Terms of service

Draft of 26 September 2026 · Applies to holdem.mdolabs.dev and the Carolina Hold 'em game

1. Who we are and this agreement

Carolina Hold 'em is provided by MDO Labs ("we", "us"). By starting, hosting, joining or paying for a table, you agree to these terms and to our privacy notice.

2. No real money

Carolina Hold 'em is a party game that uses the rules of Texas hold 'em, played for fun. It is not a gambling service. Paid plans are a licence to host the game software.

• Chips have no cash value. They are points inside one game. They can't be bought, sold, transferred, exchanged or cashed out, and they don't carry over as anything of value.
• No wagering and no buy-ins. The game never takes entry fees, tracks buy-ins or pays out.
• Nothing to win. We never give anything of value for game results, and hosts may not either (section 3).
• No chips for sale. Plans pay for the use of the game, never for chips, boosts or anything that affects a hand.

You must not use the game to settle real-money bets, run a gambling game or a contest for anything of value, or pool money among players.

3. Nothing of value rides on a game

Game results must never decide who gets anything of monetary or material value. Hosts and organisers must not give cash, cash equivalents (such as gift cards, vouchers, credit or cryptocurrency) or goods to players because of how they did in a game, and must not charge players, take buy-ins or pool money among them.

A round of applause for the top of the table is fine. We may suspend a licence that is used to run a game for anything of value.

4. Who can use it

• Hosts must be 18 or over. A host is anyone who starts or runs a table, and anyone who buys a plan. By hosting you confirm you are 18 or over.
• The host is responsible for the table: who joins, the names and photos shown on the screen, and the event itself.
• The service is not directed at children.

5. Plans, billing and cancellation

Free for everyone until December 31, 2026

Until the end of that day (Hawaii time), every table is free for up to 50 people. A table keeps the limits it started with, so a game running at midnight carries on.

Free

From January 1, 2027: up to 4 people plus house players, with no time limit. We may change what the free plan includes.

Invites

We sometimes give a Family or Corporate plan free, until a date we set, with an invite link. An invite works like a paid plan for as long as it runs, costs nothing and renews into nothing. We may withdraw an invite that is shared publicly or misused.

Family: $9 a month

Renews every month until you cancel. Cancel any time in Stripe's customer portal; your plan runs to the end of the month you paid for, then stops.

Corporate: $200 a year

Unlimited events, with up to about 50 players per event; more by arrangement. Renews every year until you cancel. We email a reminder 7 days before each renewal. Turn off auto-renew and the plan runs to the end of the year you paid for.

For every paid plan

• Stripe is the merchant of record. Stripe sells you the plan, takes payment and handles sales tax and VAT, and Stripe's terms apply to the payment.
• A table's limits are set when it is created, so a plan ending never stops a game in progress.
• If we change a price, we'll tell you before your next renewal, and you can cancel before it applies.
• Refunds are issued through Stripe to the card or wallet you paid with.

6. Licence keys

A paid plan comes with a licence key and a sign-in link, sent to the email address you paid with. Anyone with the key can host paid tables, so treat it like a password and share it only with people in your household or organisation who will host. We may rotate or revoke a key that has been shared publicly or misused. A lost key can be sent again to the purchase email.

7. Fair use

Captions from the booth are always included. Spoken commentary has a fair-use allowance of about 15 voiced hours per licence each month; after that the booth carries on in captions until the next month. We may limit use that threatens the service for others, such as automated traffic.

8. Names, photos and behaviour

• Use your first name, and only a photo of yourself.
• Nothing offensive, hateful, sexual, harassing or infringing, and no pretending to be someone else.
• The host can hide a photo, rename a player or remove a player at any time. We may remove content or block access to protect other players or the service.
• Don't attack, overload, reverse engineer or misuse the service, or try to see other players' cards.

9. Automated commentary

The booth's lines are written and voiced automatically from public game events. They are meant to be friendly and are filtered to stay positive, but they can occasionally be wrong or fall flat. They are not statements by us about anyone. The host can mute the booth at any time.

10. Our game

The game, its name, the palmetto-and-moon logo, the artwork and the software belong to us. We give you a personal, non-exclusive right to use the game while you follow these terms.

11. Availability and changes

We work to keep the game running well, but it is provided as it is and as available. We may change or remove features. If we remove something central to a paid plan, we'll tell you and you can cancel.

12. Liability

[To be drafted.]

13. Ending

You can stop using the game at any time, and cancel a paid plan as described above. We may suspend or end access for anyone who breaks these terms.

14. Governing law and disputes

[To be drafted.]

15. Changes and contact

If we change these terms, we'll update the date at the top, and we'll email people who pay before a change that affects them takes effect.

Questions: [contact address].