We do not make any other promises about how the services will be provided to you or about your access to the Website.
17.5 We shall not be liable to You in for any loss that could not have been reasonably expected by you and us at the time you registered with the Website or at the time you entered into a transaction with us in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise for any business losses, including but not limited to loss of data, profits, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, reputation or business interruption or for any losses in relation to your use of the Website.
17.6 In any event, we will not be liable for any damage or loss suffered or incurred by you as a result of: 17.6.1 any use of the Website and/or the services in breach of these General Terms and Conditions (including any use of the Website and/or the services for commercial or business purposes);
17.6.2 failures caused by the equipment you use to access the Website and/or the services or failures in any network (including failures by your internet service provider);
17.6.3 any lost or delayed transactions (including as a result of technical failure);
17.6.4 damage to your computer or device or for any loss or corruption of data that results from your use of the Website and/or the services (and we cannot and do not guarantee that any files that you download are free from viruses, contamination or destructive features); or
17.6.5 our cancellation or suspension of the services in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions.
18 BREACH OF THE TERMS
18.1 You shall compensate us in full for any claims, liabilities, costs, expenses (including legal fees) and any other charges in respect of any damages suffered by us (or any of our losses resulting from any claim made by a third party) that may arise as a result of your breach of any of the Terms or from your breach of any applicable law or regulation.
18.2 Where you are in material breach of the Terms, we reserve the right, but shall not be required, to:
18.2.1 Provide you with notice (using Your Contact Details) that you are in breach and requiring you to stop the relevant act or failure to act;
18.2.2 Suspend Your Player Account so that you are unable to place bets or play games on the Website;
18.2.3 Close Your Player Account with or without prior notice from us;
18.2.4 Confiscate, and you shall forfeit, from Your Player Account, or (if applicable) recover from you the amount of any Bonus Funds and any Winnings in Your Player Account or that have been paid to you by us, in which case such Bonus Funds and/or Winnings shall be returned to us on demand; and/or
18.2.5 On receipt of a request from you, return any Deposit Funds (less any Winnings) to You to the account(s) from which they were deposited, minus any reasonable charges and subject to these Terms and any legal and regulatory obligations with which we are required to comply.
19 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
19.1 All Website design, text, graphics, music, sound, photographs, video, the selection and arrangement thereof, software compilations, underlying source code, software and all other material contained within the Website are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights which are either owned by us or used under licence from third party rights owners. To the extent that any material contained on the Website may be downloaded or printed then such material may be downloaded to a single personal computer or device only and hard copy portions may be printed solely for your own personal and non-commercial use. Any other use of such material and content is strictly prohibited.
19.2 Under no circumstances shall the use of the Website grant to any user any interest in any intellectual property rights (for example copyright, know-how or trademarks) owned by us or by any third party whatsoever. You agree not to (and agree not to assist or facilitate any third party to) copy, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, distribute, commercially exploit, tamper with or create derivative works of such material and content.
19.3 No rights whatsoever are granted to use or reproduce any trade names, trademarks or logos which appear on the Website, except as specifically permitted in accordance with the Terms.
19.4 The names, images and logos identifying us, our partners or other third parties and our/their products and services contained on the Website are proprietary marks and may not be reproduced or otherwise used without express permission.
20 YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
20.1 We are required according to the Data Protection Legislation to comply with data protection requirements in the way in which we use any personal information collected from you in your use of the Website. We therefore take very seriously our obligations in relation to the way in which we use your personal information.
“Data Protection Legislation” means all applicable data protection and privacy legislation in force from time to time in the UK including the UK GDPR; the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) (and regulations made thereunder) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) as amended and all other legislation and regulatory requirements in force from time to time which apply to a party relating to the use of Personal Data (including, without limitation, the privacy of electronic communications).
20.2 We will use any personal information that you provide to us or that we obtain from you in relation to these Terms and Conditions in accordance with our “Privacy Policy” and “Cookies Policy”, which may be updated by us from time to time.
20.3 By accepting these Terms and Conditions, you confirm that you have read all of the terms of our “Privacy Policy” and “Cookies Policy” which explains how we will use the personal data.
21 USE OF COOKIES ON THE WEBSITE
21.1 The Website uses ‘cookies’ to assist the functionality of the Website. A cookie is a small file of text which is downloaded onto your computer or device when you access the Website and it allows us to recognise when you come back to the Website. Information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at www.aboutcookies.org. Please note that by deleting our cookies or disabling future cookies you may not be able to access certain areas or features of the Website.
