Community Guidelines (TOS)

The Poker Chip Forum (PCF) Community Guidelines and Terms of Service below are a consolidation of previous sticky threads, Terms, and Guidelines, along with a few additions. The guidelines and terms were drafted with help from the members.

• Do not post libelous, insulting, antagonistic, racist, discriminatory, aggressive, or otherwise abusive messages. If you have an issue with another member and cannot reply in a civilized and constructive way, you should ignore the user.

• Users shall not post political messages or images outside the Politics forum.
• Users shall not post any referral links/schemes, or blatant advertising.
• Users shall not post messages that contain the branding, names, details, or contact information for any commercial enterprise, business, or profit generating entity, with which they own, represent, or are affiliated. (excludes Site Vendors and SM+ members)
• Users shall not post about illegal or explicit topics or link to such sites.
• Users shall not post For Sale, For Trade, or Wanted ads outside of the Classifieds.
• Requiring a member pay money, either directly or indirectly, to have a chance at winning a prize (i.e. "Raffles") is not allowed.
• Users posting images taken from The Chip Guide must note that you got the image from there. (e.g., image courtesy of The Chip Guide)

• Users shall not double-post or cross-post the same message in multiple threads or forums. Select the most relevant section to post your question in. Your message will be seen by many people wherever you post it.
• Users shall not make meaningless posts or post and/or quote consecutive messages for the purpose of increasing their post count. There are edit and multi-quote buttons; please use them.
• Avoid using ALL CAPS in thread titles or messages.
• No Thread Crapping! In the case of member-to-member sales, whether in the form of a classified ad or auction for items being sold, users shall not post negative comments with regard to the member, the product offered, or the price listed. Such posting will not be tolerated. If you have an issue with the item or price, contact the seller via private message/conversation.

• Users are permitted to have only one account.
• We do not accept requests to delete accounts and will generally not do so except under very limited circumstances.
• If you become banned (temporarily or permanent), do not create another account.
• Any additional accounts will be banned and you forfeit any future consideration of being welcomed back.

• We do not accept requests to change usernames if you have more than 5 posts.
• Usernames, avatars, signatures, and profiles must not contain political, explicit, or questionable images/messages.
• Usernames, avatars, signatures, and profiles must not contain the branding, names, details, or contact information for any commercial enterprise, business, or profit generating entity, with which they own, represent, or are affiliated. (excludes Site Vendors and SM+ members)

The New Member Requirements (a.k.a. NMR) are in place to help protect the community from spammers and scammers. These requirements can change with or without notice.

After 3 posts members can:

• use Conversations also called Private Messages or PMs

After 10 posts and 3 days members can:

• use the Classifieds and eBay / Amazon / Craigslist / Other sections
• post replies in other members' threads in the PCF Introductions and Check-Ins section
• post replies in the PCF Giveaways and Member Giveaways sections
• upload images to the Media Gallery and Conversations

After 30 posts and 30 days members can:

• use the Auctions section
• join the Politics section
• join the PCF online home games
• create threads in the Group Buys and Member Giveaways section

After 90 posts and 90 days members can:

• access the Home Game Listings and Meetups section
• Note: this requirement may be waived if you have attended a past meetup and a well-known meetup host has requested the exception on your behalf. You cannot request an exception yourself.

Note: one registered day is 24hrs from the exact time you registered.

• Commercial selling is not permitted. You must become a site vendor and use your designated vendor forum.
• All ads will auto-close after 60 days. If the ad never gets any replies, it will be locked 60 days after its creation date. Otherwise, 60 days from the last reply date. Please feel free to re-post your ad again.
• Harvesting chips (i.e. taking live chips from a casino) to re-sell them for profit requires a Support Member Plus membership or Vendor status.
• Members are encouraged to use a payment method that offers buyer protection.

The listing rules below are automatically included when posting an ad. You must agree to these rules by checking a box before you are able to post your ad. If you agree to the listing rules and choose not to follow them, your ad is subject to removal and you may be issued a warning. Please read and follow them!

1. Raffles are not permitted.
2. All "For Sale" ads must have a price.
3. All "For Trade" ads must have a price unless stated "Not for sale" or items you will trade for.
4. No "Interest only" or "Not for sale yet" type ads.
5. Only poker and casino related items are permitted.
6. You may only bump your ad once per day.
7. Do not post links to ads on other sites.
8. Do not create ads for the sole purpose exchanging feedback.