21.2 For more information on the use of cookies please refer to our Cookies Policy.
22 COMPLAINTS AND NOTICES
22.1 If we need to notify you under these Terms and Conditions, we will do so by email to the email address registered to your Account. Any complaint that you have will be dealt with quickly and fairly as set out below.
22.2 If you wish to make a complaint regarding the Website, the first step should be, as soon as reasonably possible, to contact Customer Services via the LiveChat function on our Website www.thepools.com or by emailing us at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can call our customer services team on 0800 500 000 from the UK or please write to us at The Football Pools, Walton House, 55 Charnock Road, Liverpool, L67 1AA.
22.3 Internal Complaints Procedure – 5.
Stage One
Contact our customer services team on 0800 500 000 from the UK or by email on [email protected]. You will need to provide your name, address, email address, contact telephone number, date of transaction and what your complaint relates to. The team will look into your complaint and examine the relevant transaction. The reference will be your email address if using that means of communication. The team will come back to you as soon as possible with a resolution. If you are not satisfied with the answer given under this Stage One, having informed us that this is the case you should proceed as below.
Stage Two – Alternative Dispute Resolution
If you remain unhappy with any resolution offered by us you agree that the matter may be referred for resolution to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS), whose contact details are given below, and once your complaint has been submitted it will ask us to provide appropriate information. The dispute will then be placed before an independent panel of betting experts who will recommend what they believe is a fair settlement. IBAS will only deal with complaints about the bet itself and will examine disputes concerning the correct return for a bet or whether it has been correctly struck. IBAS cannot deal with complaints about service, which is a matter for our customer service team. IBAS requires that you have already had a complaint looked at by our customer services before it will adjudicate.
IBAS
PO Box 62639
London, EC3P 3AS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7347 5883
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7347 5882
email: [email protected]
website: www.ibas-uk.com
Alternatively, you can raise your complaint using the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/
23 TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS AND THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
23.1 We reserve the right to transfer, assign, sublicense, subcontract or pledge the Terms, in whole or in part, to any person, provided that any such assignment will be on the same terms or terms that are no less advantageous to you. In the case of transfer only, after we notify you of the date on which we will transfer our rights and obligations under these. Terms and Conditions to another legal entity, your only rights under or in connection with these Terms and Conditions will be against the new legal entity and not against us.
23.2 These Terms and Conditions are personal to you. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms and Conditions to anyone else.
23.3 These Terms do not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any provision of these Terms.
24 EVENTS OUTSIDE OUR CONTROL
24.1 We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under the Terms of Use that is caused by events outside our reasonable control, including, without limitation, acts of God, pandemic, war, riot or civil commotion, interruption in public communications networks or services, industrial dispute or DDOS-attacks and similar Internet attacks having an adverse effect (“Force Majeure”). Our performance is deemed to be suspended for the period that the Force Majeure event continues, and we will have an extension of time for performance for the duration of that period. We will use our reasonable endeavours to bring the Force Majeure event to a close or to find a solution by which our obligations may be performed despite the Force Majeure event.
25 WAIVER
25.1 If we fail to insist upon strict performance of any of your obligations or if we fail to exercise any of the rights or remedies to which we are entitled, this shall not constitute a waiver of such rights or remedies and shall not relieve you from compliance with such obligations.
25.2 A waiver by us of any default shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default. No waiver by us of any of the provisions of the Terms shall be effective unless it is expressly stated to be a waiver and is communicated to you in writing in accordance with above.
26 SEVERABILITY
26.1 If any of the Terms are determined to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term, condition or provision will to that extent be severed from the remaining terms, conditions and provisions which will continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law. In such cases, the part deemed invalid or unenforceable shall be amended in a manner consistent with the applicable law to reflect, as closely as possible, our original intent.
27 LAW AND JURISDICTION
27.1 The Terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The Courts of England and Wales shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising out of or in connection with the Terms.
28 RESPONSIBLE GAMING AND GAMBLING
28.1 Whilst you are, and shall remain, responsible for any losses you incur as a result of your use of the Website and the services, we take our commitment to safer gambling seriously. Further to this, if, in our reasonable opinion, you are at risk of developing a problem controlling your gambling, we reserve the right to impose deposit limits, suspend and/or close Your Player Account.
28.2 Setting of Financial Limits – you may set financial limits related to deposits, wagers and losses by contacting our support team or by using the tool accessible within Your Player Account. These limits are available to help you to control your gambling.
Deposit Limits – In order to limit the amounts of deposits you can make over a certain period of time, you can set a Deposit Limit. This option can be accessed within Your Player Account section.
Loss Limits – In order to limit the losses that you can sustain over a certain period of time, you can set a Loss Limit, which can be accessed within Your Player Account section.
Wagering Limits – In order to limit the amount of money that you are able to spend over a certain period of time, you can set a Wagering Limit, which can be accessed within Your Player Account section.
The financial limits described above can be amended at any time. Any request to lower a limit will take effect immediately. Any request to raise or remove a limit will only take effect after the expiry of a 24 hours “cooling-off” period.
If you require any further information or assistance regarding our functionality, please contact support.
28.3 Self-exclusion – Should you need to take a break from gambling with this Website and all other Websites operated by us, we provide a self-exclusion facility which can be activated by you within the Account page or by contacting support. Self-exclusion means that Your Player Account will remain closed for a minimum period (this minimum period is 6 months and the account will not be reactivated under any circumstances during the exclusion period). Once you have self-excluded you will be excluded from all Websites operated by us. This is in accordance with our regulatory obligations . Upon the end of your chosen self-exclusion period, Your Player Account will remain closed until you make contact with Customer Services to have Your Player Account reactivated. This needs to be done by first sending an email, however Your Player Account will not be reactivated without you reconfirming your request to reactivate following a "cooling off" period of 24 hours. We are not obliged to reactivate Your Player Account following any period of self-exclusion and in order for us to assess whether or not to do so, we may require you to provide updated information to us including updated identity documentation and evidence relating to your source of funds and source of wealth.
We will use our best endeavours to ensure that, if you have requested self-exclusion from our Website, you will not be able to open a new account with us or any other Website operated under the same licence. However, in the event that you succeed in creating a new account by supplying different data to that supplied by you when registering for Your Player Account, or by using any similar means, you agree that we shall not be liable for any losses subsequently incurred by you as a result of using our services. Should we become aware that you have succeeded in opening a further account with us in this way, we reserve the right to immediately close that account and retain any Winnings and Bonus Funds. In such a scenario, we will (subject to these Terms and any legal and regulatory obligations with which we are required to comply) return any Deposit Funds to you (less any Winnings, withdrawals and any reasonable charges) to the account from which those deposited funds were received.
28.4 Time Out – Should you need to take a time out from gambling please use the time out functionality on the Website and choose the period you wish to be timed out. This tool can be found in the Account page. Should you for any reason be unable to impose these limits yourself please contact Customer Services. At the end of your time out period, Your Player Account will automatically be reactivated.
28.5 Setting of Session Time Limits – You may set maximum Session Time Limits by contacting our support team or via the tool accessible within each customer account. While these limits are set, you will automatically be logged out and will not be allowed to continue playing when you reach the pre-set time limit in any one play session.
28.6 Filtering Systems – Filtering solutions allow you (or others such as parents or other carers) to regulate access to the internet or certain websites, based on chosen criteria. These filtering solutions can use filters to prevent children and other vulnerable people from accessing, amongst other things, gambling websites. If you share your computer or device with friends or family who are under the Legal Age to register or gamble with our site, or who have requested self-exclusion from gambling sites, or who may otherwise be vulnerable to problem gambling, please consider using such filtering solutions. 28.7 We are committed to supporting Responsible Gambling initiatives and encourage you to find information about Responsible Gambling at the websites of the following organisations: GambleAware (www.gambleaware.co.uk), GamCare (www.gamcare.org.uk), GordonHouse (www.gamblingtherapy.org), Gam-Anon (www.gamanon.org.uk) and GA (www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk).
29 LINKS
29.1 Where we provide hyperlinks to other websites, we do so for information purposes only. You use any such links at your own risk and we accept no responsibility for the content or use of such websites, or for the information contained on them.
30 SPORTS BETTING RULES
These Sports Betting Rules apply in addition to the General Terms and Conditions and are to be read in conjunction with the Sportsbook Rules and the General Terms and Conditions. In the case of any dispute between these Sports Sportsbook Rules, the Sportsbook Rules and/or the General Terms and Conditions in relation to sports betting, these Sports Betting Rules will take priority, followed by the Sportsbook Rules and then the General Terms and Conditions.