• Sellers are not allowed to alter the auction listing rules.
• Sellers may bump their auction once per day and twice on the day that it ends.
• Sellers may not bid on their own auctions.
• Posting a bid indicates your agreement to the listing Rules.
• Only poker and casino related items are permitted.
• Harvesting chips (i.e. taking live chips from a casino) to re-sell them for profit requires a Support Member Plus membership or Vendor status.
• Members are encouraged to use a payment method that offers buyer protection.

The listing rules below are automatically included when posting an auction. You must agree to these rules by checking a box before you are able to post your auction. If you agree to the listing rules and choose not to follow them, your ad is subject to removal and you may be issued a warning. Please read and follow them!

1. The highest bid at the closing time listed above will win. If there is a bid within 5 minutes of the closing time (original or extended closing time), 5 minutes shall be added to the time of the last bid, until there are no bids within the final 5 minutes. Because seconds are not displayed on post timestamps, these examples will be used as a reference.
2. No Reserve. The Starting Bid of this auction will be treated as the Reserve Price.
3. Bids must be placed in whole US dollars, using numbers in minimum increments as stated above. (bids using images or spelled out numbers are not valid)
4. All bids are to be placed openly in this thread. No bids via Private Message/Convo. Sellers are not permitted to bid on their own auctions.
5. The seller reserves the right to edit the listing to clarify statements or correct any errors.
6. Once a valid bid is made, the auction can not be canceled. Bid edits and/or retractions are not permitted. Violations of this rule will result in discipline at the discretion of PCF Admins and/or Moderators.
7. PCF (its Owner, Admins, and Moderators) are not responsible for any actions or outcomes that take place in this auction.

Since seconds are not displayed on post timestamps, the following examples will be used as a reference. If a post time says x minutes ago, mouse over it to see the timestamp. To my knowledge, this is only possible with a mouse or trackpad.

1. If the close time is 3:00pm, any bid at 2:56pm up to and including 2:59pm is valid and extends the auction for another 5 minutes from the last bid.
2. If the close time is 3:00pm, a bid at 2:55pm does not extend the auction.
3. If the close time is 3:00pm, and a bid is placed at 2:56pm, the auction now closes at 3:01pm.
4. Bids at the close time are not valid bids.

• In order to give or receive feedback, both parties must have posted in the classified ad or auction thread.
• Transactions done outside of the Classifieds and Auction section do not qualify to use the feedback system.
• A transaction begins when the seller provides their payment info AND payment has been sent by the buyer. For auctions, if a winning bidder doesn't pay, feedback can be left for non-payment.
• Leaving feedback when a transaction did not occur is not valid feedback and will be removed.

• Certain requirements must be met before a user will have the ability to enter giveaways. (examples: post count, days registered, points, etc.)
• Users who intentionally circumvents these requirements by making meaningless posts, A.K.A. post padding, will have their posts deleted and giveaway entries removed. If such activity continues, the user will be banned from all future giveaways.

If you wish to sell and advertise your products and services on PCF, you must be a Site Vendor or Supporting Member Plus. If you are interested or have questions, please contact us.

Note: PCF respectfully declines advertising inquiries regarding online casinos, poker sites, sports betting sites, or sites specializing in referrals and sign-up bonuses to such websites.

PCF neither warrants nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for any transaction between members, or the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information or product represented on this site.

Members who submit articles, post messages, or images to this site assume responsibility for the content of their articles, messages, or images.

No endorsements or recommendations of any products or services are made by PCF. Products and services and the advertising copy supporting those products and services which appear as advertisements on PokerChipForum.com are the exclusive responsibility of the respective advertisers, owners, or vendors. The views/opinions and/or instructions of members that have submitted articles or posted messages to this site are the exclusive responsibility of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of PCF.

Any content that we feel violates our community guidelines will be edited or removed without prior notice by the forum administrators and moderators. The administrators and moderators will attempt to keep objectionable content off the site, but it is impossible for us to review every message.

If you see something that may be against the community guidelines, please use the report post option. Do not quote and/or reply to the post as that adds to the problem and causes more work for us.