Defined terms used in these Sports Betting Rules have the same meaning as in the General Terms and Conditions.
30.1 Sportsbook Rules. All sports betting will be carried out in accordance with our Sportsbook Rules. Our Sportsbook Rules explain the basis on which sports bets are accepted and settled. This includes circumstances in which bets may be cancelled by us, and the treatment of cancelled events. Our Sportsbook Rules can be accessed here. Please make sure that you read them carefully before accepting them. Your continued use of the sports betting services available on the Website constitutes acceptable of these Sports Betting Rules and the Sportsbook Rules.
30.2 Persons who are not permitted to place bets.
We do not accept any of the following bets:
a. Any and all bets placed by or on behalf of anyone who is in any way ‘participating’ in a sporting event. This includes, without limitation, players, athletes, managers, trainers, owners and club functionaries;
b. Any and all bets placed by anyone with ‘inside knowledge’ relating to a sporting event; and /or
c. Any and all bets placed by persons in violation of the rules of a sport governing body or such persons' employer; and/or
d. The bet is not related to an event where the player is physically present at the venue of the event.
We reserve the right at all times to void, rescind or cancel any bets made in any of the above circumstances outlined in paragraphs 31.2a., b. or c. and/or to confiscate any Winnings which shall be forfeited. All stakes will be returned on request, subject to the Terms and any legal or regulatory obligations with which we are required to comply.
We will also take any such actions where we are required to do so by any relevant gambling or other regulatory body or any sport governing body that we consider necessary or appropriate including, without limitation, notifying any relevant gambling or other regulatory body or any sport governing body and providing them with information to enable them to conduct an effective investigation into the matter.
30.3 Variation of Odds. All odds offered on the Website are subject to variation at any time prior to the bet being accepted (signified by a change in Your Player Account balance). Any such variations are determined solely at our discretion. Subject to paragraphs 30.5 and 30.6 below, once a bet has been accepted (signified by a change in Your Player Account balance) the odds shown in the betting slip will apply, subject to the Terms (including, without limitation) paragraphs 311.5 and 31.6 below. This paragraph applies irrespective of any other claim or previous publication present on the Website, or any other form of media, specifying otherwise.
30.4 In the event that a particular amount, or an amount in excess of the amount to which you are properly entitled, is erroneously paid to you, you agree to immediately inform us and upon request from us, repay to us the full amount which has been erroneously paid to you.
30.5 We have the authority to adjust Your Player Account to reflect the true outcome of any bet and rectify any errors. Examples of such errors include, without limitation, instances where a price is incorrect, a bet is placed outside of the time within which it is required to be placed, a failure occurs in one of our systems, an incorrect result has been entered, bets are allowed to be placed on a game that has already been decided upon, a pre-match bet on a game that has already commenced is still allowed, betting on markets containing incorrect participants (such as the case where Manchester United are playing in a game, but erroneously we state Manchester City and price the game as if it were Manchester City playing) is allowed, or any other mistake, misprint, misinterpretation, mishearing, misreading, mistranslation, spelling mistake, technical error, transaction error, manifest error, force majeure and/or any other similar mishap.
30.6 Every effort is made to ensure that errors are avoided when accepting bets. However, in the event of, for instance, a human, technical or other error a bet is accepted at a price (which includes the odds, handicap provisions and other terms or details of the bet) that is clearly incorrect, given the probability of the event occurring at the time the bet was made, we will:
a) void the bet in the case that the event has not taken place; and/or
b) cancel any payment of Winnings associated with the affected bet or part of the bet if it is a multiple bet; and/or
c) return your stake to you.
30.7 Live transmissions: Please be aware that live transmissions may at any time be delayed. The extent of any such delay may vary from one customer to another. We shall not at any stage and/or for any reason be held liable for any loss that may arise as a result of any such delay in a live transmission. Furthermore, in the event of live (in-game) betting, all bets placed (and/or accepted) shall not be valid and shall be declared void if we have reason to believe that such bet was placed after the outcome of an event is known or at a time when a circumstance has already occurred that would materially impact the outcome of the bet offered by us. In the event that any such bets are declared void, stakes shall be returned to you and any Winnings will be confiscated and forfeited by you. If we know or suspect that you may be using any delay in live transmissions to your advantage, we reserve the right to close Your Player Account, void any relevant bets and the Winnings associated with those bets. Any stakes relating to those bets will be returned to you on request.
30.8 Cash Out – You have the possibility to ‘Cash Out’ money placed on bets in certain instances. We have full and absolute discretion to determine which markets will permit cash-out functionality and we also have full right to suspend a cash-out option at any time. The Cash Out function allows You the possibility to redeem, at its present value (determined by us in our absolute discretion), a bet which has not yet been completed (the “Cash Out Option”) subject to the following conditions:
a. The Cash Out Option is not available on all events but only on specific, selected events, both pre-match and live;
b. The Cash Out Option is possible on both single and multiple (combined) bets;
c. The Cash Out Option is not available on free bets or when Bonus Funds are being used;
d. Errors and delays, as specified in paragraph 31.5 and paragraph 31.6 above, respectively, may at any time affect the possibility or otherwise of a Cash Out Option. In the event that due to any such errors or delays, an offer is removed or odds fluctuate, the Cash Out Option may not be used;
e. We reserve the right, at all times, to suspend the functionality of the Cash Out Option in total or in respect of selected markets or events;
f. If you have successfully made use of the Cash Out Option with respect to a bet, pay-outs in respect of a ‘cashed-out’ bet will be settled promptly. Any events following the particular bet will not at any stage be taken into account; and
g. If we know or suspect that you have made use of the Cash Out Option when the outcome of an event is known, we reserve the right to void the original bet that you tried to Cash Out. In these circumstances, the original stake will be returned to you on request and any Winnings will be confiscated and forfeited by you.
30.9 Validation. Subject to 30.5 and 30.6, a bet shown in the betting slip is only accepted by us once it has been submitted and the balance equivalent to the stake is deducted from Your Player Account balance. If you are unsure as to whether or not a bet has been accepted by us, please check any pending bets in Your Player Account. You may also contact Customer Services via the LiveChat function on our Website www.thepools.com or by emailing us at [email protected], for any such confirmation as to the validity, acceptance or otherwise of a bet.
30.10 Once we have accepted a bet it is not possible for you to withdraw or cancel it. It is Your responsibility to make sure that all details of any bets you place are correct prior to placing any such bets.
30.11 Betting restrictions on any market or event may, at any time, be imposed by the Company, at its sole and absolute discretion save that where we offer a free bet promotion relating to sports betting, we will not enforce any account restriction where you have, prior to the account restriction being notified to you, made one or more qualifying bets in respect of that free bet promotion, where such an account restriction would materially affect your ability to complete the qualifying bets required by the free bet promotions. An “account restriction” includes any stake restriction which lowers the amount you can wager and/or stake factoring and/or removal or reduction of your eligibility to receive free bet bonuses but it does not include any restriction that we are required to impose, or action we are required to take, in order to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.
30.12 The Company reserves the right to decline to accept a bet at all times prior to it being accepted by the Company (signified by a change in Your Player Account balance), without giving any reason. Once a bet has been accepted, a bet may only be voided in accordance with these Sports Betting Rules or any other term.
30.13 The Company reserves the right at all times to:
a. declare any bets void with respect to an event (or a series of events); and/or
b. withhold payment of any Winnings associated with such bets; and/or
c. return the stake associated with any such bets to you,
if we reasonably believe that any of the following events have occurred:
(i) any doubt has been casted on the integrity of the event; and/or
(ii) the price or prices has/have been manipulated; and/or
(iii) any form of match-rigging has taken place, or the match is under investigation for such an occurrence; and/or
(iv) any event as covered within the Nullity cases (paragraph 37) of the Sportsbook Rules.
Evidence of any of the above instances may be based on the size, volume or pattern of bets placed with The Pools, across any or all of its betting channels, as well as any information received from other betting providers or officially recognized organizations.
30.14 In the event of an accepted bet, which forms part of a multi bet, being voided for any reason in accordance with the Terms, the voided bet will not impact the rest of the accepted bets/legs appearing on the same betting slip.
30.15 Please note that the Gambling Commission has the power to void a bet which it considers to have been substantially unfair, in accordance with the provisions of section 336 Gambling Act 2005.
31 INTERPRETATION
31.1 The original text of the Terms is in English and any interpretation of them will be based on the original English text. If the Terms or any documents or notices related to them are translated into any other language, the original English version will prevail.